A lonely child with abusive parents makes friends with a strange creature who gives him a taste of the chaotic side of life...with some disturbing results
Joshua was a lonely child. His social life was a wreck, and his parents were terribly abusive and hateful towards him. Just when he had lost all hope, Joshua makes friends with a mysterious monstrosity that appeared at his bedside in the form of a small, stone statue, revealing itself as the God of Chaos himself. Will Joshua's new friend have a good influence on him, or will the supernatural trickster convince Joshua to take vengeance on those who have wronged him?
It’s the year 2012. A young boy by the name of Joshua Collins lies in his chambers, practically swimming in a pool of his own tears. You see, Joshua was quite a lonely child, not a friend to his name. Kids at his school would often bully him, sometimes to the point of physical assault and has been psychologically tortured on many occasions. His home life was not much better. There was hardly ever a moment in his home when yelling and profanity didn't fill the halls of the small house, as his parents were always arguing, never seeming to focus too much on how their cursing affected their child. This led Joshua to believe that not even his own parents gave two shits about him. As if the constant insult’s hurled at him by his mother and drunken mess of a father weren't a clue enough. He had at some points, considered suicide, but he decided against it, knowing it would only lead to greater problems for him in the afterlife. But still, he didn’t want to stay in his current state of despair any longer than he absolutely had to.
“I just don't know anymore. If I had just one friend…maybe I wouldn't be thinking this way.” He sighed quietly… Unknown to him, a guardian angel loomed quietly over him, observing his sad monologue. And soon, his prayers would be answered…
The next morning, Joshua’s crust-filled eyes fluttered open and he rose from his bed. Upon getting to his feet however, his orbs laid on something on the night stand planted next to his bed. It appeared to be some sort of statue. He couldn’t make it out without his glasses at the moment though. He swiped them off the night stand and pushed them onto his face, clearing his blurry vision. Upon closer inspection, he was able to make out the physical features of the tiny stone figure. It depicted a serpent-like creature with the appendages of other animals, such as the wings of a bird and a bat, a reptilian tail with a tuft of fur on it’s end, the horns of a goat and a deer, the paw of a lion and talon of an eagle, and the legs of a goat and a dinosaur. It’s long, slender body stood upright, and appeared to be covered almost entirely in fur, all except it’s scaly tail. It’s head appeared to be horse-like, with a black mane that ran all the way down the back of it’s neck, and a single, sharp tooth that appeared misplaced into the very front of it’s jaw, which was wide open, frozen in the middle of silent, howling laughter.
“What on Earth is this thing? And…where did it come from?” Joshua thought as he held the statue in his fist. The only explanation was that someone crawled into his window in the middle of the night and left it there; there was no way his parents would bother spending money on him, especially on something as weird as this. But if that was the case…then why?
“This doesn’t make any sense.” He mumbled.
Out in the hallway, he could hear his parents fighting with the same amount of hatred and anger in their voices you would expect only from sworn enemies or a hockey player after losing a game. It saddened Joshua deeply to hear his parents say such horrible things to each other. A single tear rolled down his face as he desperately tried to block out the screams…the anguish…the…chaos…
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Joshua heard something quite loud echo through his room.
“Hehehehehe. Make sense? What’s the fun in making sense?” it said in a cackling laugh.
The voice shocked the boy so much he jumped back and dropped the figurine on the floor. About a second after impact, the statue erupted into a pillar of pink smoke and confetti. Once it cleared, there stood same figure depicted in the statue, only much, much bigger now, about 8 feet in height. It floated above the floor, it’s mix-matched wings flapping quickly to keep it’s large body off the ground. It opened it’s gigantic maw and let out a mighty yawn, stretching it’s arms out in relief.
“Arrrgh! Oh, that feels so much better. Do you have any clue what its like being turned to stone kid? It can be quite stiff on the ol’ spine you know.” the behemoth said.
Joshua desperately tried to find his words.
“W-Who a-are you? More importantly, what are you?” he asked the creature.
It turned it’s head toward Joshua and for the first time, he got a good look at the monster’s eyes. They were a dark yellow with red pupils, both of different sizes. They made him look quite dazed and insane.
“Oh but of course, how rude of me! My name is Discord, and I’m here to be you’re friend little buddy. I happen to be a spiritual being of sorts. I have the ability to do anything your little heart desires.” The creature now known as Discord said to him.
Now Joshua was perplexed. As if seeing a strange, Frankenstein of an animal like this wasn’t enough, this thing had powers too?
“Okay, what exactly can you do…Discord?” he asked.
Discord smirked. He snapped his eagle talons and in a flash of white, a small pink cloud levitated in front of Joshua’s face.
“Thirsty?” Discord asked.
“Wha-“ Before Joshua could finish, a big splash of brown liquid shot from the cloud and into his mouth.
“Gah! What’re you doing, I don’t know where that’s been! I mean what if-“ Joshua took a moment to actually taste what he had ingested.
“…Chocolate Milk? What?” he said.
Discord let out a hearty laugh. “Hahaha! Oh you should’ve seen your face! Priceless!” Discord howled.
Despite Discord’s rather loud laughter that probably could’ve shattered anybody’s eardrums, Joshua chuckled a bit, something he hadn't done in quite a while.
“I have to say Discord, I’m pretty impressed.” Josh said in response to his new friend’s fun-loving nature.
“Oh, but I can do sooo much more than that my friend.” Discord said, snapping his lion fingers, followed by another white flash. In his paw, he now held a large saxophone, which he then proceeded to play…but when he blew into it, a flurry of bubbles shot out of it. Discord wore an annoyed look on his long face.
“Well poo. It looks like this darn thing still shoots bubbles out of it. Oh well, I’ll just dispose of this, and you can tell Uncle Discord what’s got you so down, eh kiddo?” Discord said.
He effortlessly threw the instrument over his shoulder, causing it to burst into flames and explode when it hit the wall. Joshua was about to question what the hell just took place when he once again remembered his parents were still fighting the urge not to kill each other when he heard something break on the other side of the door. Joshua cringed slightly at the sound of the crash, and Discord took notice.
“Ugh. Sorry I asked. Your folks sound quite…unpleasant.” Discord said that last word with a slight chuckle, which made Joshua feel a bit uncomfortable.
“Umm, yeah. My dad’s a bit of a drinker, and my mom is a total bitch. Not exactly the best combination…” Joshua looked toward the floor. “I’m also kind of lonely. You see, I don’t have friends…” he mumbled sadly.
Discord put a comforting paw over the child’s shoulder…and stuck a giant lollipop he conjured out of nowhere into his mouth. “Hey, don’t get all weepy eyed on me now. I’m here to help ya out, and I can’t do that unless you grow a sense of humor” Discord said.
Joshua had lost his train of thought for a moment from the flavor of the candy.
‘Tastes good enough, but is this guy’s definition of cheering me up just stuffing my face with stuff that can rot out my teeth?’ He thought.
“Josh, get your sorry ass to school now!” The shrill sound of his mother’s voice yelled from the other room. Mother of the year anybody?
“Well, looks like I have to go. Sorry Discord but I can’t play right now.” Joshua said.
Discord’s donkey-like ears lowered and he appeared to be quite saddened by his playmate having to leave so soon. Joshua took pity on the poor…whatever he was, and patted his back.
“Hey, you’re supposed to cheer ME up remember? Don’t worry, I’ll be back after school, K?” he asked.
Discord gave a happier smile upon hearing Joshua’s reassuring statement. “I’ll be here upon your return, kiddo.” Discord said. Joshua gave a confident nod and walked out his bedroom door, leaving Discord by himself. Discord snapped his fingers and a pair of reading glasses and a book appeared. He put the glasses over his eyes and started quietly reading to himself, floating in a reclining position above the floor.
“Oh what I’d give to brew up some real chaos right now. Who knows? Maybe I can get this kid to see MY way of thinking.” Discord said to himself…
Joshua had just returned from school, and as he expected, the same creature he had met that morning was waiting for playtime. The pain in his stomach was still ever present however. You see, when he left Discord that morning, Joshua’s dad had asked him earlier where he had gotten the lollipop he had in his mouth. Being the honest kid he was, Joshua of course told him about Discord…the conversation ended with a punch to the stomach and being called a lying worm by his own father. Discord noticed Joshua wince in pain when he came back into his room.
“Whoa. The heck’d they do to you?” he asked.
“Dear old dad hit me for lying. I kinda told him about you, and well…you can see what happened” Josh mumbled, his face still pretty scrunched up in pain. Discord’s usually happy demeanor changed almost entirely when Joshua said that.
“Well that’s a real shame. You ok?” Discord asked.
Josh gave a little less than confident nod. “I’m good. Not exactly the best day for my self-esteem, but I’m good.” He said.
Discord didn’t look totally convinced, but he didn’t press it any further. “Well alright then. So, you feel like having fun, kiddo?” he asked.
Josh made an attempt to ignore the pain, not to worry his friend. “Aw heck yeah!” Josh responded.
For the next few months, Joshua and Discord had such grand fun together. Hide and Seek, playing catch, the usual kid’s stuff. Sometimes though with an original twist of Discord flare. At some points, they played Monkey in the Middle, with Discord having a duplicate of himself as the third player, and when arm wrestling, Discord of course had to give Joshua a fair chance…in this case by temporarily giving him a bear’s arm. Discord found that with his abilities, it was easy to keep a kid entertained. Never had Joshua felt happier than when he was at home, playing with his best friend.
Of course, there was still the matter of Josh’s parents.
No matter how hard he tried, Joshua could never convince his parents of Discord’s existence.
“Figures that only an nonexistent freak-deer would be friends with such a useless waste of space as him” Josh heard his mother mumble after their conversation about it. Josh had asked Discord about the situation several times.
“Can’t you just show yourself to them?” he asked one day during one of their play sessions.
Discord shook his horse-like head.
“Why not?” Josh asked.
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I would be turned over to government scientists, would be painfully experimented on, maybe even dissected. Or maybe because you’re old man would probably want to have my pelt turned into a rug in the living room.” Discord said, flattening his body into the shape of a carpet and laying on the ground.
That sounded a bit dark to Joshua, and he shuddered a bit.
In truth, he was right. Discord’s usual fun-loving nature was starting to become a little more sinister and dark. The reason was that when Joshua was at school, Discord had nothing to do. His usual pastime, causing excessive amounts of random chaos, would no doubt give him away. After all, you don’t normally see the streets turning to soap on a regular basis, now do you? If he did ANYTHING outside that house, it would only be a matter of time before he would be found out. But being confined to Josh’s room was starting to drive Discord a little nuts...even by Discord's standards. Though he was always able to be his usual, random self when he was alone with his little friend. But when he wasn’t, all he could do was listen to Joshua’s parents verbally beating the hell out of each other. Chaos was one thing. Being downright irritating and loud is another, and he was starting to grow more restless every day…
This became absolutely certain to Joshua with the dog incident.
Josh had left for school one morning after bidding farewell to Discord. He had made it about halfway down the streets past one of his neighbor’s houses, and he heard intense barking from behind him. He turned around quick to see what was happening, and saw basically his mortal enemy. His neighbor’s stupid German Shepard had escaped it’s yard and was barreling toward him at breakneck speeds. Joshua severely hated this dog. For whatever reason, that thing hated his guts too. Every morning when he passed by that dog from hell’s lair, the beast would growl and snarl at him. This time however, it looked like he had somehow dug his way under the fence and was trying to kill him. Josh didn’t waste any time in running for it. He ran for his life for about 3 blocks from the little monster, who at that point was foaming at the mouth. Whether the thing had rabies or not, Josh couldn’t waste time thinking about and continued to sprint away from it’s gnashing teeth. Unfortunately for him, he tripped on his own feet. Now on the ground, Josh could only watch as the vicious dog continued to run in his direction, ready to pounce. It caught up to him, and started to slow down, menacingly glaring at him and slowly walked toward him with it’s head low to the ground…
Just before the dog could tear Josh apart, a white flash of light erupted out of nowhere between Josh and the animal. To Josh’s surprise, when it cleared, the shape of Discord was in it’s place, looming over the dog. Discord’s red pupils glared sinisterly at the animal, his usual happy face turned into a sour and angry frown. Upon laying eyes on the giant monster before it, the dog cowered to the ground, it’s tail between it’s legs. It quietly let out soft whimpering. Discord’s eyes narrowed, still staying rather quiet. ‘Okay, that’s a little weird. Discord always has some sort of smartass remark to say. What’s he thinking?’ Joshua thought
Without any sort of warning, Discord snapped his fingers and a white light enveloped the dog. From inside it, Josh could hear the animal yelping in what sounded like pain. What’d Discord do to it?
When the light disappeared, what Josh saw before him didn’t even resemble a dog. It was a pinkish creature, breathing incredibly heavily. It was dripping with a red liquid, and it’s organs appeared to be exposed. The thing’s eyes appeared to be rolled into the back of it’s head.
Discord had turned the dog inside-out…
After about a second of looking at the monstrosity, it stopped breathing, and fell over…and laid completely still…
Discord’s usually happy attitude returned, and his nutty grin once again spread across his face.
“Hehehehe. I was always more of a cat person anyway.” Discord chuckled.
Josh didn’t seem to hear his friend, as he stared at the dog’s severely messed up corpse. Not in horror or disgust as you might imagine, but in amazement.
“That was…awesome!” Josh yelled.
“You really liked it did ya?” Discord asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.
“Of course! That thing was trying to kill me, and you turned the freaking thing inside-out for crying out loud! By the way, that thing’s just as ugly on the inside as it’s face was.” Josh exclaimed.
Discord’s smile grew a lot wider.
“I’m happy you appreciate my work, kiddo. Though you may wanna split, considering the circumstances.” Discord said waving his eagle hand at the dog’s body.
Josh nodded and turned to continue to school, but stopped halfway.
“Hey Discord?” he asked.
Discord looked up a bit toward his friend.
“You always stay in my room for fear of being discovered. Why’d you decide to come out now?” he asked.
“Predictability isn’t exactly my thing. I’m more of a random and irrational kind of guy…that and your folks yelling was starting to give me a major head cold.” Discord said as his brain came out of his ear and let out a huge sneeze into a handkerchief. It proceeded to throw it in the air and the handkerchief burst into flames and disappear.
Joshua looked satisfied with that answer and continued on to school, waving goodbye to Discord.
Once Joshua was out of sight, Discord looked at the dog’s mangled body.
“Okay then, time to clean up the mess.” Discord said, snapping his lion fingers.
A bit of smoke started to slip from under the limp dog. As seconds went by, the smoke grew much thicker, and crackling noises could be heard. After about a half a minute, the body shot up into the sky like a rocket, leaving fire in it’s wake. Discord put a pair of sunglasses on to protect his eyes.
“Boom” he whispered…
Just as he said that, the dog exploded in several directions, lighting up the sky like fireworks. Ashes and bits of flaming fur fell from above, some of it landing on Discord’s face.
“Glad SOMEONE appreciates my sense of style.” Discord said to himself.
