Written by Rebel (#815487) In the heart of the woods, beside a green boulder, sat a lovely Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and her son. The two were not your ordinary dogs. Kaia, the mother, has twigs and leaves poking out of her fur; twigs and leaves that changed with the seasons at that. Besides that, she was fairly normal with dark brown fur that got lighter in the middle and even lighter near her paws. Her son, a light brown pup, was also very different. While he was light brown and white like any other normal puppy, the boy had been born with a leaf on his head, a twig for a tail and a stump for a leg.
Len was his name and he was very close, or so he liked to think, to his mother as he didn't know his father. His mother had been artificially inseminated, giving birth to his 9 siblings and himself. He was the last born puppy. Len was very close to two of his siblings; Gun and Zei. Len often wondered how many other siblings he might have out there in the world; how many of them felt just as alone and different as he sometimes did?
For the most part, Len was happy-go-lucky, excitable (although calm) and innocent. Len loved to be around his brother, Gun, and his sister, Zei, had most points. But, his most cherished time was the time he, and he alone, got with their mother. Kaia liked to take time out of her day specifically for each pup. Len loved this time and looked forward to it every day. Today, his mother had told him, was to be a special day. Today she would tell him about the curse.
Len had, recently, been feeling very down and low, thinking those who shot him strange looks as he walked be didn't like him because of his abnormalities. Most of his siblings had retained the looks of a natural puppy, while still being able to differentiate that they had been reared by Kaia. Some didn't even bother with trying to use barbed wire or leaves to make a statement about who they were like the others seemed to. Kaia felt terrible her own curse, the one set on her years before, had somehow transferred full blown to her son who could hardly hide it. So, today, the two sat near the green rock.
Upon closer inspection, the rock was just covered in moss. Kaia looked at her young son, who sat looking at her attentively. "Alright, Len, today I will tell you about the cursed that first attacked me and now dwells on with you. Long, long ago I was a normal puppy, like your sister Clarissa. I lived in the small town we are on the outskirts of with my mother, father and 4 siblings. I was an adventurous puppy and I loved to test the limits. That was my biggest problem. There was a myth that long ago a wizard had set a hex, or spell, on this very rock, enchanting the moss. If touched, the rock would alter you in strange, scary ways.
"Of course, I didn't believe it and pushed that limit also. I went searching for this rock and, when I found it, I couldn't resist touching it; to feel the moss for it looked so soft. As soon as the tip of my nail," Here, she held up her paw to indicate just the very small, skinny tip of her nail, "Touched it, leaves and twigs and branches started sprouting from my body. I ran home, where my parents disowned me and my siblings laughed at me. At first, I ran back here; to this rock. All the animals accepted me, though, and the rock was like a home.
"A year later, I embraced who I was and I went back. If I hadn't, you wouldn't be standing here today." She smiled at him and nudged her muzzle underneath his, pushing his head up just a little. "Len, embrace who you are. Because it doesn't matter what others think." And, with that, his wise mother stood and trotted towards him; knowing he would want to be alone to let this all sink in.
Len sat near the edge of a stream, something he loved to do, and stared into the water, blue eyes trained on the leaf bobbing on his head. Len smiled as he heard yelling of his name. His brother, Gun, and sister, Zei, came barreling towards him. He had decided, at that moment, he loved who he was and as long as these two idiots loved him back; that was enough. Guidelines: Len has 9 blood siblings, and a number unknown of half-blood siblings. He likes to think that he is very close to his mother, Kaia, because his father is unknown. He loves to sit and spend most of his time by streams and rivers, unless his siblings are involved. Len is known to be very 'innocent' and calm, but he feels that sometimes people dislike him because of his leaf, stump leg, and twig tail.