Carnival: Mother Knows Best

A young girl in a cloak laid down a basket on the porch of a small cottage in the middle of a forest. The young girl sang a lullaby that had become well known in her area.

Lost unwanted child, who’s light is barely shining.

Look to the stars, hope will be reigning.

May hope quince your soul, a like unlike another.

She’ll hear your cries and make a better mother.

Cooing could be heard from the basket, the young girl shushed the basket. A light green mist with dark blue clouds became visible around the cottage. Panicking, the young girl knocked hard twice and ran away. The cottage door opened. A well endowed woman in a royal blue dress with black lace accents and sleeves. Wearing black nail polish and a black veil covering her face, her confusion was very clear as she looked around, slightly raising the veil. Hearing the cooing, she looked down and put her hand to the sapphire heart on her silver necklace. Gasping, she asked, “Who would dare?” She reached down and lifted a baby from the basket. “Hello little one.” The baby reached up and held her veil. She smiled, “Curious, aren’t we? I’m assuming you don’t have a name. Let’s call you Courage. That way, you never forget how amazing you are. I’m Onyx. You can call me mom from this day forward.” Courage curled into her chest sound asleep.

Years have passed. Courage woke up and jumped off his bed, excited. Super energetic, he jumped all over his room singing, “Today will be the day!” he rummaged through his clothes, throwing them all over, unsure of what to wear. Eventually settling on a white cotton shirt with green overalls, tan slip on shoes, and a tan hat with a blue diamond stitched on it. Courage looked himself over in the mirror before running out to the dining room. “Slowly, slowly.” Onyx said as she came from the kitchen. "Désolé, mama.” Courage responded before sitting at the table.

Onyx gave him a plate of fruit and a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar & raisins.

“Ready for your first day of regular school?” she asked as she sat with a full teacup.

“Yes!”

“Let’s go over the rules again as you eat.”

“Okay.” Courage started to eat.

“Use utensils, please. Mind your manners.”

“Right, sorry. So excited!” Courage began to use a spoon.

“If you get lost?”

“Ask a police person and keep my distance.”

“If you see something interesting on your way to school?”

“Write it in my book and keep walking.”

“If you are offered something by a stranger?”

“Trust my gut.”

“If you get a ‘no-no’ feeling?”

“I get away and yell for you or another adult.”

“One you trust, yes. If anyone asks about your eyes?”

“Two different colors because I have double the personality.”

“Such unwavering fear. You’ll be the death of me.”

“Not on my watch mama.” he finished his food, clapped his hands and thanked Onyx for the food. She rustled his hair, “That’s my beloved baby boy.” Courage scrunched up his face. “I’m sorry, my beloved big boy.” Onyx corrected as she chuckled.

She walked him to the door asking if he really wanted to do the walk alone. He reassured her that he could handle it. Onyx put down her tea and hugged him once more before he ran off. She wished him well, she seemed almost sad to see him go. Courage ran through the forest, completely ignoring the set path. Jumping over rocks, bouncing off of trees. He made it to the cliff that overlooked the town. He looked down with a giant smile. His right eye gleamed light green. His brow left eye only seemed to lighten in color.

Courage walked into town, completely awestruck. He wrote a lot in his notebook as he made his way. He eventually made his way to the school. He skipped inside and looked in his book for where to go. He did try his best to not get distracted. He really did. But he found himself far too interested in his first day in an actual school building. Especially since this was also his first time seeing other children. He tried greeting other children but found out very quickly that his optimism was not exactly shared. Once at his classroom door, he took a deep breath. He walked inside before the teacher could introduce him, with a big smile and wild wave he exclaimed. “Bonjour les amis! I am Courage Nightingale!”

The class and teacher stared. Courage. The teacher cleared her throat, “Why yes. Class we have…” a student stood up. “Look at the freak with the weird eyes! Where’d you come from, new kid? A weirdo factory?”

The class began to laugh at Courage.

“No. I actually came from the forest.”

“The forest? What are you, some kind of wild child?”

“... I didn’t rehearse that question…”

“You weirdo, people don’t rehearse conversation! What are you broken or something?”

The teacher told the student to stop being unnecessarily mean.

Courage’s brown eye twitched, “No… I’m not broken. I’m just different.”

“Well yeah, new kid, we can all see that. You’re, like, super weird!”

The laughter increased as muttering started from the class.

“Mama said that being different is good.”

“Your mama lied.”

Courage’s right eye started to glow. The teacher shouted to gain control over the room again. When she gained control over the class again, Courage was gone. He had run out into the hallway. His heart was pounding. His heart was louder than it had ever been. It wasn’t beating fast. Just louder. He grabbed his ears. For the first time in his life, he was feeling unsure. He wanted to run away. He wanted to cry. For the first time in his life, Courage was afraid.

He began to hyperventilate. Not knowing what else to do, he let out a scream. Suddenly the world around him was green and everything stopped moving. His hair began to curl.