Nature heals - by Anthony Latess

A short story based on the Stuffed character Moqueca.

Run away (roll away) adolescent Percilla meets other kids with their own issues.

I am Percil, short for Percilla and I am on the run. Not that I'm so busy that I can't stop for even a minute, but I am running away. So, I live wherever. That suits me though because I love people and I love the city and the country. I love nature and I see nature as a healing force. Oh, you don't think that there is nature in the city? Well, let me tell you that it is all around and you can find it if you observe people and concrete and smoke and paper blowing down the block. You see, I know that science is about nature and I know science.

You may wonder how I get from place to place as I am running away. I do not drive and I don't have a car, but my sturdy legs and I mean four legs are fitted with roller skates! So I guess you can say that I am rolling away! When I get up each morning, I sit up and observe my surroundings and I decide which direction to roll in. Of course, if I smell food or coffee, I roll toward the smells coming my way. And the rest of my day is filled with agonizing decisions from there until I collapse into a pile wherever I am in total exhaustion. Do you want to know where I am going? Where and when will I stop rolling? Maybe I keep going because I am looking for that answer myself. Although, I really think I am looking for other answers, too because I have other questions. Who am I rolling from? Who did this to me? There I go, feeling sorry for myself again. I know however, that if I don't feel sorry this is happening, no one else will. I am me and me and nature are alone. Well not totally alone. I meet people and dogs and mice everywhere I go. I sleep under a beautiful tall majestically swaying tree after most rolls.

Once while I was sleeping under my tree on the edge of an urban park I saw children playing in a meadow not far from where I was. Nothing may seem unusual about that, but it was in the middle of the night! I'm not sure about the time, but then the moon was high and bright, and the weather was warm. I became concerned that they were playing in the dark and had no adult with them. I called out hey go home. Everyone stopped and there was total silence. I called out again hey what are you doing here in my bedroom? They started laughing and came closer to me. A child said hey back and asked what I was doing here and if this was my bedroom, why did I sleep with my clothes on? I said to them that was my secret and now they know. They stood around me and laughed. I laughed too! I never told anyone that I slept in my clothes each night. But I still have a secret and that is why I do this. No one will ever learn that. Not even you! You may guess what you think but I guess that you would be wrong! Hey, why are you outside playing in the dark without your moms?

I can't believe that I am even talking to these children from under my tree. I never let my guard down and expose myself to others! Maybe it is because I'm afraid for them. It is not safe out here in the dark no matter what time it is. I never feel safe when or where I sleep. But they don't seem scared not even of me! One boy asked me what I eat and I told them this story.I'm really afraid of fish because of a memory I have about swimming with them. It was cold and the water was cold then warm and I think the fish came toward me underwater because I warmed the water around me and they came. I can remember them nipping at my toes and since I was little, I felt like my mom was playing Piggly Wiggly with my toes. I love that, but I did not like the fish doing that. That is all I remember and maybe that is why I never eat fish. As if I ever have that chance. When you roll away, you eat what you find you eat what you can get. You may not even eat. I have been hungry for days and at some point they say that hunger goes away. That hasn't happened. I often dream about food while under my tree at night and sometimes my tree feeds me. I sleep under an apple tree and I love that because I get full very fast and don't even want to look at an apple in the morning! But there she goes again. Nature heals and she can heal my hunger. How wonderful is that? Thank you, mother.

The end.