Update #4351.43

The Piebald Penguin finally found an apartment to rent in the Big Apple! No, I don't mean New York...a different big apple. Come to think of it, I don't even know why people call New York City a "Big Apple", it seems silly. (Not that I will ever understand the way East Coast people think. They are all weird.) The only big apple I know about is the one that hit Isaac Newton in the head allowing him to become famous by inventing gravity...or at least proving it...alright the apple probably really just led him to further his research into optics, but we still love the guy. Smiley. Regardless, The Piebald Penguin is heading off to Seattle, where he will start his new life as a single, unemployed male, who's not in college anymore. (ladies if this is your type...contact President Obama. He'll get the message to me...)

If you're sitting in your chair wondering why this post seems different from the others (i.e. more ellipsis and parentheses than normal), then it's time to let you in on a secret. The Piebald Penguin got pretty sick this last week. Nothing life threatening, I hope, but I had a high fever for several days with no apparent cause. It's my belief that the fever has been finally broken and crushed by the stalwart defenders of my incredibly potent immune system. I was, however, left with a very weak body, which means that moving will potentially be difficult to say the least. I'm hoping that I can finally get some restful sleep now that I don't have to worry about delirium-induced dreams. The only cause of this strange malady that I can come up with is that after four years of abusing and pushing my body to the limits, it finally just wasn't strong enough to handle any more punishment. But that's just speculation.

Stay cool,
~The Piebald Penguin

The Bear

This story amuses me a lot. At the time, it was the longest story that I'd ever written. I accomplished this great feat (laugh.out.loud) over the course of several days. I mostly wrote while in class (it was high school, and I was liked by the teachers so they didn't care). As my senior year came to a close, I became a true writer. I was experiencing, what I thought to be, great emotional turmoil, with girls, college on the horizon and other events in my life. Awash in upheaval, I found a writing pad in my school supplies and began that first tenuous journey of pouring my pain onto paper. This story was written during this "dark" time in my life. Mostly about a young lady who had become my first true love, even if she rejected me for months, this story is symbolic in every way. It was the first time that I realized the power of the pen. I pen images onto a page and pour meaning into them. Meaning that only I would fully understand. I am thankful that I got to experience such deep emotions at a time that was still relatively worry-free. Less than a year later, the young lady in question become the first girl to break my heart, but I still believe that the experience made me a far better person than I was.

There once was a brown bear that lived in a forest. He was a content bear, even though he lived alone. He had a few friends amongst the woodland creatures, but, at the end of the day, he would always find himself walking back to his humble abode by himself. He really did not mind this, though, as he was a rather shy, quiet, and introverted bear. One day, as the bear was enjoying a stroll in the woods, he saw a female bear. This other bear’s hair was a beautiful golden-red that reflected the sunlight perfectly. Day after day, the lonely bear would walk through the woods so that he might get a chance to gaze upon the radiant beauty of this other bear. After his walks, the lonely brown bear would go back home and wonder why he was still alone. Several weeks went by like this until the brown bear finally built up his courage and followed the red-haired bear. After quite a while of tracking the red bear, he came upon a meadow filled with flowers that contained all the colours of the rainbow. The rainbow was amazingly eye-catching, and the brown bear could not help but stand in awe of it. He was so completely entranced by the glowing radiance of the meadow, that he forgot about the red-haired bear. When he looked away from the meadow, he could not find a single trace that there had been another bear. He decided that he could remain eternally happy in this meadow, and that the red-haired bear was not worth chasing. He remained in the meadow until well after dark, frolicking amongst the flowers. Then, disaster struck. He was running up a small hill, when he tripped and fell face first on the flowers. As he fell, he realized that there was a bear trap right underneath him. He fell on the trap with surprising force, and he groaned in pain as the claws of the trap sunk into the soft flesh of his chest. For several hours, the trapped brown bear lay on the soft ground where he had fallen. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the bear’s hopes also rose. He saw the beautiful meadow in all its glory and splendor. He built up his courage once again, and he got up from where he had lain. It was then that he noticed that the trap, which still clung onto his chest, had a chain that attached it to a giant stake in the ground. Every time he moved away from the stake, the chain would cause the trap to tighten its vice grip on his chest. While the pain was only moderate, the bear knew that he could only withstand it for a short while. This knowledge brought about a sense of urgency to the usually calm bear. He understood at once that he must find someone who can help him; so he began frantically calling out to his friends with desperation. Hearing his anxious pleas, his friends came running to his aid. First came the wise owl that tried to free the bear by telling of his experiences. Unfortunately, it was growing late, and the owl had to fly back to his nest in order to take care of his new family. Next, and amiable, old beaver came along. Try as she might, the beaver could not find a way to remove the trap from the brown bear’s chest. Eventually, the beaver had to return to her dam-building project in preparation of the coming rains. Finally, the bear’s long-time friend cane to render her services. She was a beautiful and intelligent mare who, while young, had had several encounters with traps that gave her insight into the bear’s now wretched condition. However, even the mare’s guidance was not enough to free the bear from the near-oppressive grasp of the trap. The mare would have stayed with the bear all night, but he told her to go on home. Another night came, and the bear was left to cry on his own. He could no longer go home, but neither could he stay in the meadow. Once again, the sun rose high above the meadow, only this morning, there was a terrible fog that enshrouded the surrounding forest. The brown bear slowly woke up, and, as he became more lucid, he decided to leave the meadow. While the trap would continue to tighten its death grip, he knew that he needed to get home. So with this in his mind, he began his painful odyssey across the meadow. With each step, the pain in his chest increased, but he also got closer to his home and his friends. After several grueling hours of trudging through the flowers, he at last came to the edge of the meadow. As he took the last few steps, he stumbled and fell headfirst through a noose. The enormous weight of the brown bear caused the noose to rapidly tighten around his neck. The bear quickly picked himself up to prevent himself from becoming strangled. As he glanced around, he noticed that the noose was hanging from a tree that was deep in the meadow. He looked ahead and saw his home; it was so close that he could hear his friends playing, and he could smell the food that was being cooked. He could not go towards his home, though, because the noose would certainly kill him. He would have to be content with going back to the meadow to spend the rest of his days among the flowers. As he turned around, a flash caught his eye. It came from the glint of a metal object hidden between the flowers. The brown bear crept closer to investigate this strange phenomenon; once he got closer, he realized that the object was another bear trap. In fact as he surveyed the meadow, he noticed that there were traps all throughout the meadow. He would not be able to sleep or stay in the meadow. This startling realization brought him to the conclusion that he must cut himself free of the noose around his neck. With a sad and hurting heart, the bear marched to the tree; coiled himself up; and then sprang forward into the air. When he reached the rope high above his head, he swung his formidable paw and snapped the rope in two. As he did this, the chain attached to the trap went taut and ripped the bear’s heart out of his chest. The bear slowly gathered himself up and headed for his home. He was finally free from the beautiful meadow, but he would never be the same. He had a cavity in his chest that could never be healed or fill by anything. He would bear his scar for the rest of his life.