Tools Used:
mechanical pencil, 0.5 HB lead
PS7

* * *

The Little One wept and moaned about his terrible state of affairs; the hut in which he lived was in complete disarray, his father and mother were cross with him, and all the children in the village had refused to play with him due to his stank smell and disheveled ( And more often than not, dirty ) clothing. He sat crosslegged in his room and continued to gloom about his life.

"Oh, woe betide me," he cried loudly, banging his fists on his closet door, "My life is a terrible mess. Everyone dislikes me!" He sat down on the floor again ( His fists had become sore. ) He heard a slight knock on his door, his father's voice on the other side asking for him to unlock it. The Little One, not wishing to be disrespectful ( punishment was the last thing he needed now ) stood up and cricked the door open carefully, allowing his father to step inside. His father sat down on the bed and motioned for his son to sit next to him; which his son did quickly, drying his eyes with the sleeves of his tunic.

"I know what your problem is," the father began, with a smile on his face. "When I was a child like you I went through the exact same feelings you are experiencing now. All children do." The Little One started angrily at this and told his father that no one could possibly understand.

"I'm so horrible! Look at me! I'm a clumsy little fool, and i'm of no use to anyone!"
"You may be a clumsy little fool, but at least you aren't the Grreh," His father replied.
"The Grreh?" asked The Little One. "What's that?"

"The Grreh is the most pitiful creature on the planet, child," said the father, leaning back a little. "The wings it once had? Out of its own stupidity, the Grreh set them on fire and now they are no more. It sits around, day and night, not seeing, not moving, not doing. It has no face, and is incapable of expression. It is so weak that it cannot move more than a small distance without once again requiring a rest. It can barely think because it knocked its head on a rock once and became completely daft afterwards." The Little One sat there and bit his lip, urging his father to continue. "The Grreh cannot eat because it has no mouth, so it is reduced to slamming its face into food and allowing its skin, over the course of a few hours, to absorb the nutrients in the food. It cannot talk because of this as well, and the only noise it is capable of making is a terrible whine that it keeps up at a near constant pace. It is completely blind because it poked its own eye out out of self hate. It has no hands so it is unable to perform even the most basic of tasks. It is the only one of its kind, so it has no mate. It is truly the most pathetic creature in existence."

The father pointed to the wings on his son's back and lifted one of them carefully. Annoyed, his son flapped it loudly. "See? It's in perfect working order." The Little One laughed. The father looked at his son's face. "That is in perfect working order as well." And so on he went, describing everything that the Grreh lacked and that The Little One did not.

The Little One sat there silently for a moment.

"I can't help but feel even worse now," he said. "Knowing that someone is even worse off than I am makes me feel selfish for being self piteous in the first place."
"Don't you see?" asked the father. "That is the Grreh's purpose. It is the only thing he enjoys, it is the only reason he is still alive. As pathetic as he may be - we all must respect and love him for what he has blessed us with at great sacrifice to himself."

"...Something to be thankful for, isn't it, son?"

* * *

I awoke, but I didn't try to open my eye. The blackness was still there.

There would be no difference today.

Feeling around my surroundings with my legs carefully, I stood up and stretched to my full height. The smell of damp stone told me that I was still in the cave I had fallen asleep in the night before. The sounds of my echoing footsteps cemented this. A small drop of water splashed on top of my head. I shook it away and stepped out of the cave. The smell of grass and fresh air met my nostrils, along with something that seemed decidedly unfamiliar. The sound of dirt falling came from the left suddenly, causing me to jump slightly. The unfamiliar smell seemed to come closer, and I tensed my muscles, preparing to run to safety.

A small, high voice called out to me. A child's voice. What was a child doing here?

"What do you want, child?" I called out aloud, hesitating for a moment as I heard my own voice again. It had been a very long time since I had ever spoken. The valley was a quiet, lonely place and there was simply no reason to change that anymore. I called out again, and the child replied:

"...I thought you couldn't talk."
"I can talk. I just choose not to."

I heard the child shuffle closer towards me slowly, his footsteps deliberate and light.

"Again, what do you want, child?" I asked loudly. This was a waste of time.
"You're... you're him, right?"
"Yes. I am the Grreh. For the last time, what is it that you want?"

The child kicked at the dirt for a moment. Thinking, most likely.

"Tell me what happened."
"What? What do you mean?"
"To you. How did... this happen to you?"

I carefully eased myself to the ground and sighed deeply.

"How did you know about me?"
"My father told me. Everyone in my village knows about you."
I chuckled weakly. "A celebrity, am I? Well, it's good to see they're still just as stupid as they always were."
"W-what do you mean?" the child replied.
"What have they told you?" I asked. "About me, that is."
"You're... you're the Grreh and you're the one..."
"Are they still using the whole pity card?" I interrupted.
"What? How did you know?"

I chuckled again.

"Child, do you know why I am the way I am?"
"No... I was going to ask. That's why I came here. I wanted to know what happened."

I took a deep breath and thought back.

"I was once exactly like you." The child was clearly surprised to hear this.
"But... you're the Grreh. You aren't one of us."
"You foolish villagers and your preconcieved notions," I replied. "Did you think there were only so many different beings in your race? I am but of a different gender. We share the same species. There are men, there are women, there are those like me."

He kicked at the dirt again.

"So why are you living here?"
"My kind are highly, highly rare and we have never been looked down upon kindly. Tell me, which family are you from?"
"The Fourth," the child replied.
"Hmm. Your great aunt was my mother."
"What? How is that possible?"
"When I was born, the elders of the village were horrified. They had never seen my kind before. I was born completely aware and able to communicate and speak clearly. And seeing as how they were so far away from those who knew better, they prepared to drown me, just mere minutes after I was born."

I cleared my throat, the memories rushing back.

"Thankfully, my mother would not hear of it. The elders were furious. They struck her down and took me from her, and took me deep into this valley. They released me once they had stabbed out my eye with a blade and set my wings aflame, saying that they were not the ones who were to kill me. The valley would take care of a blind, flightless Grreh all on its own."
"But... you were just a baby. How could they do that to you?"
"You'd be surprised how beings will react when the unknown becomes known," I said. "Decisions they never would have made otherwise suddenly become very much an option."
"Go on," said the child.

"I don't remember much what happened to me then. All I remembered was my mother's face. It was the only thing in this world i've ever been able to see, and it still is now. I crawled around and found this cave behind me, and hid here for many, many years. I survived off of tiny plants and a stream inside the cave."
"Why did you never try to come back?"
"The village is many miles away. The terrain is treacherous. A blind baby would not have lasted long. Besides, they'd have killed me anyway."
The child mewed sadly.
"I can't believe this," he said. "All that which my parents told me were lies. What am I to do? I cannot stand the thought of living around those who could be so cruel. They tore you from your mother, blinded you, stranded you, tried to kill you - and then say that you did it to yourself and that you're an example for all of us. I must set things straight. I truly cannot stand the thought."

And with that, I heard the child run back to the village as fast as his feet could carry him. I had no idea what was in store for me...

* * *

To be continued