Child of Mara

Birthday

Dinner is cooked meat again and Mar eats it with a sigh. Yung and Tae never seem to eat and Mar wonders if that's why they seem to care so much about watching Mar.

When Yung disappears, leaving Tae to "put it to bed", Mar asks, "Do you eat food?"

Tae laughs. "Usually—when Jung's not mad at me. But I eat upstairs."

"Upstairs?"

Tae flinches and shrugs. "Yeah, where Jung and I live, up in Difocia. You wouldn't like it anyway, it's mostly vegetables. Literans can't eat as much meat as you, not to mention ours has to be much more cooked."

"Did you draw another puffin?"

"No, I was busy."

"Busy doing what?"

The Literan makes a face. "Cleaning mostly. Then I had to organize Yung's files, fetch our dinner, pick up the deliveries, verify his schedule, and write like a dozen reports."

"That's a lot. Yung counted my teeth."

"And you didn't bite him?"

Mar shakes their head. Tae opens the door to Mar's cubby, muttering, "Stars, the injustice."

Inside, Mar grabs at Tae's robe. "I don't want to be alone."

Tae sighs. "Well I can't stay here, I've got even more work to do. I'll be back in the morning. But look, I got you something more comfortable to sleep in."

Mar eyes the white robe Tae offers.

"Go on, take it."

Mar looks down at the blue book in their hands and carefully puts it in the blankets before accepting the nightclothes. While they're changing, Tae picks up the book. When Mar's head pokes through the robe, they cry, "Don't take it away!"

"I won't. You've got plenty of shelf space," Tae chuckles and puts the book on the empty shelf by Mar's cubby. He scootches around Mar in the tight space. "I've got to go, do try to remember to put the lamp out before you go to sleep this time."

To distract themselves from the click of the lock, Mar sits on their blankets and opens the blue book. They stare at the drawings until their eyelids are heavy and they fall asleep, lamp still burning.

The next day is much like the last. Questions. Lunch. Measurements. The only difference is Yung gives Mar a thin slate tablet, paint brush, and bottle of water to practice drawing on "without wasting paper". Mar's butterflies get a little better, but Tae still doesn't finish his puffin.

The week continues the same. Boredom when Yung is away becomes Mar's enemy. They nag Tae to play with them, show them how to draw like he does. When Yung comes back to find Tae drawing with Mar, he is very angry. He yells at Tae about unfinished reports and even hits him with the metal stick, making him fall down as Mar watches terrified in the corner. Mar is extra still during measurement time.

When Yung leaves at the end of the day, Mar tiptoes up to Tae, but before they can say anything Tae growls, "Go away, Mar, I'm working."

The rest of the evening is lonely and Mar wonders a lot. They wonder why Yung hit Tae and not Mar. They wonder about the words Yung yelled and what they mean. "Parent-less disgrace", "ingrate", "idiot". Mar knows what parents are. They're the ones who make a child. If Tae didn't have them, how was he made? Is that why he doesn't have a tribe? If Mar didn't have a tribe, would Yung hit them too?

Why Tae puts Mar to bed, they asks, "How were you made if you don't have parents?"

Tae sighs and leans against the door. "I had parents. They just died."