One- Genesis
The tree almost touched the sky, letting its branches dance with the wind. Gregor sat Indian style against it, watching the ballet of branches as the fall winds whistled. The boy gave a deep sigh to the autumn leaves that fell, discolored and dry. They died, and their bodies were being taken to rest in a leaf graveyard where they would break apart and feed the soil.
Death. The part of life that is inevitable was one of the things that never scared the boy because it was just that; inevitable. Every being on the planet was born to die and that is the way it was taught to him. To Gregor, fifteen years ago might not have happened if something went wrong in the womb. In fact, he considered himself to be lucky to make it to fifteen years on this day. No matter what, he remained solemn in conversations of death, but not because it didn’t matter. Again, death was not something he feared, but living life alone was what kept him up at night.
Alone. The day he thought would never come reared its head around a poorly lit corner. Underneath the tree, the sun was almost directly over top of it and noon was right around the corner. Facing the house; the house filled only with the ghost of his parents’ presence. It haunted him with its drafty breathes of unaided cynicism and sat with the back door open; an invitation to spend more time in its empty belly. An empty house was a dead house as far as Gregor was concerned. And so, with his back against the tree, he let his eyes close while he sank into his thoughts.
Loneliness, frustration, vigor; they all came together to form something he hadn’t thought of at first, but once the thought came to him, the boy assembled what to him was a masterpiece. Loneliness came from his lack of peers; they didn’t understand why he didn’t fear death, yet he didn’t understand their motives for understanding him. Therefore, a consciousness was formed, a mind which could understand the depths of his soul and posses the will to comfort.
Frustration surfaced from the multiple attempts to connect with his family. With Gregor as the only child, he had no one to talk to after school; no one to play with. His mother was around, but not enough to see him grow and learn and think for himself. From this came a quadruped body of small proportion and orange to red scales; the embodiment of the life he wished he had, but could not reach. It slithered away from him as if he did not deserve it.
Vigor was Gregor’s own force; the life, which would bring life to this creature. The energy he possessed to make such a creature and the passion to solve his own woe would power his ambition. He wanted a companion, but life hadn’t been kind to him. So, he would forge his own, and the possibilities were endless. For now, he would find a friend in the life of his own work of brainpower and art.
A voice echoed, but not from the creatures’ mouth. Food.
The voice was definitely male, but it broke at times as Gregor’s did. He blinked at his creator; his eyes slanted and almond shaped.
The lizard opened its slanted eyes and stood in front of Gregor, seemingly studying the boy. Gregor also opened his eyes, but he was not surprised at the new arrival. Smiling, he began to laugh, “Happy Birthday to me.”
Wind picked up now, blowing the leaves around him and his- friend. Imaginary was one thing; one could always create some kind of unrealistic thing to call their imaginary friend, but this was something else. The lizard was unrealistic, yes, but it stood in front of him. It was there, and it was real, wasn’t it? Its scales were soft and a little moist, and Gregor was touching it as if it were a dog or a cat or some other ‘normal’ animal. Where did it come from? He was just sitting under the tree with his eyes closed. Maybe his wish for a friend brought this creature to him; maybe it was his wish being granted. It made sense, right? He didn’t hear it approach him through the crunchy leaves that littered the ground around him, so it must have just appeared.
For once, he was fine if the weird and unexplainable were left unexplained. It was time to have fun. Obviously, this thing was able to speak, or something like that; some sort of communication in which Gregor could be understood. He had to try something, parting his lips into a smile, "Hi."
At first, nothing happened. He didn’t hear anything or see the creature open his mouth, but the voice echoed in his head again. Hi.
A breath of relief left the boys’ mouth as he heard the voice in his head again. For a moment, he thought he was hearing voices in his head; for a moment, he thought he was going crazy. But he was hearing a voice in his head that wasn’t his own. Could it be? It didn’t make any sense whatsoever, but he didn’t care. Gregor knew on some level, beyond any doubt, that the creature in front of him was some kind of psychic. It didn’t make any sense to speak regularly anymore. If the lizard was projecting thoughts into his head, maybe he could pick up what Gregor was thinking. He thought very hard, pushing one question out toward the creature.
Do you know who I am? Gregor asked, swallowing hard as he waited for a reply.
Hi. The greeting was repeated. Gregor wasn’t sure what the creature was doing, but he repeated the question. Looking into the creatures’ eyes, he saw a bit of personality there, but none at the same time. It was like the lizard was limited in its knowledge of interacting with others. Hi.
Something occurred to the boy, though. What did the creature say to him when he first came? Food. It said the word food, so at least its vocabulary wasn’t limited. It knew what it wanted and how to request it; if it was even a request. With only one way to find out, the boy pushed with his mind; he pushed the one word that it might respond to. Food?
Just like last time, a moment passed before a response echoed in his head. The lizard now cocked his head at him, its tongue emerged and worked its way around his lips, or what Gregor assumes where lips. Food.
So it wants food, huh? That seemed to be the logical assumption since he couldn’t think of anything else. His friend was hungry, and what kind of friend would he be if he didn’t get his friend some food. But there was one trouble, what did lizards eat? The only animal he knew how to feed was his cat, Jenny, and all he did was put cat food in her bowl. This, however, was clearly different. There was no bowl, no food, and no direction as to what his newly created friend wanted for a meal. But a more important query remained, and it bothered him more than the issue of what to feed it, “Where did you come from?”
