Deyna's Journey
Deyna*s Journey
Chapter 1
Deyna walked through the cafeteria. His whiskers twitched, as he smelled fish sticks. He cringed. Deyna, like all otters liked fish, but the school*s fish sticks tasted like shit. Looking around, he searched for his friend, Chris. A ferret stood up and waved.
*Yo, Deyna! Over here dawg!* he yelled.
*I*m an otter meine freunde!* Deyna yelled back.
Deyna wasn*t born in America, he was German. His family moved to Ohio when he was nine years old and couldn*t speak a word of English. Chris*s relatives are German, so he helped Deyna with his language skills. Now Deyna spoke perfect English.
*Guten Tag, Deyna.* Chris said.
*Tag, Chris.*
*Ready for lunch?*
*No. That food tastes like scheisse.* Deyna cringed again. Then he pulled out a chicken sandwich.
*I brought my lunch today. After that rat burger gave me heartburn, I decided not to take any chances.*
Chris laughed, *I*ve eaten worse stuff than this.* He took a bite and frowned. *Scratch that, this stuff sucks.*
Lowering his voice, Chris asked, *You tell them yet?*
*No, I haven*t.* Deyna replied
After a summer of soul-searching, Deyna found out a lot about himself. He found out what he wanted to do with his life, what he wanted to see and he found out that he was bisexual. Only Chris knew this. He wanted to tell his parents, but he didn*t want to hurt them. His mother was a strict catholic and thought that gays and bis were against God.
*You can*t keep them in the dark.* Chris said.
*Bull shit I can*t! It*s none of their business.*
The boys stopped when a cute panda walked by
*Wow. She*s beautiful.* Deyna mumbled.
*That*s Polly, Exchange student from Hong Kong.*
Jumping out of his chair, Deyna ran to Polly.*
*Ni hau.* He said.
*Ni hau.* She said with a smile. *You speak Chinese very well.*
*Xie xie.* He replied, flashing his million-dollar smile.
*And you are very cute.* She said, giggling.
Deyna blushed. *Thank you. You speak English quite well.*
*Oh, thank you. You have sexy accent, where you from?*
*Cologne, Germany.*
*Ooh, Germany! I always want to see beautiful things in Germany.*
Deyna caressed her cheek. *Not much too see, all the beautiful things are from Hong Kong.*
Polly giggled, *Oh? Is that true?* Holding his paw to her cheek, she whispered, *I have to disagree.* She pulled out a piece of paper and jotted onto it.
*Here is my cellular phone number. Call me.*
Taking the paper, he put it in his jeans pocket. *Will do.*
He walked her to the door, held it for her and winked at her as she left for her class. As he sat down, crowds of furs were looking at him.
*Vas?* he asked.
Every fur broke out clapping. Words like *Bravo* and *Encore* could be heard over the din. Chris smiled evilly.
*You weasel.* Deyna yelled in mock anger.
*No, I*m a ferret, miene freunde.*
THAT EVENING
Deyna held out his paw. Then he whipped it around and broke a brick. He twirled around and kicked high, breaking a pot that was hanging from a tree. His headband was soaked, his gi was drenched and his body was sore; he never felt more alive. This was his favorite pastime, jiu jitsu training.
Shaking his paw out, he waited for the tingling to go away. This was also how he worked out his frustrations. Was he ashamed? No, that wasn*t it. He was scared. His parents would kick him out or worse. Deyna shuddered at the thought. His dad would probably kill him. He couldn*t tell them yet. He would wait. Besides, if he had a problem he could talk with Chris. But, what about Polly? Would she be OK with it? Probably not. That*s all right, though. He didn*t have to tell her. He shivered from a breeze and decided to call it a day.
The hot water felt good on Deyna*s sore body. Water was always a best friend to otters. He watched the water run across his fur. He was a good-looking otter. He had dark brown fur, with a cream colored splash over his navel and a black sword shape on his chest. He was given his name because of that sword.
When he was a pup, he loved to read. He read books by a fox named Brian Jacques. His favorite was The Taggerung. His mother read that book a lot, too. When he was born, they saw the sword and said, *Look! He has the sword! Just like Deyna, the otter warrior.* He chuckled. He was like Deyna, the otter warrior in many ways. He was muscular, he was swift and he was living a lie for a time.
He groaned as he flexed his massive muscles. His body was hurting. He had been putting on a lot of training. And why not? A chance at a scholarship paid by the AWMA was worth the pain. He was lucky to get accepted for the competition. Only the best would be able to compete. But then again, three times state champion and four times regional champion was enough to get the board*s attention. Now he had to use all Master Wong taught him to win. He had to believe in himself like everyone else did.
Dressing in an A shirt and boxers, he went downstairs for a snack. He opened the fridge and frowned. There was nothing there that caught his attention. He settled for a piece of chicken and walked back to his room. On his way there, he passed his parent*s room. He listened to the TV as he nibbled on the drumstick.
*The anti-gay riots in San Francisco continue to grow in intensity as groups of heterosexuals demand that homosexuals and bisexuals be thrown out. Today, the riot became so violent, that one gay male was hung outside his apartment by his own belt, holding a sign that read: I OPPOSED GOD, SO HE SENT ME TO HELL.
*Ha!* his mother said, in German, ** Deyna*s eyes filled with tears. He definitely couldn*t tell them. They would hate him.
Once in his room, he dialed Polly*s cell number.
*Ni hau?* she said when she answered.
*Hi beautiful.* He said.
*Hello, Deyna!* she smiled. She liked Deyna. He was smart, cute and famous.
*How are you Polly?*
* I am great. How are you?*
Deyna and Polly talked for almost an hour about many subjects; Hong Kong, Cologne, and Deyna*s chance for a scholarship in the upcoming competition. Then Deyna sighed.
*Something is wrong?* she asked.
*Yeah.*
*Want to talk about it?*
*Not really. It*s a difficult subject.*
Polly could tell by his voice that he was very depressed about it.
*You can trust me, Deyna.*
*I know. It*s just *.*
*Just what?*
*I*. can*t say.*
*Will you? Sometime?*
*Yes, sometime. Just not now.*
*OK. Well, I must go to sleep.*
*OK. Xie jin.*
*Xie jin.* She said then hung up. He would tell her. Eventually. She slipped into the sheets of her bed, laid down and looked up at the ceiling. She smiled as a plan came to her mind. He would tell her tomorrow, if it worked.
Deyna wasn*t sleeping well. He had too much on his mind. He lit incense and pulled his legs into a Yoga position. *Great spirits, guide me.* He whispered as he closed his eyes.
*Dragon and Crane fly high, screech and howl. Panther, Snake, Tiger search the ground, forever on the prowl. Grant me wisdom; show me the path to take. But protect and shield me from all my mistakes.*
He chanted the mantra over and over again. When he opened his eyes, he saw the spirits of Chinese lore. The dragon spoke to him, in Chinese.
**
*This mortal does. I ask for your help.*
** the tiger said.
** whispered the crane.
** mewed the leopard.
** purred the panthress.
*My friends can*t bear this burden*.* Deyna started.
** The dragon hissed.
*Polly?*
**
*But**
**
*
Deyna snapped his eyes open. He was lying on his bedroom floor and his mother was standing over him.
*Vas?*
**
** he replied in German.
Deyna got up and stretched. He brewed his morning tea and got dressed for school. As he waited for the bus, he hummed *Slap Me Rudder*, an old Irish sailor tune. His ears twitched as he heard a sound like thunder. A red sports car pulled up to the curb and stopped. The passenger window rolled down, and Polly said, *You want ride?*
*Absolutely* Deyna replied with a grin.
He slid into the passenger seat and belted up. He leaned over and kissed Polly*s cheek.
*Xie xie, zhen mei.* He said
*You think I am beautiful?*
*Yes.*
*Thank you. I think you are handsome.*
*Thanks.*
Polly put the car into gear and sped off. Deyna examined it and smiled.
*Where did you get this car, Polly?*
*Baba sent it. He owns car business.*
*Very sleek,* he looked at her, *and sexy.*
*Me or car?* she teased.
*Both.* He replied.
Deyna watched the scenery go by and then realized something.
*This isn*t the way to school.*
*Who say we go to school?*
*What?*
*I play hockey today.*
*Hockey?*
*You know* skip school, have fun.*
*Oh! You mean hooky.*
*Yes, hooky. Why?* she looked at him, *You no want to?*
*Oh, I want to, especially with you.*
*Where to then?*
*Have you been to the park recently?*
*No.*
*Then let*s go there. Sound good?*
*Sounds good to me.*
TO BE CONTINUED*.
Deyna T. Otter, Polly Chang, Chris Polechat, Kirstin Otter (c) Donald Moore
The Taggerung (c) Brian Jacques
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