April's Story/Story

## Introduction

 And so the king offered a reward to any champion who could make this special fish soup for him and save him from the cat malady.

## Opening

**Kurt Frank** | This story is as famous as they come. I'm sure you've all heard of it before... But every time I think of it, I find it awfully strange. I hope you'll forgive me for remembering it in a place like this.
I speak, of course, about the story of a certain king——Charles was his name, I'm sure you're all familiar with this one. He was a French king who ascended the throne at a very young age... I believe his mother was born to a noble family, as well?

**Kurt Frank** | The next day, posters were seen all around the streets offering glory and riches. The king was seeking a warrior who could bring him a legendary, magical fish that, when made into soup, could cure this "cat malady".
There was much speculation behind the king's offer, but surprisingly enough, the masses agreed that it must have been the prime minister's idea.

**Kurt Frank** | God preserve him! I can almost picture it in my mind—— a palace full of kin and servants alike, yet none could help him save for his dear prime minister... What a tragedy!
He must have been holding his head in silence, sitting all alone at his long, empty table. I heard the king's table was so long that if you stood at one end, you couldn't even see the other end.
He knew nobody liked him and that everyone sought to make a fool of him. I'm sure you also knew that anecdote, by then the streets were also littered with caricatures of him suffering from the cat malady, including one where he turned into an actual cat!
The only thing that could help him raise his heavy head was the consolation from his prime minister, who had seen the deep-blue waters of the southern seas. I guess, in the king's imagination, those seas must have been dreary and gray, with black clouds darkening the skies, and the only sound was the howling wind over the waters...
Ahem! Anyways, I believed no person would ever come to the king's aid, but then a miracle happened!

## Kurt's Story

****Narrator**** | Kurt began his story, but a great sorrow prevented him from telling its ending.

**Kurt Frank** | Some days later, a champion appeared in the palace, claiming to bring the king's salvation.
You can only imagine the joy the king felt! The overwhelming sense of salvation... I can almost feel it myself! The champion had never been to such an enormous palace; when he called out to the king, he was greeted by an echo so loud that it startled him! Have any of you experienced something like that? After sitting in silent contemplation for so long, sometimes even the smallest sound is enough to shock you back to your senses, sometimes in a state of panic. A natural response, I suppose.

**Kurt Frank** | There was a minor dispute over which should be given first—— the fish or the reward.

**Kurt Frank** | Yes, the story has a happy ending, after all. The king did not succumb to his malady, nor did he turn into a cat, much to his subjects' disappointment. Wanting to reward the champion even more for his salvation, the king pondered on what to offer. He had already given him so much gold, so why not make him a general, as well?

****Narrator**** | Kurt's excitement was disturbingly abnormal. Was this really how the story went?

## Fiona's Story

****Narrator**** | The kerosene lamp gave off a popping sound from time to time. If the snow outside was a piano's gentle melody, then the lamp was a broken metronome that disturbed both the song's rhythm and the listener's heartbeat. Eventually, its flame spluttered out on its own, leaving the group with nothing to blame for the disruption.

**Fiona Gilman** | Humph, ordinary people always try to perceive God's will through their mortal eyes, yet they can't even see their own shortcomings of their transience.
You don't mind a cat's face on a cat, but you won't accept a cat's face on a human? What's a human's face supposed to be like? Did God write any rules on it?

****Narrator**** | Fiona had beautiful eyes—— eyes that had countless stories to tell. They were as pure and ethereal as the falling snow outside.

****Narrator**** | Fiona adjusted her skirt again as she spoke and her posture and movements reminded the others of a lazy cat grooming herself.

## Robbie's Story

****Narrator**** | The snow outside continued to fall endlessly as if determined to blanket the world in pure white. The group heaved a collective sigh.
Robbie took out a huge lollipop, so huge no one had ever seen another like it, and started licking it.
None of the youths felt envy, however, because Robbie's licking soon became a ceaseless slurping and smacking that turned their envy into disgust.

**Robbie** | But in fact, not long after the champion departed, the king received a scathing letter full of mocking words. Thing king was nothing more than an arrogant country rube with a crown, no smarter than the average villager!
Really, I can't believe the king of a country could be so stupid! Hahaha! Let me ask you guys, do you really think there was a "cat malady"?

## Emma's Story

****Narrator**** | The air in the room was abnormally dry, as though a merry fire was crackling in the fireplace... But all that sat in the fireplace was the smoldering remains of the group's attempt in building a fire. The faintly-glowing embers reminded them of the harsh realities of life, of nature's tendency to eradicate those who cannot grow strong enough to survive.
Emma rubbed and rubbed her toolkit as if it were housing something of priceless value.

****Narrator**** | Emma's voice, pleasant as it was, did not match the illogical words she spoke; it was as if two different people were trying to talk over each other through her mind.

**Emma Woods** | But later on I realized everyone had something they wanted to escape from. For them... it was me.
But eventually, there will be a person who refuses to let go, who doesn't understand how things are... That terrible fire... It took away the person I loved most, and my will to live.

****Narrator**** | Emma continued to gently caress her toolkit. Her eyes gave off a gentle, maternal gaze, the kind a mother gives her children when they cry in the night.

## Ending

****Narrator**** | The snow wouldn't stop falling. A creaking sound was coming from below the floorboards... But how could such an ugly sound exist in the winter of a country as wonderful as this?

**Kurt Frank** | No... The king did not really need salvation, and the prime minister was not conspiring against him. To think that there is so much evil in the world, it's laughable... But the champion wanted to go home for some good reasons, indeed. Do you want to know?
Haha... That day, when the champion appeared with the king's prized fish, no one could find the king no matter how much they searched.
While no one was looking, the prime minister took the champion to one of the palace towers, where the cries of crows and cats alike rang out from within. He had no idea such a strange place existed within the palace. While the prime minister opened the door, inside was a forest-like enclosure, so large and verdant the champion couldn't believe his eyes!
The prime minister, sensing his doubt, opened his mouth to console him... Yes, I meant to say "console", because that's how distraught the champion was! "The king was plagued by fear, day and night, that he was slowly becoming a cat", said the prime minister. "So he hid himself away in this tower, where he truly did transform into one.
Then, the prime minister took the soup from the champion's hands and disappeared into the green enclosure. The champion heard him make odd sounds, as though he were truly calling to a cat... And to his disbelief, a cat answered his calls. Not long after, the prime minister reappeared with a large cat, or more precisely, the king.

****Narrator**** | Kurt spoke rapidly, as if he would be interrupted if he didn't finish the story in one breath.

## The Ending Pages

#### Opening

**Kurt Frank** | On a night so quiet one could even hear dust falling to the ground, I told the story of the King and His Fish Soup. Although the story itself is somewhat boring, and I know everyone has heard it before, I cannot help but lament over my poor little king's fate... Is anyone really willing to help him?

#### Kurt Frank

**Kurt Frank** | I am aware of the fact that one matter can hold several different simultaneous truths, and the only truth I see is the truth I am willing to believe! Yes, I believe my poor little king has been redeemed at last, much to everyone's delight!

#### Fiona Gilman

**Fiona Gilman** | Hmph! That swindler, or so called champion, should have been beheaded, dammit! He escaped so quickly! That "cat malady" is nothing but a scam, and that champion is nothing but a fraudster! All lies-lies I tell you! How could something so terrible possibly exist!

#### Robbie

**Robbie** | The tragedy of the king should be attributed to the foolish people of the world and the king himself. No one was willing to accept him, and he himself was not willing to accept his own feline face, and thus his life ended in misery.

#### Emma Woods

**Emma Woods** | Emma is truly petrified of fire... The flames, the raging inferno, it burned the king to ashes while plunging Emma's world into darkness. Yes, it was terrible, but after the fire, not everything had been.

#### Ending

**Kurt Frank** | Oh, my poor fools... You think you fooled the king, but maybe the king fooled you? Truth and lies exist in all things... So, does that mean then, that we are the truth itself? Or that we are born from lies?