Brave (New Earth Saga)

Ch. 39

My shoulders shook as Joe placed me on the ground in front of the human woman I was being forced to live with. Before I could even turn around to croak out another goodbye, Joe had risen to his full height and stepped away. Watching Joe turn his back to walk away from me broke me in a way I didn't think I could break. I felt my knees hit the pavement as I no longer had strength in my legs. I would not stand for this. No. Standing up meant I had to walk away too. That's going to be a H3ll no with a capital H!!!

"Sweety, I know this is hard, but we have to go. The cameras are tracking all of this," my new guardian, Daria spoke softly to me as she kneeled beside me. While this Daria woman seemed nice and all, I couldn't focus on her right now. Through the crowd of human reporters, and officers, I could still see Joe's towering form, and I had to get to him.

I bolted back to my feet and started running, trying my best to push through the crowd. Of course, there was no way around the police barricade, not unless I was a giant. Ughhh.

"Morgan! Tell us how you're feeling dear!"

"Is it true you've been living in fear?"

"Are they tears of happiness or sadness?"

Reporter after reporter asked me question after question as I was completely surrounded. Before I could stop myself I turned to the crowd and began speaking, sharing my focus across the 3 or 4 cameras directly in front of me.

"The tears you see are a result of the prejudice plaguing New Earth. My name is Morgan Mangello, I am now, and forever will be Joe Mangello's daughter. No matter what the verdict is,"

"What about all your fears Morgan? Should other children be put through such a terrifying experience?"

"The clips released of me, were only showing a fragment of my sentiments. Any fear I spoke of only existed because I'd lived on a planet shared with giants, and yet was able to live a life without ever seeing one. As integrated areas and establishments increase, the fear of our giant brothers and sisters will also decrease. I hope more kids get to experience living in integrated ares and living with a mixed family, for it shows how humans and giants are much more similar than different,"

I turned and marched through the crowd where my new guardian, Daria, stared at me with a look of pity. Soon, Daria and I were escorted to her car as we made our way toward my temporary home. For the first 5-10 minutes of our journey Daria and I sat in complete silence, outside of the thrum of the water engine.

"You spoke wonderfully to those reporters Morgan," Daria finally said, breaking the silence.

"Thank you,"

"Listen... I want you to know that I support you and your Dad. I can't imagine how hard this all has been, so I'm hoping that while you're with us, we might be able to bring you a stress free environment for as long as you're here,"

"We?"

"Oh, right, I should mention, I have a daughter. She's looking forward to meeting you,"

"How old is she?"

"She just turned 6 last month,"

A sinking sensation churned in my stomach. The idea of meeting a 6 year old girl immediately made me think of River. Wouldn't River be turning 6 soon? I wonder if River even knows when her birthday is... if she's even still out there.

Once we arrived at my new home I had to check my privilege at the door. I'd been living in massive homes scaled for giants for years now, and that reality certainly made this home seem quaint. The house was more like a ranch, having one floor and a basement. While the outside was rather plain, the inside was anything but plain. Every room in the house had amazing multi-colored rugs with intricate designs seeming to tell a story and breed life into each space. As Daria showed me around I saw that the first floor only had two bedrooms. One was hers, and the other was her daughter, Parisa's room. So where would I stay- I wondered nervously.

"And finally we have your room! Now I'm sorry it's in the basement, but I figured you'd like the privacy and space," Daria said, as she led me down to the basement. Once inside I felt a huge sigh of relief. I'd been preparing to find a dungeon, and instead found one of the coolest, most earthy spaces ever. The bed had a colorful comforter with reds and oranges making intricate shapes. I had a dresser and a closet offering plenty of space for the clothes I'd packed, and there was even a TV down I was allowed to use!

This house had so much color and character that it screamed Earth to me... not that I'd been to earth, but Daria's sense of fashion certainly looked like some of the cool human homes I've seen in earth movies.

Before I could ask Daria about how long she'd been on New Earth, the sound of the front door grabbed our attention. Daria's daughter, Parisa, was home. As I followed Daria upstairs, I was fully prepared to find a ball of energy like I'd encountered when I'd met River. Instead, I saw a very shy 6 year old who looked like a younger version of Daria.

"Parisa, can you say 'hi' to Morgan?"

"Hi," Parisa practically whispered.

"Very good," Daria praised before instructing Parisa to get washed up and ready for dinner.

I helped Daria prepare dinner as the two of us got to know each other better. I found out that Daria's husband passed away a few months ago in an accident at the factory he worked at. I immediately sympathized with Daria and Parisa, truly understanding how it felt to experience loss for I'm still processing that my mom was actually gone. Apparently, Parisa has been having a very hard time since her dad passed, so Daria actually thought it could brighten Parisa's spirits to have someone else in the house, thus inspiring Daria to foster.

At dinner, Parisa was basically silent, which made me sad. Daria had warned me that Parisa had grown quiet and shy since their loss... I really hoped that me being here, for however long or short I'm here, could help break Parisa out of her shell. If anything, that goal could at least distract me while the rest of my life was still falling apart.

The first night in a new space is awkward if you ask me. Before you've memorized a space's energy, shadows, and layout, how can one relax enough to fall asleep. Eventually, I crept out of bed and decided to see if there was anything on TV to distract me. Of course, the first thing I saw on the screen was ME. The late night news broadcast was playing a video of Joe and I saying goodbye, followed by me talking to the press. At first when I saw the video, my heart sank, assuming they were finding a way to twist my words as they'd done with the video from Logan's party. Luckily, they didn't edit or change a thing. My truth was being broadcast on national television, and according to the commentators and reporters, this video was helping sway the public who may have been on the fence or indifferent to support Joe.

"I find it impossible for one's heart not to break after watching the girl speak. It's very clear that she does in fact see Joe Mangello as her family, which makes it all the more clear how pointless this whole trial is," a New Earth national news reporter spoke to a woman broadcasting outside of the parliament building.

"Absolutely. And Harrison, if you can just take a look, I am live at Parliament Hill where a group of protesters have been stationed since about 3 o' clock. We have this group of humans outside of the human entrance, and then if you can pull up, we have a shot of the giant entrance where you can find humans and giants together in solidarity, calling for the end of discrimination, and justice for Joe Mangello and his inspiring daughter, Morgan," The female reporter said, casing my mouth to fall open at the sight of protesters! They were actually camping out in peaceful protest over the trial

"You've heard it here folks. The people of New Earth are rallying behind the family who some consider to be the face of integration for this great planet. The question is, will any of this get through to members of parliament? We'll have more on that tomorrow. Live from studio 98, this is Harrison with New Earth Nightly News,"