Mimi's Path

Two: Mimi

The Sun rose once again over the Butter Queendom, driving out the darkness that came with the nighttime. The light from the Sun, weak at first but stronger later, illuminated the land of golden-green grass, marking the beginning of dawn. The Sun continued its course through the sky, eventually reaching noon where it lay in the middle of the sky.

At this time, Mimi, who did not have school today, was walking along the concrete paths in the Butter City Main Park located just west of the main palace. Today he wore a gray shirt, brown cotton pants, and black shoes--his favorite outfit. His black, straight, hair was down just above his black-pupil eyes (this was the current trendy hairstyle between kids of the Queendom). As he walked, he noticed various families having picnics just off the roads, sitting on cotton blankets or on the yellow-green grass. Everyone looked so friendly and at peace, having fun and enjoying life; the parents sitting on the blankets or grass as their young kids ran around the open field, some throwing balls, some sitting and talking.

This made Mimi think of his own family or the lack of it. He had no known parents or blood family. No one knew about his origins. All that Mimi, and the people of the Queendom as a whole, know is that the Queen adopted him after he was found playing next to a tree at the Main Park. He must've been somewhere around a year or two old at that time. It had been some nine years since then, making his real age somewhere around ten or eleven (his legal age was ten). He did not mind not having parents, for the Queen acted as both his mother and father. Some days they would go to the park or to the plains outside the city to play ball and such, so he never felt left out; however, she would be busy checking in on the local businesses today so he was left on his own.

Mimi, who had nothing to do, chose that he would spend some time at the outdoor bar located in the western part of the city. Alcohol was a rare thing in the Queendom, and outdoor bars weren't allowed to sell alcohol, so Mimi was able to be there to get some juice or water. He also had some "friends" (in reality, it was a group of grown men who would let him listen to their conversations) that he could spend time with. He quickly located the group of four men and walked towards them.

The four men whom Mimi considered friends were all quite different from each other (except for two of them who were twins), and yet they acted like brothers. There was one who was the eldest (around the age of 40) and had pure white, natural, hair. He usually had it parted to the side so his face was always visible. Mimi thought of him as a light beacon because his white hair and light skin would make him shiny under the Sun. The other, the youngest, also had light, but slightly darker, skin. He had straight black hair like Mimi, and he overall looked almost like a grown-up Mimi, except the man had dark brown eyes. He had a short beard. And then there were the two men in between. They were twins. They had dark skin and short red hair. Their faces were shaven and they looked so alike that one would confused them if it hadn't been for the fact that one liked wearing yellow and the other orange.

The men were around a peach-colored round table. They sat in a square, but the shape had to be changed to a pentagon when Mimi pulled up a chair and sat.

The talking men stopped their conversation and welcomed Mimi.

"No school today, Mimi?" Asked the grown-up Mimi, his name was Johp.

"Nah, they canceled it for today. I 'un know why..." said the young Mimi. He attempted to speak like the grown men, whose words were smooth and strategically chosen to make themselves sound like the wind blowing on an empty field. Unfortunately for Mimi, he had not yet mastered the ability to speak this way, so he sounded as if he was trying, and failing, to impersonate his older self.

"Lucky you. I had to go into the factory today, tiring work," sighed the older, white-haired man. He worked at a small metal forge. He went in for early mornings so he had the afternoon off. He went by the name Lamar.