Weirdos III: The Untouchable Lady

Chapter 23: The Fox Under The Red Hood

Crimson's POV

Happiness, as they always say, is a choice. If you want to be happy, then be happy. You may experience the worst day of your life but at the end of that worst day, it is your choice whether you're going to wallow in despair due to your unluckiness or you're going to take a deep breath, shrug the bad luck off your shoulders, and prepare for the next day with a huge smile on your face.

Besides, you really have no choice but to smile in this world full of hatred and chaos. If you're going to allow all the negativity to affect you, then you're just going to waste your everyday life snarling, snapping, and screaming on people. More importantly, it will also make you ugly and unappealing. And trust me, you'll surely become even more agitated and irritable once you see the frown lines on your face caused by you biting on to the bait of negativity in this world.

I am Crimson Chua Soriano and this is the story of how I learned to stay positive, smiling, and pretty despite all the hardships, negativities, and ugliness that I've encountered since I was young...

"Ma, ba't po ba parati nila tayo pinagtitinginan kapag pumupunta po tayo rito?" tanong ko sa nanay ko habang naglalakad kami sa loob ng palengke.

"Gusto mo bang malaman kung bakit?" tanong naman ni Mama sabay luhod sa harapan ko.

"Opo."

"Kasi tuwing wala kang pasok o bakasyon eh parati mong sinasamahan si Mama dito sa palengke. Pinagtitinginan nila tayo kasi ang bait-bait mong bata at matulungin ka pa sa 'kin," sabi ni Mama sabay kurot sa pisngi ko.

How I wish na sana 'yun nga ang totoong rason kung bakit madalas akong tampulan ng atensyon noong bata pa lang ako. I guess my mother doesn't want me to feel sad or dejected if she tells me the truth.

Bata pa lang ako pero kakaiba na ang hitsura ko. My hair and eyes were red, I have short fangs, my fox-like ears were on top of my head instead of being on the sides, and I have a long and bushy white-tipped red tail behind me. The people in my neighborhood were really shocked when they saw me when I was still a baby; but eventually, they learned to accept my strange appearance. Nakatulong doon ang pagiging mabait ko at lapitin ng mga tao. Despite my fox-like appearance, I felt that the people in my community loved and accepted me for who I am.

Sa buong pamilya namin ay ako lang ang may ganitong klaseng hitsura. Apat kaming magkakapatid at pangalawa ako mula sa panganay. Ako lang din ang nag-iisang weirdo sa pamilya kaya alam ko na agad na may kakaiba sa 'kin kahit na hindi sabihin sa 'kin ni Mama ang totoo.

Unlike the other weirdos, my weirdness had already manifested the very moment I was born. That trait is actually shared among Morph Weirdos like me. When my seventh birthday came, my skin eventually took a reddish tint and my fangs grew even longer. By the time I was about to attend high school, my appearance was already very fox-like and I always stand out no matter how hard I try to be inconspicuous.

Unfortunately, the trouble began when I entered high school.

There's a local elementary school in the community where I grew up. I was friends with all of my classmates and I have no problem whatsoever when it comes to interacting with different types of people. Unfortunately, the high school where I attended to was in a nearby town. Mas maraming tao, mas maraming matang nakatitig sa 'yo. Unfortunately, those new eyes already judged me the very moment they saw my appearance.

"'Yan pala 'yung sinasabi kanina nung kaklase natin," dinig kong sabi ng isang estudiyante pagpasok ko sa room nung unang araw ng pasukan namin.

"He looks really weird. I mean, is he even a human being?" the other one whispered back.