WHAT I'M GOOD AT

3 FEBRUARY, WEDNESDAY, REST OF THE DAY

Grrrr.... Why don't I just kill the girl myself?

But she was just a human. It didn't seem like a fair fight.

I wished she didn't say those things though. It hurt. And it was just the tiniest bit true. I know I should be old enough to know better, but have you seen how Mum had been doting on her? Even Dad looks at her the way he looks at Savy and me. He even calls her "my puppy"!

I was his puppy! So was Savy. He only had two puppies. And I was always the one he patted on the head the most. Grrrr....

And I was the Alpha. Everyone followed me, but did they want to follow me?

I didn't really know how to deal with it. Grrr... Just ignore the human. Just ignore the human. Just ignore the human.

I went to the kitchen and found cold leftovers in the fridge. I took some out to eat. The little human helped herself to a banana on the table.

"Ki says the food containers with red covers should be heated before eating" The little human pointed out to me, "If you don't know how to reheat your food, you should take the ones with the blue covers."

I think I would know what the red and blue covers meant. Except that I didn't. I hadn't even noticed there were blue covers, or I would have taken those... But only because I would have assumed blue was mine and red was Savy's.

"So I'm only supposed to take the blue ones. Cos Mama says I'm too little to reheat food by myself." The little human concluded.

I ignored her.

Yes. I think ignoring her was the best way to deal with this.

I continued eating the cold pieces of roast chicken. It hadn't been cut up, but I simply picked it up with my fingers to eat.

"You should use a fork." The little human admonished, "We are not Barbarians."

That would be what my Mum liked to say a lot. Drink from a cup, use a fork, don't put your feet up on the chair... We are not Barbarians."

Ignore the human.

Something, or someone was outside our kitchen window just watching us. He had jumped quickly from one window ledge to the other, but it was the quickness of the movement that caught my eye. Almost like a flutter of the wing of a bird, but much too large to be a bird.

He was very good for a human. He made no sound.

The little human hopped off the kitchen barstool and opened one of the drawers, "Here is where all the forks and spoons are. There are knives too but I'm not allowed to use a knife. Knives are sharp and dangerous."

She returned with a spoon and put in into my container. I growled.

"I got you a spoon, cos you have corn and shell pasta. You're supposed to use a fork but if you use a spoon, you'll drop less food on the floor." The human explained patiently to me.

"You sure know a lot, don't you?" I said. I was not usually a sarcastic person - well, not on small pups, and generally, I would agree that using sarcasm on a preschooler was kind of mean, but yeah, sue me. I'm just not "cute and kind".

The human regarded me a moment and then she nodded, "Yeah, but that's because I'm a smart girl. Don't worry, if you ever don't understand anything, you can always ask me."

Yeah. Let me just KIV that.

And that's the other thing I hated about this human. She made me behave a lot like Boo.

{You make me sound like the bad guy.}

You are! I'm quite sure of it.

{Hn. The wolf is what the human dare not become yet wishes to be.}

And here we have it, ladies and gentlemen, my wish for a zen wolf like my Dad's. So now on top of everything I didn't understand, I don't understand myself.

{You suppress me too much.}

Who knows what you would do if I let you do whatever you want!

{Try it. I might surprise you.}

"What are you thinking about?" The little human asked.

"None of your business." I said.

"Are you whispering with your mind to someone?" The little human wanted to know, "Mama says it's rude to do that when someone is talking to you."

I used the spoon like a shovel and got food quickly into my mouth.

"Can you teach me to whisper with my mind too?" The little human asked.

"No." I answered and shoveled more food in.

"It's okay if you can't do it." The little human told me, "Savy said you aren't good at keeping your mind open to hear the whispers so someone always has to go call you."

"Did Savy tell you any other things I was bad at?" I asked.

The little human thought about it, "I can't remember. But I can tell you're bad at a lot of things. Like you're bad at talking and explaining things, and actually... You're probably bad at a lot of things. That's why you always need so many people around to help you."

She thought about the many people around helping me and suggested helpfully, "Maybe you're bad at opening doors too."

The human shrugged her thin shoulders casually, "But I'm just guessing. I don't know you that well."

Then she felt sorry for me because she tried to comfort me, "Don't worry. I'm sure there are a lot of things you're good at too."

"I'm told I'm good at fighting." I said.

The little human looked skeptical, "You don't look like the good at fighting type."

"Then what do I look like I'd be good at doing?" I asked. I pushed my finished meal aside.

The little human pressed her lips together, "You should clear your own plate. You can't expect Mama and Ki to always be there to clean up after you. Like this... You use your spoon to push the food pieces into the bin. You step on it to open it. Then you put your bowl in the sink."

"You must be very good at cleaning up after yourself." I remarked dryly.

The little human beamed with pride, "Savy taught me."

And then the little human had an idea, "I got it, I'll teach you everything I learn, so that you'll be good at them too! Then Mama and Savy would say you're a good and smart girl too!"

I grinned evilly, "Yeah, that sounds like fun."

And so I spent the rest of the afternoon proving how bad I was at everything. The little human was very funny when she was exasperated. She would make all the sighing sounds and face palming - just like my mum, but repeatedly so.

This amused me greatly. I took great pains to fail spectacularly, I even timed it to look like I was about to succeed and then failed. The little human's face would light up and then fall. Her crestfallen face was kind of cute. She almost cried a few times in frustration. And then she would get mad and yell at me. Hahaha.

Then I would act sad at how bad I was at the task, and she should immediately feel sorry for me and think of another task to teach me.

She was a very kind and persevering girl.

As far as the little human could tell, I was absolutely hopeless. I couldn't catch a pillow thrown at me. I couldn't hop on one foot without falling over. I couldn't count to ten. I couldn't spell my name. I couldn't peel a tangerine... She even tried to show me how to pick a lock, in hopes that it might be something I could do.

We used bobby pins from Mum's dresser.

The young Gamma that brought her here had taught her. He was the nicest person in Night Forest. And he could pick anything.

"I can only do the easy locks like these doors." She informed me when she demonstrated on our bedroom door, "You need special tools for the one on your front door. I don't know how."

Every time she wanted to give up, I would say, "Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. I'm just bad at everything."

And then the little human would summon all her determination and encourage me, "No, Alpha Sam. I'm sure there must be something you are good at. Don't worry! I just need to think harder."

Sometimes I would drop a hint or two, "I've always wanted to be a supermodel/clown/baker/artist/etc." I would say wistfully.

And then we would take out clothes, makeup, flour, paints, or whatever the little human felt such an occupation probably required.

The little human was quite good at catwalking, but hadn't the faintest idea what went into making bread besides flour. We made piles of white flour all over the counter but they didn't turn into bread. Then we found mum's red lipstick and used it with the flour to become clowns.

Sometimes the little human came up with good ideas too. To teach me first aid, we used toilet paper as bandages and treated the sofas and armchairs.

We used blankets to make tents to practice camping. The little human said she saw it on TV earlier today. Mum and Savy had been showing her a lot of preschool educational shows.

The little human tried to teach me to sing ABC, but of course I failed dismally at it.

"3,4,5 aren't letters!" The little human would yell at me.

"How about octopus?" I asked.

"It's O, P, Q!" The little human yelled.

In this way, time passed really quickly. Before I knew it, my family was home and the house was a mess.

"Oh my goddess!" Mum gasped when they entered.

There was toilet paper wrapped around the sofa, bottles lying around the floor. Flour and sugar piles on the kitchen counter. Two of the potted plants was uprooted. Bedsheets and pillows were draped around the house. The only space that was spared was Ki's room, and my bed of course.

"Mama! Mama!" The little human ran out of our bedroom, "Help me!"

Mum immediately scooped her up. She sounded very concerned, "Oh, baby what happened?"

"It's Alpha Sam!" The little human pointed at me.

I had followed her out at a leisurely pace and leaned against our open bedroom door. I grinned.

"Sam, what did you do?" Mum said.