A Tiny Almond in a Big World

Ursa called in sick at work, and Almond knew that whoever she was talking to into the other side of the line wasn’t exactly happy about that. Ursa sat Almond down in front of the TV, and continued making calls. It was a good distraction for Almond and soon, they couldn’t hear any more thoughts. At some point, and Almond couldn’t be sure when, they just fell asleep on the couch, dreaming about a Mama Ursa. Some knocks at the door and a nervous Ursa were fast on making Almond wake up and jump out of the couch. “Hi, darling, I’m glad you woke up.” Ursa quickly put her straw hat, the same from last night, on Almond’s head. “Don’t take it off no matter what happens, alright?” Ursa waited for a sleepy nod from the kid. “Now go to my room and don’t leave until I say you can. It’s very important, can you do it, Almond?” “Yeah, mama.” I’m not your mama. Almond winced at the thought, but followed Ursa’s instructions anyway. It was hard to hear the thoughts of whoever was at the door with Ursa’s frantic thoughts. Almond entered the room and closed the door behind themself, but still sat very close to the door, wanting to hear everything. “Hi, Maurice, what, what are you doing here?” said Ursa’s muffled voice, letting two cats into her house. It was Maurice and….Donnie? It sounded like that, even if Donnie’s mind seemed too quiet for Almond. But one thing was clear: they didn’t have good things on mind. “You know, just checking on my dear employee who has never missed a day of work,” Mauricie started, and Almond could tell he was inspecting every inch of the house. “But what a surprise! You don’t seem sick at all.” “I, uh, I’m feeling a, a bit better now but, but it still can be contagious!” Ursa forced a cough. And even Almond could tell she was very bad at lying. “Thanks for stopping by, but there’s no need to worry, I’ll be back to work tomorrow!” “Good to hear. Lion is very excited to beat the hell out of you in the next fight, doesn’t it sound nice?” Almond wasn’t sure what to make out of it or of the images they were picking from Maurice’s mind: Lion, a very big cat with saber tooth, and Ursa in some kind of costume. And just fighting, with Ursa knocking Lion out in the first minutes of the fight, his hairless tail looking very broken, and a very big crowd cheering her on. Was that Ursa’s job? “He hasn’t gotten over it yet?” Ursa almost groaned. “Don’t seem like it.” Maurice was looking at his….claws? His very big claws that soon he passed over his fangs, making a sound that sent shivers down Almond’s spine. “Also I heard you got a kid, a very special kid.” “What are you talking about?” Almond wasn’t sure if their arrhythmic heart was from their own fear or just a resonance of Ursa’s own very big fear. “We are not stupid, lady, you called many people about a very special kid and not everyone is as loyal as you thought,” Donnie said, contributing to the conversation for the first time. “And when some good friend told us that they’d lost a unicorn child, it was just putting two and two together.” Almond still couldn’t hear anything from Donnie’s mind, but seeing things through Maurice’s mind seemed enough. Donnie was small with feathered wings and q-tip antennae but a very mean face. A black bag was dropped in front of Ursa, and soon opened to reveal a huge sum of money. “C’mon, Ursa, we know he is in your bedroom, probably listening to everything.” Maurice smiled as Ursa’s face and her eyes darting to the bedroom door betrayed her. Telling everyone that, yes, there was Almond. “Just take the money, and let us take the child and we will never again talk about it.” “If you’re worried about what people will say, don’t ya worry, we can tell everyone we took him from you. No one needs to know about the money, lady.” Donnie finished. Almond just zoned out from the conversation, too nervous to hear anything, be it physically or from anyone’s mind. What if Ursa actually sold them out? She did want to get rid of them. Oh god, what to do? Almond couldn’t tell if it was their own thoughts or something they caught from Ursa. But they also couldn’t wait out what would happen and just burst out of the bedroom, the hat still on their head. At least one of Ursa’s request Almond was still following. “Oh, so you were listening, weren’t you, little one?” Maurice smiled, his fangs very clear. He was a big black cat with bat wings and ears. “C’mon, Donnie, get him.” “No! Leave Almond alone!” Ursa yelled, putting herself between the two men and the kid. “Almond, I told you to not leave the room!” “For Falena’s sake, did you already named it?” Donnie sigh, rolling his eyes. “Look, lady, I know it’s hard to say goodbye when you name kids, but I will tell you, he will have a good life, so just let him go.” “Listen to the voice of reason, Ursula. He will go to a rich’s human house, and will have everything he needs. Humans with money tend to treat their pets well, it will be fine.” Maurice flashed a fanged smile that made Almond shiver. “Mothcats aren’t supposed to be pets, Maurice! You know that!” Ursa moved so none of the cats could see Almond. “Of course, you grew up on that stinky mothcat only island. Of course you would think like that.” Maurice shook his head, like he was just saying the obviously. “If I had the opportunity to be a pet, I won’t freaking think twice. But I wasn’t born with such lucky features as your protege.” “It’s not worth it, Maurice, she won’t ever understand. Let’s just get the unicorn and get the hell out of here.” Maurice shrugged and slowly walked to one of Ursa’s side, as Doonie walked to the opposite side. Mauricie seemed to be having way more fun than Donnie with it. “Look, lady, I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ll if I have to.” “Mama? Could you please step aside for a moment?” Almond asked in their usual murmured tone. “Wha-” Ursa couldn’t even finish asking before being flooded with thoughts that weren’t hers. Please mama please please please trust me please please LET ME. “Alright….” And she did let Almond do whatever they wanted to do. “Yes, little boy, be more reasonable than your pretend mother.” Maurice had now a wide smile, fangs clearer than ever. “I’m not a boy.” That was the only thing Almond said before their horn flashed in a yellow light, that soon turned brown and then disappeared. Where Maurice and Donnie had been standing there were two…. “Are those capybaras?” Ursa gasped, not sure about what to think. “Small...tiny….capy….baras?” With a small thumpt Almond fell to the ground, totally asleep.

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When Almond woke up again, they still felt so tired, but some thoughts had already started to slip through their mind. There were many people there. Many kids too. And things were moving. They would go up and down, up and down. And they could gather the word boat from many minds. “It’s alright, Fudge, go back to sleep. We are going to be fine.” Ursa’s voice was very close. If Almond had to guess, she was the one holding them. And who were they to argue with their mama? Almond let themself slowly drift back to sleep.

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The second time Almond woke up, they felt way more rested and the thoughts entered their mind easily. “Mama?” they murmured, soon a yawn leaving their mouth. “I’m here, darling. Did you rest well?” Ursa asked, fixing something on Almond’s head. It felt like a hat. “Yeah, what happened?” Almond just burrowed their head into Ursa’s soft belly. “Well, after you, uh, transformed the bad men in, I think they became capybaras, but I’m not really sure.” Ursa scratched her head. She wasn’t very good with animals. “I like capybaras. They are cute.” “Yeah, well, since the two weren’t coming back to their boss, I figured out that someone would come looking for them and, well, us too.” Ursa offered an awkward smile, that Almond, with their eyes closed, could only feel. “So we are fleeing now?” Almond asked. Ursa just nodded. “In a boat?” “Yes, we get off the boat tomorrow. But tonight we sleep here in this room.” Ursa motioned to the room, but Almond could only feel the movement disturbing their place. “I got us some fake documents, we will have to pretend I’m your mother, is it alright?” “You are my mama.” Yes, I am, I love you, I’m sorry. “It’s fine, mama, can we sleep?” “Yes. Goodnight, darling.”

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It was easy to start a new life when you had plenty of money to spend, that was something Almond learned very fast. It was all settled, they had a rented home, Ursa was looking for a job and Almond would start their first day at school soon. It didn’t take long either. On the first day of school Almond learnt what bullies meant. And some bullies learnt what losing all their fur meant. So they had to move out again. Ursa wasn’t mad, but Almond could tell she was sad and very disappointed. No one lost their fur because of Almond again.

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The second time lasted longer. Almond had friends, a lot of them, and it was fun. Ursula got a job, a job she could do from home, from wherever she was. So no need to lose the job if they had to move again. The house was nice too, and Almond still loved to have a warm bed, and just to themself. But Almond went to a sleepover, all their friends were there. Everyone knew Almond had some kind of condition, one that affect their antennae and they should never take out their hat. It was Ursula’s idea, even if Almond didn’t like it they knew it was better to play along. But in a truth or dare, Almond took out their hat, and everyone could see their unicorn horn. Some of their friends freaked out, their parents freaked out. Someone talked about calling the cops. Weren’t unicorns horns illegal? Weren’t this kind of cat supposed to be elsewhere, not in a school for normal cats? We don’t know what this freak could do to our children! Almond didn’t like having to call Ursa so late at night and ask her to go pick them up. Let alone when they knew she could hear the tears they were fighting back. This time Almond wasn’t as sad to move away. They didn’t want to see those cats ever again.

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Third time’s the charm. Well, almost at least. In this city they stayed for a long time, finally a place they could stay for years. Almond was quick to get a nice group of friends, very close and very dear to them. They had learned how to control their powers better, no more stray thoughts found their way to Almond’s mind. And more importantly, they could keep their thoughts out of other people’s minds. The latter had never been a big problem, only when they were too nervous, but now not even when nervous things would go amiss. That was also where Almond found something that, since from the first time they saw it, they knew it would change all the ways they seemed and perceived the world: Music Classes. They learned everything they could about music, being a great guitar player. It was also in this school, at the age of 14 years, that they had their first kiss.

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Charlie was nice. And a big music enthusiast She knew how to play many instruments (and Almond was a bit jealous of her, but nothing they would tell anyone), she had also invited Almond to her house and to her bedroom. “For Falena! I didn’t know you played drums!” Almond said with enthusiasm, approaching the drums with admiration. Nothing similar to their murmured tone from their first days with Ursula. “That’s so sweet! I bet mama wouldn’t ever let me get one. She already complains so much about the guitar.” “Do you wanna hear me play? I’m pretty good at it, let me tell ya.” Charlie had a big smile, one that Almond couldn’t say no to. Not that they would want to, drums were too cool. Almond nodded as fast as they could, sitting on the girl’s bed. Charlie started to play a nice rock, being fast at hitting every note at the right time. Almond was simply amazed. She was so damn cool. “Whatcha think, pretty girl?” “You were amazing!” Almond almost yelled, while trying not blush too hard with the compliment. “I wish I could play like you!” “Well, I could teach you, you know? You could come to my house and all.” Charlie sat down by Almond’s side. Very close. So close they could see every single one of Charlie’s freckles. Charlie was a blue cat, very simple, very common. She had no markings besides her cute freckles, on every part of her body. She had classic antennae, classic wings and classic tail. She couldn’t be more ordinary. And she was so cute that Almond couldn’t help but smile. “Really? I would love that!” Almond still displayed the goofiest smile. “Yeah, but only if you give me a kiss first.” Almond was taken back by that. But still the smile didn’t falter and they kissed the girl. And soon she became their first girlfriend.

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“Mama?” Almond asked from downstairs, leaving their hat in its usual place. They didn’t need to use it when it was just them and Ursula, there they could be themself as much as they wanted. “Yes, darling?” Ursa yelled from upstairs, probably from her bedroom. And Almond smiled at the knowledge that they didn’t know, like any normal cat wouldn’t know. Still, they could hear Ursa’s steps approaching. “I need to talk to you, it’s important.” Almond sat down on the living room couch, the red one. They could hear Ursa’s steps approaching a bit faster, Almond didn’t need to read any minds to know that she was worried, like she was always. “Did something happen, Fudge?” Ursa asked in a worried tone, as she finished coming down stairs. She walked to the armchair in front of Almond’s couch, so she could see Almond as they talked. “Everything is fine, mom, I just need to tell you something.” Almond could feel their voice falter. They had no reason to be anxious about it, but there they were. “It’s something I discovered about myself.” “Oh, alright, I’m always ears, dear.” Ursa gave a smile, letting her big body rest on the comfortable armchair. “I was talking with some friends about gender things and how we feel about this kind of stuff and Greg was talking about being genderfluid and I, uh, I think I’m genderfluid too?” Almond didn’t intend to say it as a question, but it came out like one anyway. They decide to look at the coffee table that was halfway between them and Ursa, not sure if they had the courage to look at Ursa. It wasn’t like Ursa would be anything besides supportive, like she was always though all Almond’s life but still Almond was worried and ugh. “And what does this means, angel?” Ursa presented a soft smile, patiently waiting for Almond’s answer. “It’s just that sometimes I feel like a boy, but sometimes I feel like a girl and sometimes I just feel like neither. It changes. Like today I’m a boy but tomorrow it may change.” As Almond didn’t have the courage to look at Ursa’s face, he tried peeking at Ursa’s mind. He got surprise to see only disappointment on her mind, and not directed at Almond, no, Ursa was disappointed at herself. “Alright, darling, just let me know which pronouns to use with you every day, ok? Today you’re a he or should I keep going with they?” Almond let out a small ‘he’ out of his mouth, finally looking at Ursa. “Just know you can always talk to me about anything, alright?” Why were they- no, why was he so worried? Did he think I would get mad at him because of that? God, what did I do wrong to give him that impression? Did I say something wrong? Yes, maybe I said something without thinking and he thought it meant I wouldn’t support him. Oh, god, I can’t believe I let him so worried. “Mama. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, I, uh, I know you wouldn’t mind but some of my friends told me how their parents reacted and I got worried. I’m sorry.” Almond said everything looking down. He couldn’t help but feel ashamed. He had the best mama and he didn’t want her to feel bad. “Oh, little angel, don’t worry. I know how it is, you don’t need to feel sorry for it.” Ursa smiled, planting a kiss on his forehead. Soon Almond’s mind was flooded with Ursa’s memories. She hearing the same tales about non-supportive parents from her friends, and then an anxious and crying Ursa talking about being girl to her two mamas It’s fine, we love you no matter how you want to be called. Now stop crying, little angel. Almond was sure Ursa understood and it made him feel a little better, at least.