“Look. All I’m saying is you need to do something for yourself once in a while, ya know?” Pogo said as Mori handed down a sack full of pollen from the flower he was perched on top of. Pogo tossed the full bag into a makeshift wheelbarrow made from a discarded milk carton. He grabbed another empty sack and made his way back over to the flower Mori was still on.

“I mean. I get what you mean. I just. I don’t even know what I would do for myself.” Mori said as he reached down and grabbed the empty sack from Pogo. His legs wrapped around the pedicel; his feet hooked under his ankle. Mori took a breath and wiped his brow before he returned to his task of scraping pollen into the bag.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Pogo said, raising his arms up into the air as he stood at the base of the flower. “You need to focus on you. Learn what you want out of life. You don’t wanna end up a mindless drone like all these guys, do you?” Pogo turned and motioned towards all the other teams of two collecting pollen in the flower field. “These guys never think about what they want either. It’s so weird!”

“Grand says that selfishness is a human trait,” Mori said simply as he handed another full bag down to Pogo.

“And what’s wrong with that? Just because Grand is a first-generation Mallow and doesn’t trust humans doesn’t mean we should all follow whatever he believes!”

“He’s the village elder so I’m pretty sure that is what that means, Pogo.”

“Elder shemlder! We live on Earth now so we should adapt to some of their customs and culture. And free thought and individualism is part of that!”

Mori climbed down the flower. Wordlessly signaling to Pogo that they had collected enough pollen from it. Pogo grabbed the handles of the makeshift wheelbarrow and moved onto the next flower on their route. The sun was high and bearing down on their, bare, off white bodies. A gentle breeze letting the flowers sway and dance in the fresh summer air. A slight chill with the breeze. The scent of the flowers they were harvesting so heavy in the air it was almost unpleasant.

Pogo began his ascent up the next flower. Mori and Pogo had a system in place where they would alternate who went up to get the pollen so neither of them tired out. The one on the ground would give the other an empty bag, collect the full bags, and watch to make sure they didn’t fall. Mori had to squint two of his four eyes and close the other two, as he looked up to spot Pogo’s climb. The sun failing to hide behind the flower’s petals.

Once Pogo was safely at the top of the flower, Mori handed him an empty sack and looked out into the flower field. It was a large field of yellow flowers. Planted in rows with dirt paths between them all. The field was settled in a small clearing between a few trees that usually provided some shade when the sun wasn’t at high noon. Most of the other workers were taking a break, settling down under the shade of a flower and eating the lunch they brought with them.

Mori and Pogo kept working, even under the intense heat of the noon sun. They had made a deal that they would work through lunch to get the job done faster. It was still the first week of the arrangement, though, and Mori was feeling a bit hungry. He looked over his shoulder and slid his hand into one of the pollen sacks in the wheelbarrow, and shoved it into the mouth on his belly.

 “Oi! I saw that. You can’t go eating on the job it’ll hurt our commissions!” Pogo complained as he took the sack from Mori’s hand.

“You’re the one telling me I need to think about myself more.”

“Thinking about yourself doesn’t mean giving in to any little temptation that crosses your mind.” Pogo still shoveling pollen into the sack as he looked down at Mori.

“So do what I want. But only sometimes?” Mori brushed his hand against his chin as he tried to understand what kind of philosophy Pogo was trying to teach him.

“Well. No, not really. It’s just. You do what you want you just have to consider the consequences.”

“I did. The consequence was I wouldn’t be as hungry.”

“But we’re a team here, Mori! That decision affects me just as well as it affects you!” Pogo groaned with mock annoyance as he handed a full bag down to Mori. Mori took the full bag in one hand; handing Pogo and empty bag before making his way back to the wheelbarrow.

 “So, you want me to think of myself and what I want but also think about how what I want will influence others? Isn’t that basically what Grand tells us to do when he says to look out for each other?”

“No. Well. Kind of. But it’s different! It’s totally different because Grand is all about putting yourself out for the greater good and the well being of the village but sometimes you havta do stuff for yourself regardless of how the rest of the village is impacted from it! You have to put yourself first sometimes!”

Mori simply slid his hand into the sack again and began to chew on another handful of pollen. The lips on his stomach curling into a sly grin as he glanced up at Pogo perched on the top of the flower.

Pogo grumbled as he tied the bag shut now that it was full. Tossing it at Mori before sliding down the stem. “Fine. I had that one coming. You’re pushing the cart back though!”

Mori simply nodded. Still chewing on the pollen. It was a pure sweet taste that filled his mouth and melted on his tongue. He took the cart and pushed it along the small dirt path. They made their way back in silence. Both worn out from working under the heat of the sun. They dropped their pollen off at the storehouse. The manager there gave them their meal vouchers and commented on how quickly they got the job done, and telling them that they shouldn’t overwork themselves as they left.

It was a short walk back to the village from the storehouse. A small dirt path leading the way through the grass that came up to their knees. The village was a modest sized farming town. The buildings made of cardboard with plastic tarps covering them for when it rained. There was a small fence around the village made from small fallen branches and popsicle sticks that were bound together with plant fiber. The posts were buried into the ground with a walkway on top for watchmen to guard and keep an eye on possible threats.

Mori and Pogo walked up to the entryway. Two other mallow people standing on either side of the gate. Each wielding a thumb tack on their hip. Their bodies bare from clothes other than a belt made from weaved together dental floss that went around their waist and held a small pocket where they could put the thumbtack weapons when they weren’t using them.

“Identification.” One of the two spoke as Mori and Pogo approached.

Pogo groaned as Mori began to dig around in the small satchel, made from similar material as the guard’s belt, that was over his shoulder. “You know who we are, Borris. The village is small enough that we all know each other. I don’t know why Grand makes you guys stand out here all day anyway.”

“Just show your ID, Pogo,” Mori said as he pulled a small card out and handed it to Borris. “This is for wandering Mallows. If someone new comes to town Grand wants to know about it so he can give them a place and a job if they’re looking for it. You know how hard it is out there on your own more than most here.”

“I didn’t have to go through any of that stuff when I got here!” Pogo continued to complain even as he began digging around in his bag for his ID.

Borris handed Mori his ID back and finally spoke up. “You lazed around and mooched off the commune for a good two weeks before anyone caught on. You’re the reason we have these checks now.”

“Yeah? Well, look at me now! I’m a thriving helpful member of the community! All because you let me in with open arms and let me gather my strength up first!” Pogo said as he pulled his own card out of the satchel around his shoulder. Handing it to Borris.

Borris looked it over and handed it back. “It expires in two days. Might wanna renew it tonight.”

“What? I just got it last month! Why does Mori’s last for a year but mine is only good for a month?!” Pogo waved his arms around dramatically. Mori glanced over his shoulder as Pogo made a scene. He knew he could go in without him, but that if he did it would only cause an even bigger scene later on.

“Because you’re an outsider,” Borris said simply. “Mori was born here. He’s more trusted than you are.”

“Damn this human-esque bureaucracy anyway! Mallow people aren’t meant to be tied down by paperwork and red tape! We’re supposed to be free!”

“Weren’t you just saying how we should embrace human culture in the fields, though?”

Pogo looked over at Mori. All four of his eyes narrowing at him before he turned and walked through the gate into the village. “Shut it, Mori.”

Mori laughed and followed Pogo into town. A grin stretching across his stomach. They walked together in silence until Pogo came to his house. Walking up to his door as Mori kept walking. Pogo turning and yelling out. “See you at dinner!”

“See ya there!” Mori yelled back as he turned and walked backward for a few steps. Mori returned Pogo’s smile and waved to him before he watched him enter his home. A small cardboard house that only had one room inside of it. Several beds lining the walls all stacked on top of each other for the other field workers Pogo shared the housing with.

Mori kept walking towards the center of town. There was a large building in the middle that everything else seemed to have been built around. The only two-story building in the entire village. There was a small gate around it made from toothpicks and thin copper wire. Mori walked along the fence until he came to the entryway. He turned and began to walk up the long dirt path up to the front door.

There were no locks on any of the doors. Anyone was free to come and go as they pleased. Mori sighed softly as he stepped inside. He took his satchel off of to put it on a hook close to the front door.  He raised his arms and let out a soft groan as he stretched. Only taking a few steps inside before he called out. “Grand? You home?”

“Mori?” A voice called out from the other room. It was deeper and a bit more gravely than Mori’s

“You’re home early. I’m in my study.”

“Yeah. Pogo and I work well together.” Mori said as he walked to the study. He pushed the cardboard flap that they used for a door and leaned against the door frame as he peered into Grand’s study.

“I’m happy to hear you’re making friends.” Grand said as he sat at a plastic desk. A pile of papers covering the desk. A small broken off piece of graphite in his hand. He looked up from the mountain of work to give his full attention to Mori as they spoke.

“Yeah. Pogo is a really good guy. Borris said his ID expired in a couple of days, though. Any chance we could surprise him with a new one at dinner tonight? I know he’s going to push it off and forget about it. Then it’s going to cause a whole scene when we can’t get back into the village after working the fields and it would just be way easier if we could just do it for him.”

Grand simply sat and nodded along as Mori rambled. His four eyes showing his smile with the desk and paperwork blocking the sight of his stomach. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks! You’re the best!” Mori beamed as he pushed himself off of the door frame. He turned to leave but stopped when Grand suddenly spoke.

“And in return, you’ll have all of your studies completed by dinner time?”

Mori groaned “Oh fine! But now you made this a deal so you have to do it as long as I do my part!”

Grand chuckled as he watched Mori rush towards the stairs. After Mori was out of sight, he turned his attention back to the mountain of paperwork. A deep sigh he dove back in, content that Mori had proper motivation to study now.

As the sun began to settle behind the trees, Mori stood behind a counter with Grand as a line of Mallows stood with empty bowls. Mori had a brighter smile than usual as he prepared to serve the village. He had completed his studies, and as promised, Grand had Pogo’s updated ID ready. The canteen was quickly filling up as Grand and Mori portioned out the food. It was a tradition that the village elder makes sure their people are taken care of before taking care of themselves. Mori being groomed to be the new Elder once Grand passed the title was constrained by a similar tradition.

Mori dug the wooden spoon into the gruel. A soupy mix of water, pollen, and whatever other foodstuffs the scavenging team could return to the village with. Tonight, there were chunks of apple mixed in with the gruel.

Pogo was near the end of the line. He knew that he ran the risk of not getting food that way if some of the teams didn’t provide that day, but that never seemed to bother him much. The teams had always provided for as long as he had been there, and it gave him the excuse to end up eating with Mori. Despite how well Pogo had integrated into the village there were still Mallows that viewed him as little more than an outsider. Tainted by the influence of humans.

In his vast curiosity, Mori had asked Pogo about what the humans were like. How the Mallows that interacted with them were different, or if they even were at all. The village had a mistrust of humans. Grand, being one of the first generations of Mallows to come to Earth, claimed that he had seen their true nature. He would say that Humans were never to be trusted. That they would only ever take advantage of Mallows and treat them poorly.

Mori never got a straight answer from Grand or Pogo about what humans were like. Grand usually too angry to properly discuss what he had experienced. Pogo would always grow very distant when asked about his past before he came to the village. Often staying away from whoever asked for several days. It only took this happening twice for Mori to accept he should stop asking.

“What’s got you so happy?” Pogo asked as he finally made his way to the front of the line. Mori took his plastic bowl and filled it with the gruel.

Mori opened his mouth, but his words stopped as the ground began to shake. The canteen was little more than a small tent covering the modest seating that they were able to put together from scraps. They all looked to the sky as the ground shook again, and again. The rhythmic shaking seemed to chill Pogo to the core. All four of his eyes were wide with shock and terror. Plagued with memories of his previous life shook from his mind by the quaking ground.

As Mori looked towards what felt like the source of the small tremors along with the rest of the village, he laid eyes upon his first ever human. The walls surrounding the village came up to her shins. The light of the sun slowly dying behind her. The glowing embers at the end of the girl’s cigarette illuminated her face. She was staring down at the village.

She brushed a tassel of green hair from her pale, piercing covered face.  Dark eye shadow made her glare more intimidating to the Mallows below her. She wore a black t-shirt with a strange design on the front. Her pale arms were covered with drawings. Her jeans were tight. They clung to her thighs so tight they seemed to be painted on.

She raised a foot and stepped over the wall. Her red converse crushing one of the cardboard buildings under it. She looked around the small village. All of the buildings came up to her shin. She didn’t see any of the small residents she had expected to see running from her presence until she heard a bell. It grabbed her attention. She looked over towards it and saw a massive gathering of the little mallows.

“This shit day just got a whole lot better.” She said as she began to walk towards the gathering with an empty terrarium in her hands.

Pogo sat on his bed after the day in the fields with Mori. He would do this nearly every day after work. Just sit on the edge of his bed and look out into the empty room. He wondered how the people of the village were content with this kind of life. There was nothing in the room other than beds. No chairs. No tables. No art. Nothing but beds.

Each bed had its own small chest at the foot. The single point of privacy that they were allowed. Pogo stood up with a sigh and opened his chest. His four eyes rolled as he pulled out a small container full of white powder that was nearly empty. He put the container into his bag and left the house.

He made his way to the small market district that they had. The Mallow community didn’t do much trade. They were focused on sharing what they had, but that didn’t mean that some Mallows didn’t have things others wanted. It was a bartering economy mostly among the scouting parties that would travel the farthest from the village. Their official duty was to keep an eye out for any potential threats, but many of them had taken to the hobby of bringing back strange relics of human life.

As Pogo walked down Market Street there were numerous stalls where Mallows sat under the shade. Most of them siblings or close friends of the Mallows in the scouting corps. Pogo and learned from his time here that the scouting teams worked differently than the farming teams. While farmers were expected to do work year-round, the scouting members had off and on seasons. They would go out for a few weeks or months and then be given the same time off. They would form bonds with someone that worked the opposite seasons to ensure the shop was always open.

Any of the foodstuffs that they brought back went to the storage facility. An old Styrofoam cooler that had been retrieved with great effort from one of the scouting teams a few years back. Most of the things on Market Street were simple odds and ends that they could drag back with them without much hassle. There were some dead batteries, paper clips, crinkled paper, tossed away toothpicks, popsicle sticks. It was amazing what some of these scouting teams could bring back with them.

Pogo knew the truth, though. It was all just trash. It was what the humans didn’t want anymore. One of the reasons Pogo liked going down Market Street so much was the creativity some would have with the trash. Many Mallows would actually use their free time to create art with the materials brought back by the scouting teams. Using the creation itself to pay for more material to make more art. The shop keeper would then sell the piece of art for whatever anyone would be willing to barter with.

He wondered how it all got started in the first place. This strange economy of buying, creating and selling. It seemed like the creators were only truly getting the joy of creating out of the process. Maybe that was enough for them.

That wasn’t why Pogo was here, though. He enjoyed seeing people being creative. It brought some life to the otherwise dreary village, but Pogo was here for a reason. He needed a refill. He came across the stand he was searching for. They didn’t change places much, but sometimes they all switched things around. When Pogo had asked why he was told to make sure no one gets comfortable with where things are. He was told it was for the sake of equality. To ensure that every stall got looked at when someone walked through. Pogo suspected it was because some of them were dealing in material or information that would get them kicked out.

Pogo greeted the shopkeep with a warm smile across his belly. He would come about once a month for the same thing. He never greeted the shop keeper by name until they spoke. This particular shop was run by a pair of twins that looked nearly identical, and Pogo never knew who he was speaking to until they spoke. Bap had a deeper voice that Pab while Pab had a bit of a lisp when he spoke.

“Well if it isn’t my favorite customer back again!” It was Bap.

“Glad you still remember me.” Pogo teased.

Bap and Pab were a year older than Pogo. He insisted that a year is a large age difference in human years. Bap thought this was silly. Mallows often lived for 200 years without any issue, so the idea of a single year is a large difference seemed absurd.

“Shut it. I’m not old no matter what you say.” Bap shot back with a hint of snark. “Need a refill already?”

“Yeah.” Pogo said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Well, if you’ve got the regular stuff Pab just brought back a piece of chalk with his last batch.” Bap says as he eyes the satchel around Pogo’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I got it.” Pogo said as he pulled out a small bag full of pollen.

Bap laughed and rubbed his hands together as he saw Pogo produce the bag from his pouch. He opened the small bag, shoving his finger that was wet with spit into the contents. Bap moaned as he licked the pollen off of his finger and stuffed the bag into his own pouch.

“I’ll be right back.” Bap said.  He disappeared under the desk of his stand. A few moments later he reappeared with two small chunks of white chalk in either hand.

“What do you do with that pollen anyway?” Pogo asked as he took the chalk chunks and deposited them into his satchel.

“What’s it to you? I don’t ask about why you want the chalk. Best to just let everyone worry about themselves for this.”

“Sure.” Pogo nodded in answer. He closed his satchel and thanked Bap for the chalk before leaving his stall. Pogo made his way down the rest of Market Street, taking in all of the shops and the various odds and ends they had for sale.

He was making his way towards the water jugs. Four, gallon jugs, each filled with clean drinking water. They had small taps on the bottom where Mallows collected their water. Three of the jugs were full the fourth a little over half gone. Once it was empty they would start to crack down on the water rations, but for now, Pogo had no problem collecting water.

Pogo put waterskin into his satchel. He went off towards an open field with tall grass near the water jugs. There were plans to build more housing here when the village gathered enough materials. The goal was to allow everyone to have their own space to call their own.

It was a nice dream for the village to work towards. Pogo wasn’t sure if it was a real goal or just something Grand told everyone so they would work harder. It didn’t really matter to him either way.

He sat down in the tall grass. His entire off-white body concealed within the grass. Pogo pulled the water and chalk out of his satchel along with a small pestle and mortar that he had carved out of some rocks himself.  He splashed some water into the mortar, then broke off a chunk of the chalk and put it in as well. Then he proceeded to grind the chalk and water into a paste-like mixture.

Pogo dipped his hand into the paste once it was mixed up well enough. A thick coating of it covered his hands and fingers as he reached behind him and began to smear it across his back. The scar on his back had begun to show as the paste he used this morning faded.

Pogo always hated when he had to reapply the white chalky paste to his back. When he touched the scar, he was plagued with the memories of the person who had burnt their initials onto his back, but he had to cover it up. He didn’t want others asking about it. Some people in the village didn’t know about how humans actually treated Mallows, and if they saw the brand on his back, they would look to him for answers he didn’t have. Most importantly, though, Pogo wanted to put the memories of his interactions with humans as far behind him as he could.

He always tried to clear his mind, but it never worked. It always came back to Jamie and his years under her tyranny. Unlike those in the village, Pogo wasn’t born free. He was born in a pet shop. Breed for the express purpose of being owned. He was kept in a glass container with a community of other Mallows alongside other small animals.

Every time he touched the scar on his back memories flooded back from the day his life became a living hell. The day had started out normal enough. He was woken, along with the other ten or so residents of the glass terrarium, when the lights were turned on in the shop.

The opener was a teenager that worked weekends for spending money. After he turned the lights on he turned the sign on the door to show that they were open. He did his rounds and made sure none of the pets were dead. He neglected to feed any of them before he went behind the front desk.

Pogo was used to it. It always depended on who opened the doors in the morning if they could expect more food or not, so everyone in the terrarium had an agreement to ration the food pellets they were given. The day carried on normally after that. People came and went. Small children begging their parents for fish or hamsters or mallows. Some gave in others didn’t.

By the time the sun was setting, the person behind the desk had changed from the young man to a woman about the same age.  She was sitting at the desk with her eyes glued to her phone when the door rang.  Pogo didn’t pay much attention, and neither did the girl on her phone until she glanced up and saw it was her friend.

“Jamie!!” The girl behind the counter yelled out in excitement as she jumped off the stool she was sitting on. She rushed around to the front and gave her friend a tight hug. “I haven’t seen you since you graduated! How’s life?”

Jamie returned the hug with a wide smile, embracing her friend for a few seconds before letting go. “It’s good! College is honestly a lot more difficult than I expected. Just. Balancing all the classes and the parties takes a lot of planning.”

“You’re getting invited to parties as a freshman? That’s so cool! I heard that freshman didn’t get invited to things like that a lot.”

“Yeah, well, I’m kind of a legacy at my sorority so a lot of the rules don’t apply to me.”

Jamie smirked. Her shoulders lifted with a small shrug as she tried to play it off casually.

“You should totally invite me to a party sometime!” The girl whined.

The loud conversation had gotten Pogo’s attention.  He didn’t know why, but he always found himself interested in human lives. Their culture and words were so foreign and strange to him. He simply had a desire to understand and learn. That desire had him pressed up against the cold glass listening to the conversation of the two teenage titans.

“I totally would, but they’re kind of strict about only students going to most of them, sorry!” Jamie said. She had already moved on from the conversation. Her eyes scanning the shop. “You have mallows here, right?”

“Oh! Yeah! Right over here!” She still seemed excited to see her friend as she led her over to the glass terrarium that held the mallows. There had been about 12 this morning. Only 5 were left.

Pogo often wondered if something was wrong with him when so many others got picked out of the groups and he was left to watch time and time again. The truth was he didn’t know how lucky he had been up until this point.

As the two made their way over to the glass terrarium Pogo ran for cover. There was a hamster wheel, a food tray, and a small log that they used to sleep inside. Everyone else had already cowered inside of the log the moment a customer came in. Pogo was pushed out by his own curiosity to watch and listen to the conversation between the two teens.

Jamie saw him scurrying for cover and smirked. She knew she wanted that one. It was so cute how it scurried away from her. It made her feel strong and powerful just by approaching him.

“Did you see that one that ran under the log?” she asked her friend. “I want that one.”

“They’re all pretty much the same.” The shop worker said as she opened the door at the top of the cage. Her hand reached down and picked up the log. She turned it up and shook until she was sure there weren’t any others hiding. “Do you even know what one it was?”

Jamie smirked as she watched the casual way her friend handled the mallows. She squatted down to get eye level with the cowering little humanoid creatures. They were all scared, but one stood out as more scared than the others.

Pogo’s four eyes shifted about. His knees were buckling as he tried to avoid eye contact with the girl that was examining all of the remaining mallows in search of the one she wanted. The others were worried, but Pogo knew that she wanted him.

“That one. Near the center.” Jaime said as she pointed right at Pogo.

The worker dropped the log and replaced it with Pogo. She locked the cage and held him out for Jamie to look at. “You sure you want this one?”

Jamie smiled down; her face loomed over his little cowering body. “Positive.”

“Alright!” Jamie’s friend answered, excited to help her friend get a mallow of her own. She walked back towards the counter, still holding Pogo. Her fingers had wrapped around him in a fist as she typed the transaction into the computer. “So, we have a special where you can get a collar, but personally I like to brand mine. It costs a little extra but it makes sure they know they belong to you forever.”

“Branding? Like with cows?” Jamie asked. Her head tilted to the side a bit as she glanced between the Mallow in her friends’ fist, back up to her face.

“Pretty much, yeah! You can pick out a bunch of different styles of lettering and get your initials burnt into his back. That way if anyone finds them, they can’t take them for themselves.” The worker smiled as she suddenly got an idea. “Here…” She reached down with her free hand and pulled off her shoe, putting it on the counter.

“Gross! Your feet reek!” Jamie half complained; half-joked as the scent of her feet wafted up from the well-worn flats.

Pogo was still held tight in the worker's fist. His four eyes watching the scene unfold as his mouth on his belly was smashed against her fingers keeping him silent.

“I need to show you off. Come out for a second.” The worker said as she rolled her eyes at her friends’ comment.

Pogo and Jamie were both equally puzzled by what the girl had said until they saw the nearly flattened mallow crawl out from the shoe. He was drenched in sweat. The mouth on his belly was open wide, gasping for air. He crawled over the edge of the shoe and fell down onto the counter with a wet splat. With every gasp of air, his body seemed to grow and expand as it recovered from being flattened and trampled under the girls’ foot.

 “Oh my God. You keep it in your shoe?” Jamie asked in disbelief as she looked down at the pale, gasping mallow boy that glistened in the fluorescent lights of the pet shop.

“Oh yeah! You basically can’t crush them no matter what so you can stuff em anywhere. They have these weird mouths on their tummies that are the perfect size to stretch around a toe too. Feels really good to have him pamper my feet after a long day.” Pogo had never heard anyone talk about how they use their mallow before. He began to squirm in the workers grasp.

The Mallow that had been in her shoe was still lying on his back, gasping for air. His body kept the sheen of sweat that covered him, the four eyes on his face seemed distant and almost lifeless as he stared up at the ceiling.

“Show her your brand.” The worker commanded. The mallow on the desk rolled over onto his front without a moment of hesitation. His back had two large letters burnt into them. “They can’t be crushed, but they’re like, super sensitive to heat. So, you can burn em real easy.” The worker explained as she reached down and gently traced her fingers across the scared back.

Jamie nodded with pursed lips. “Hm. How much is it to brand them versus a collar?”

“It’s only fifteen extra to get them branded, and you can pick from a bunch of different lettering designs to really customize your mallow. We have flowery designs, tribal, bubble letters, stuff that looks cyber, or a typewriter, there’s just a bunch. We have a catalog if you’re interested.”

“Hm.” Jamie bobbed her head side to side. Her eyes shifted from the small mallow on the table up to the one in her friends’ hand. She spoke again with a shrug. “yeah alright. Let’s see what the options are.”  

Pogo took a deep breath as he finally finished applying the cream to his back. The scar that was there finally covered up enough that he felt comfortable heading off to the community dinner. It had taken longer than he expected, because he got so lost in thought and memories of how Jamie would abuse him at her feet and make him pamper her while she relaxed. He did his best to clear his mind and focus on the now as he walked through the now empty Market Street to get in line for dinner.

Hailee woke up to a break-up text from her long-time boyfriend without any explanation. He only told her that it ‘wasn’t going to work’. When she tried to get more information out of him her texts wouldn’t go through. She was so upset; she threw her phone across the room. Immediately regretting it when her phone crashed into the wall and shattered.

She didn’t have the money to buy a new one, and neither of her parents thought that her four-year boyfriend breaking up with her without a reason was a good enough explanation for why her phone broke.

Hailee stood at her locker mumbling something to herself about how guys sucked. Her hand reaching to her back pocket to text her friends out of habit. She groaned and rolled her eyes when she remembered that she didn’t have a phone. “Guess I’m stuck actually going to class today…”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” The familiar voice of her sister Beth spoke from behind her.

Hailee turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “And just why is that?”

Beth was Hailee’s junior by a year, but Beth’s athletic frame and more mature nature made her seem like the older sister compared to Hailee’s petite body and slacker attitude.

“Because you have bio test today. Don’t tell me you didn’t study.  Again.” Beth said with a tinge of disappointment.

“Wait for real? Why do you know more about my schedule than I do!?” Hailee asked as she once again went to reach for her phone in her back pocket.  “Ugh! I can’t even check my calendar to see if you’re joking or not!”

“I’m serious. And I know because some of my friends are in the same class as you. All they’ve been talking about over the weekend is how hard this test is supposed to be.” Beth said a hand on her hip as she talked down to Hailee.

“Yeah, but your friends are a bunch of dumb blondes. I’ve never had to study for Mrs. Dowe’s tests before and I always get, like, at least a C.” Hailee had turned back to her locker, gathering her things for her first class as she spoke.

“Kathy’s a brunette, and besides. You’re a natural blonde too. Or did all that green hair dye sink into your skull so deep it made you think it was natural?” Beth teased.

“Oh, whatever. They’re still all dumb.” Hailee said as a matter of fact as she closed her locker. Her supplies for her first class under her arm.

“They’re not…” Beth went to defend her friends but slowly trailed off. “Well not all of them are dumb. And they’re all really nice, so they have that over you.”

Hailee scoffed. She clutched her stomach with her free hand, falling back against the locker as if she had just taken a punch to the gut. “You wound me, sister!”

Beth waved her hand in the air before she walked off down the hall. “You’ll be fine. Just walk it off.”

“And you call me the mean one!” Hailee called out to Beth who was already halfway down the hallway. A playful smirk on her face as she closed her locker and turned to go to class. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something moving against the wall. At first, she thought it was a mouse. She was ready to scream and throw her books at it. When she looked at it closer, though, it was a bright white and walking on two legs.

The hallway was nearly empty as she slowly approached the little Mallow. The first bell had already rung, and the second one filled the air as Hailee crept towards him. He didn’t seem to notice her until her shadow came over him. He looked up and saw Hailee’s grinning face before it was quickly eclipsed by her hands swooping down and grabbing him in her fist.

She held him in a tight grip squeezing his body that had been hidden within her fist. She enjoyed the squishy feeling of the little creature as she squeezed him. The squirms and struggles of the small being tickled and massaged her palm as she used him as a little stress ball. A grin crept across her face as she made her way to the bathroom. Hailee didn’t care if she missed her first class. It was a drama class that she took as an elective to have something she wouldn’t have to put effort into.

Hailee peeked under all of the stalls to make sure no one else was in the bathroom before she dropped the Mallow into the sink. The grate on the drain small enough she didn’t have to worry about him falling in, the edges steep and slick enough that she knew he couldn’t get out.

Her face commanded the sky for the Mallow trapped in the sink as she leaned down and examined him closer. An index finger coming forward and poking against his face. All four of his eyes clutched shut at the approaching fingertip.  The mouth on his belly frowning as he stumbled backward and fell onto his butt.

“God you things look so weird.” Hailee said as she gave the mallow another poke. This time she pressed her finger into its face hard. Mashing the malleable little head under her finger. She laughed as it spread out flat under the pressure. His little limbs were flailing about in pain and discomfort. The small voice screamed out as she smushed his head flat against the cold porcelain of the sink.

“I never really understood the appeal of keeping you things as a pet until now. You’re really fun to mess with. I figured the novelty would wear off after a few weeks, but I can see myself having a lot of fun with you.” Her finger was still pressed into his face. She wiggled it back and forth, grinding his face flat as she spoke.

Finally lifting her finger. She laughed as she saw the crater that her finger had made of the helpless Mallow’s face. Her laughter settling into a grin as she settled down and watched the mashed head slowly inflate and return to its original shape.

“I know you're not supposed to look a horse’s gift in the mouth or whatever that saying is, but it’s really weird to see one of you guys out in the open like that. What’s your story?” Hailee asked.

“M-mi…mistress brought me to school. I…I wanted-“ His voice was shaky as he went to speak with quivering lips. The small creature in the sink blinked his four eyes up at the looming being before him. Still recovering from having his face mashed flat against the surface of the sink.

“Shit. Someone already owns you?” Hailee said cutting him off.

She didn’t wait for a reply before she reached down into the sink and flicked him onto his back. A heavy sigh as Hailee’s shoulders drooped. The initials of his owner had been burned into his back prenatally scaring his body, and ensuring that no one else would be able to claim him.

“Fucking Gabby.” She said as she rolled her eyes.

Gabby was the leader of the preppy girls. She came from money, and her parents had no issue spoiling her. Of course, she would be the one having a Mallow. She already treated everyone like her servants as it was.

The Mallow flinched at the mention of Gabby’s name. Seeing that reaction from the helpless mallow made Hailee smirk. Life with Gabby must have been worse than she imagined. No one treated Mallows very well. They were abused, smashed, and forced to do demeaning tasks at the hands of their owners. There were a few organizations that petitioned for Mallow rights. Claiming that they were equal to humans, but that ideology didn’t seem to be gaining any traction.

Hailee didn’t really care, though. All she was thinking about was how she wasn’t going to get a Mallow for herself even though she wanted one now. Her eyes lit up with a sudden realization. She scooped the Mallow out of the sink and stuffed him into her back pocket before heading off to her drama class.

She didn’t speak a word to the small being trapped in her pocket. Her jeans were tight and the Mallow was nearly instantly smashed flat against her firm cheek. Every step she took the Mallow felt a tremor shake through his entire body. He tried to move. He tried to struggle and climb out of the pocket, but it was too tight, he was pressed and smashed even tighter whenever Hailee took a step forward.

Every breath was a challenge within the confines of her back pocket. The task growing even more difficult when she sat down. Her entire body pressing down against him, mashing him down into the hard, plastic seat.

Hailee forgot about him in her back pocket as she sat in class. She would wiggle in her seat occasionally to get comfortable. Those small movements the only chance for the poor neglected Mallow to grab a half breath of musky, stale air.

She only remembered him when she saw Gabby after class. Gabby was standing around her locker with two friends talking about something that  Hailee didn’t care to listen to before cutting in.

“Hey, Gabby. I think I found something of yours in the hallway this morning.” She said, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the flattened form of the Mallow. He was blue from lack of air and gasping as Hailee dangled him upside down by one of his legs.

The blonde spoiled princess looked upset that someone like Hailee would come up and talk to her like that. The frustration on her face melting the moment she saw the mallow dangling from Hailee’s fingertips. She went to grab him, but Hailee pulled her hand back. The blue, gasping Mallow let out a grunt as he began bouncing up and down.

“Nuh uh. I need a finders fee. You either owe me a favor or a hundred bucks if you want it back.” Hailee said. A sly smirk across her face as she held the Mallow for ransom.

“Ugh!” Gabby groaned and looked to her two friends who stood at her shoulders. “Well? Pay her! I was lending it to you two when you lost it so you have to pay to get it back.”

The girl on her left shrugged and accepted that well enough as she began to dig around in her purse for the money. The other girl seemed more hesitant about bringing the mallow back to his owner but began to dig for the money anyway.

Hailee took the money, shoved it into her back pocket where the Mallow had once been, and tossed the off white Mallow towards Gabby.

“Ugh!! You’re such a bitch!” Gabby proclaimed as she snatched her slave out of the air, roughly stuffing him into her purse.

“Yeah. At least I know I am, though.” Hailee said as she handed the Mallow to Gabby and pocketed the bill. She walked away and simply went on with the rest of her day.

Hailee sat in her car after school. She watched the crowd of people leave the building, scanning them for her sister. When she didn’t find her in the first group her grip on the wheel tightened. She let out a soft sigh and grumble as she sneered into the crowd.  Then she saw Beth coming out of one of the three doors. She was with her friends. They were all smiles and laughter as they talked and joked with each other.

Beth came over to the car and tapped on the window, motioning for Hailee to roll it down. “Hey! Nancy said she could give me a ride to her place so we can study there before practice. I would have texted you to let you know, but…” Beth stopped talking as she noticed the white knuckles from her hard grasp on the wheel, and the furrow in her brow. “You alright?”

“Peachy!” Hailee screamed. “I lost what I thought was the love of my life this morning, but I figured I’d just roll with it, ya know? But no! Then I had to have a stupid bio test over things I swear we never went over in class, and to top it all off now you’re late and I find out I waited on you for no god damn good reason!!”

Beth stood there and stared at Hailee after her emotional explosion. She tilted her head to the side a bit and silently stared at her.

Hailee sighed and shook her head. “I know. I know. I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you I’m just. Everything went wrong today, ya know? And I was sorta looking forward to spending some time with you this evening.”

Beth’s expression softened as Hailee apologized. “We can still hang out. Tell Mom we can make dinner tonight. And. Maybe go for a walk in the park or something. Get your head clear.” She reached through the window and touched Hailee’s shoulder. As she did, she spotted a strange plastic box in the passenger seat.

Hailee reached up and placed her hand over Beth’s. The simplest of kindnesses from her sister helped to calm her down. When she noticed Beth looking past her and into the passenger seat, she looked over too. There was a small plastic terrarium sitting in the seat.

“Oh yeah. I'm supposed to record a journal on this little guy’s metamorphoses or whatever. It’s the same every time so I don’t get why I have to actually watch it happen but, it’s whatever.” Hailee shrugged, reaching over and poking the side of the container. There was a small caterpillar inside climbing up one of the branches that Hailee had haphazardly tossed into the terrarium.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to take Mister Caterpillar’s seat in your car anyway.” Beth said. “I think he’s a better fit as your boyfriend than Patrick was anyway, to be honest.” Beth had never kept it a secret that she thought Hailee could do better.

“Beth!” Hailee said as she reached out of the car and playfully shoved Beth’s shoulder. She tried to act offended, but she couldn’t help how funny she found it. “Oh my God. Can you imagine what Patrick would think if I had a Mallow boyfriend?!”

“Heh. Yeah. That’d be something.” That comment wiped the joy off of Beth’s face. She suddenly looked flat and expressionless.

“Right, sorry. I forgot you’re all about Mallow rights or whatever.” Hailee said as she rolled her eyes at the concept of Mallows having human rights.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now. It always leaves me in a foul mood when you share your thoughts about it.” Beth said. Her voice had gone just as flat and expressionless as her face. “I’ll be home to help you with dinner.” She said before going back to her group of friends who had already gathered around Nancy’s car.

“She’s so sensitive about Mallows I swear.” Hailee said as she talked to the caterpillar in the terrarium in her passenger seat. “But I think she did have a good idea. Let’s go on a walk in the park together.” Hailee reached over and buckled the seatbelt around the terrarium and drove off towards the park.

It wasn’t until she reached into her purse for her phone after she got to the park that she remembered she didn’t have one. “Oh right. Ah well, they can just worry or bother Beth. Not my problem.” She said to herself as she reached over and unbuckled the terrarium.

Hailee took the terrarium with her as she got out of the car and went for her walk. There was a walking trail that she and Beth used to play on in the summer when they were little. She let her mind wander as she walked on the path. Hailee held the terrarium with both hands in front of her stomach to try and give the caterpillar a smooth ride. She remembered making mud pies in the creek after heavy rainfall. It hadn’t rained for about half a month. The creek nearly dried up and just a small trickle as she looked down into the shallow valley that seemed like a river in her memories.

She found herself smiling and feeling a lot calmer as she walked through the nature path and let her memories wash over her. Then she came to a stump. Her smile slowly fading as she remembered the picnic she had there with Patrick. She had worked so hard to impress him for their first date. She had worked so hard the entire relationship and then he decides to end everything over a single text message.

Without realizing it she found herself squeezing the plastic box in her hands. She closed her eyes and started to take deep breaths. Smelling the spring air and letting the breeze wash over her in the shade of the trees. As she focused on breathing her nose began to tickle as she breathed in the scent of flowers.

Hailee opened her eyes and looked around. Curious about where the flowers she was smelling were. She wanted to pick some for Beth as an apology for yelling at her earlier. Maybe even braid some into a flower tiara for her if there were enough. A small smirk curled over her lips as she thought about giving Beth a crown of flowers and naming her queen of the hippies for her supposed love of Mallows.

She placed the terrarium down on the stump as she scanned nearby. A bright red flower waving in the wind caught her eye across the dried-up creek. She slid down into it, jumped over the small trickle of water that was still barely moving, and climbed up the other side. Hailee chuckled a bit, rolling her eyes at herself as she realized what she was doing for a single flower.

When she pushed through some of the branches to get to it, she revealed a small flower bed full of the bright red flowers. There was something unsettling about them, though. They didn’t seem natural. She watched the flowers dance in the gentle breeze, but couldn’t put her finger on why they seemed so strange. Until she noticed they were all in lines.

Each and every flower seemed like it was purposefully placed. Someone planted them. Hailee furrowed her brow and shook her head. That answer didn’t make any sense. Who would want to plant flowers like this? It didn’t make sense until she saw the small dirt paths at the base of the flowers.

A grid-like pattern trampled into the grass below the flowers. This only fed her confusion. It didn’t make sense to her. As she followed the dirt path with her eyes, she saw one that broke off from the pattern and went off deeper into the underbrush.

Fueled by curiosity, Hailee pushed on. She walked through the flower bed, careful not to trample any of the flowers as she peeked over the underbrush to see the trail continue. She saw it break off again and go over to a styrofoam cooler that had a small square hole carved into the side of it.

Her eyes went wide with realization. Slowly stepping away, she cautiously made her way back to the creek. She sat on the stump next to her terrarium. With a look of awe and disbelief on her face she looked down at the caterpillar inside of it.

“I think I might have found a Mallow camp, Mister Caterpillar.” She knew it was strange to talk to the bug inside the plastic box. She didn’t have her phone and she needed to tell someone about what was going on.

Hailee picked up the terrarium and pulled the top off. She dumped the contents and the caterpillar out onto the ground.  “Sorry, I need something to put them in to take them home. I bet these woods are more your style anyway.” She said to the caterpillar that she had just dumped at her feet.