Little Penguin Bits

A Little On the Inside

There was plenty to Peso on the outside, as there usually was with any creature. Barnacles knew that the outside of a person was just the basic overview of their personality, how they looked and acted and what they said. But when you got to know them, you were digging deeper and seeing what was on the inside. Now, if there was enough on the outside to get the basic idea of a person, then the inside was usually, simply put, a mess.

And that didn't mean it was all awful. What was on the inside made Tweak, Tweak and Kwazii, Kwazii. Take them for example. Kwazii, on the outside, was easy to read and not just because he usually wore his naked emotions on his face. They could immediately tell he was adventurous, kind of reckless, and had been in some certain situations, all by looking at the eyepatch and the smile just underneath his pink nose. On the inside, Kwazii ran wild, his ideas and beliefs, experiences and everything that was stored inside his heart and mind was jumping like Spanish beans, waiting for it's turn to act, to be told, to be brought to light. What would he do today in his spare time, when would they go out next, why didn't they do this---all that was hopping about in Kwazii, making up the cat and getting more wild and crowded everyday until the day it would have to rearrange itself into e new environment just to save some room, maybe changing Kwazii a tad in the slightest during the process.

Tweak, on the outside, as also easy to read, but in a different way. When she looked you square in the eyes, she was talking directly to you, daring you, telling you; go away, you've crossed the line, I will bite you, do you really want me to answer that question?

It was easy to make sense of the negativity on Tweak's face. And through he hard words and even harder exterior, Barnacles knew it was people like that who have the most interesting, most valuable, just the most, stored on the inside. While Tweak was looking at him in disapproval, her eyes sparkling like they always did with emotion she detested (Tweak hated emotion) Barnacles tried to piece together what was going on inside her heart and mind, which, unlike Kwazii, was trapped inside her, making a mess and fighting to get out, making it a tad easier to figure it out; why me, why always me, why doesn't anyone care about anyone other than themselves, why does the world have to be like this, why are people so awful to each other? Why isn't the world easier, why can't they be nice, why do I always have to wonder if someone's lying or not, i can't live like this anymore.

There was a lot to look at when it finally rushed out in a big ugly mess. 

It had taken years.

And that was what got Barnacles thinking about peso in the first place.

The look on Peso's face when he saw Tweak not only finally admitting her pain but being accepted through it, being comforted, still being their friend, when they found her on the kitchen floor, frozen in paralyzed fear, her survival instinct fighting her against the knife.

Eyes wide as Tweak confessed, as if he couldn't believe it. Not what she was saying, but what they were saying to her, no scorn, just sadness, as if he couldn't believe they would accept a person even after she had exploded in such a scene.

As if he couldn't' believe they could accept her pain.

So now Barnacles wondered.

On the outside of peso, there was softness, baby fat and baby fluff that refused to leave, a small smile, barely noticeable through layers of shyness. Layers of protection.

There were big baby eyes, the color of new sky despite his mother's green and his father's brown. There were hugs and cuddles just written all over him, as if he were a walking invitation for a hug, the need to be protected radiating off him in waves. On the outside of Peso, there was caramel. Sweet, soft, gooey and irresistibly packaged in cute little squares. On the outside was the world's most innocent child.