* Vince and Jayne sleep quietly...well, Vince snores pretty bad actually, but at least they sleep peacefully. Correl mumbles in his sleep, saying names of people he knew in the villiage. His wrinkled face relaxes, and he looks a little tiny bit younger. *
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* Smudge is still awake when Arnie leaves, but eventually falls into a fitful sleep, and dreams..... *
Smudge's Dream:
~~~~~~
-a hazy sun creeps up into the gray-green sky above the barracks. The wind is slight but cruel in its bitter coldness, and a line of young sligs stand at attention.
Gen. Dripik: Okay, you all were lucky enough to make it this far without dissapointing me! Let's see how you do now with your first weapon.
-the sligs notice a line of guns that had been set out for them-
Gen. Dripik: Now, take your guns. I want you to shoot at that target across the field. You should all have at least one hit. GO!
-one by one the sligs picked up their guns and shot at the still target. Most of them had plenty of hits, others just a few. But when it came time for the littlest slig to take his turn...-
Gen. Dripik: Okay um....you...eh, what's your name? uh...
Little slig: ....s-Smudge, sir.
Gen. Dripik: Right! Smudge! I knew that. Go ahead and shoot. Don't waste time! It's your turn.
-the little slig walked up to the fold-out table the guns had been placed on. He put his hand on the gun, but....-
Gen. Dripik: Hurry it up! We haven't got all day you know!
Another slig: ....Oh odd! That little shrimp can't even lift his own gun! Buhawhawhawhaha!
-everyone burst into laughter, Smudge still trying to lift the gun. All the other sligs could do it...but it was so heavy! His arms were too little. He could barely scoot it on the table. Now he knew what they meant when they'd told him he came from a "stunted batch" of eggs. Smudge hung his head in shame, trying not to make any more of a fool of himself by showing the hurt he felt inside.-
~~~~~~~~~~
* Suddenly Smudge woke up. He groaned from the memory as images of the special handi-capped courses he'd took later filled his mind. He had been lucky to finally get up to normal strength level, but he was still small. Those few years at the barracks had seemed like a century... ...every day he was teased...no one would socialize with him either. The laughter echoed in his mind, even though he tried to block it out. *
Smudge: ...ughn....stupid dream.....-yawn!- ....*looks at a clock*...still late.... hmmf....back to sleep! *lays down his head again and sleeps.*
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