Suki's Zen

Suki's Story
Part 3 "Suki's Zen"


At first Suki was scared.
This strange deformity will only bring more trouble
The horrors that the mercenaries and the Mistress bring on her
When they discover her for a monster

And even more pressing!
Where did they come from
Why!

She tugged and tugged at them
They did not give.
She begged
"Why?"
They did not answer

When day came
She had them hidden in her hair
The other girls insulted her
"You'll never lure anyone like that!" they spat
But she couldn't let it down.

The hair attracted a more colorful audience,
In fact.
And afterwards her customers were much gentler
They treasured her boyish charm.

But it was only a cure for the symptom
Not the cost
And eventually
The antlers parted
It was spreading
Branching out
A plant grown out of her misery

She stared at her mirror
Well
Now that it was out
She no longer had to feel the worry of hiding it.
They were here antlers.
Her shame.
Not theirs
And she was proud of it.

She walked to the pond,
Clutching her towel
The antlers reached upwards
The girls whispered
A few screamed
But were quickly silenced

Then Kanji and Shinu were coming up for work in the morning
When they saw her.
"What the fuckk?" whispered Kanji
Shinu stopped
"That's Suki..." hesitated Shinu

Suki saw the shock in their eyes
They didn't know what to do
So instead of keeping her head low
She walked on
Unafraid
They were lost
But she was on the right path
She just wanted to get clean.

They all were dirtier her.
So if she could just bathe
Who cares if she had antlers?
They were still dirty.

She pushed passed Shinu and Kanji
She was not afraid of Kanji's tiny katana
Nor intimidated by Shinu's rustic rifle.

She walked path the ganj fields
The Mistress saw her
She gripped her whip tight
And wrung it.
She hated Suki.

But Suki, no matter what
Was more beautiful than the old wizened witch
And even with the antlers
The Mistress still wasn't as pretty
And the Antlers
Strange as they were
Made Suki prettier then before.
No one could take their eyes off her now.

She reached the lake and dropped her towel
She bathed alone
As a crowd gathered
She washed her self clean
Removing the stench from the men
And the spit of the girls.

The water washed away the itch from hte antlers
And soaked they feel smooth
It was relax to massage the branches
She went beneath the surface
And felt the weight of them
She felt comfortable with them

She had given up on deciding the why behind it all
God had saw fit to gift her with antlers
At least a god
The why was unimportant
What was important was that they were there
And so she will live with it.

She looked up and saw
On one side of the lake
The girls, and the mercenaries, The Mistress
They all were staring in a frozen moment
Of horror
And confusion
And awe.

She stepped out of the water,
Wrapping her once again beautiful body with her towel

"You monster! You miserable brat!"
Spat the hideous old hag
But Suki looked onto her with forgiving eyes
And the Mistress froze
Suki didn't resent the Mistress
But felt bad for her
She envied and was jealous of Suki
And Suki was miserable
She had antlers on her head!
How awful must the Mistress's life be
If she was envious of poor Suki!
Suki laughed a bit.
Which paralyzed the Mistress.

She pushed passed the crowd of whores
Not caring a bit about malice
She was more beautiful then them
Them made ugly with their hateful words
And the acts they've done
At least Suki Fought
Only Shinu and Kanji dared stand before her

"Grab her! Cut the bitches head off!"
Screamed the Mistress
Finally coming to grips with herself
Shuni pulled on his old rifle
And shoved it in Suki's stomach
"Stop monster!"
He hissed

Kanji drew his katana
And raised it to her neck.
They meant to punish her for being beautiful.
"BEHEAD HER!"
Screamed the Mistress.

Suki closed her eyes
And felt sorry for them.

1. Image courtesy of the Mysterious Milk