Nothing in the Universe

Picture 3

Friendship

This is the one picture I can't quite get right, no matter how many times I try. It's either his long snot or the way the sunlight hits the scales on his face, turning them from green tree leaves to emeralds. It's sad when it's easier to paint white feathers and a golden beak amidst even more golden flowers than to try and capture green against the sunlight.

I had met him before, when he bumped into me at my first Speedor race, way back when I first escaped. We reacquainted at the ball, where I revealed myself and stood my ground.

Heh. Stood in quotations. I knew the feeble act of bravado would get me free, but at what cost? I found myself dropped into a world I had very little knowledge of.

Lucky for me, my scaly new friend understood that.

"If you ever need anything at all, ask me. I'm no Lion, but I understand the term "Prince" very well -- I'll help you out with anything."

The Eagle was another story, despite also meeting at that same ball. In many ways she reminds me of Her -- she's smart, she's helpful, and she too, is eager to help me in any way. I can't imagine playing games with her, but I could see her pulling me close and reading books with me, just like She used to.

But because she reminds me of Her, I can't let her get too close. I can't let anyone close, lest Leonitarus come and take them away. Take me away.

But there's something about them. Something that reminds me of Longtooth and Lo-Katar and the king that allows me to open my doors. Just a crack, nothing more. But that crack allows me to feel the happiness, the joy, the enthusiasm for life, the love and passion they share and they extend to me. In some ways, it reminds me of myself, of a golden childhood, before the hatred, abuse, and neglect; before She was taken away from me.

They don't know about Her. No one does. I do. I keep Her close, though lately, She hasn't made Her appearance known to me.

But I know She's there. I feel Her when they wrap a scaly arm and a feathery wing across my shoulders. I feel Her when they pull me along to wherever we're going. I hear Her laugh when she laughs at his stupid joke or when he trips and falls over his scaly tail crowned with rubies.

And I know without a doubt that it's Her doing when I call after them, saying, "Cragger! Eris! Wait for me!" We race up a hill full of golden flowers and lay down among them, laughing as the noonday sun arrives.

Maybe that's why I struggle with this one. It's not who I'm trying to capture, but what I see beneath. It's not the light of Cragger's face I'm trying to get, but rather the joy in his smile. The light that shines brighter than the sun or any of those golden flowers.

It's a light that slides through the cracks of my doors; a light I once thought was so out of reach. Maybe it's a light She's bringing to me, I don't know.

But this I do know: as I laid in that field of flowers, laughing with an Eagle and a Crocodile, I felt a joy I had only known with Helena and Scomper and perhaps a bit with Longtooth and Lo-Katar.

I had friends.