Past the restaurant,

I went straight down

So excited , I felt the freshness.

I hung out at the corner,

the duodenum for a while.

The others were already there:

bigger than me,

stronger , undulating

like I didn’t know how.

I slipped and fell lower

where the rejects sit.

These guys, there, were much nicer.

We shared the meal that was

sliding down the gut,

And I learned, how to slither

my way up,

how to wait for the right moment,

after the constriction passes,

how to hold on,

when there's fiberous stuff.

I held on, while others

just washed out.

I got a nice shade of pale

and at least a few meters.

Since then, I’ve sent off many spawn,

many eggs to hatch and grow,

a proud former student

inching up the colon of life.

Hi, my name is Tara Diera. I am shorter than most elves by a few feet, meaning I am only 5 foot tall.

It was the first day of school. I walked up to the big doors of Elf University. I took a deep breath and opened the door to see everyone staring at me.

“He... Hello, everyone! My name is Tara Diera. I am happy to be here.” I said as I walked past them.

“Get lost, kid!!” A tall male said as he pushed me down.

I fell and my books fell everywhere. Everyone started laughing at me as I gathered up my scattered books. I shrugged and stood up.

“What, no retaliation towards me?” The guy that pushed me down asked as he grabbed my ponytail.

“No sir. I won’t retaliate with anyone. It is quite rude to be grabbing my ponytail. Please, let go of my ponytail.” I said as I stood still and faced away from him.

Everyone gasped and I shrugged again. Everyone started backing away.

“What did you say to me, punk?” He asked as he yanked on my ponytail, pulling me down.

“I asked you to let go of my ponytail, nicely. I also, will not retaliate against those who have pushed me and made fun of me.” I said as I sat down and set my books down.

“Why not, punk? You think you are better than us?” He asked as he smirked and kept a hold of my ponytail.

“For one, I am not a punk. Two, I warned you about holding my ponytail. Let go, or I will hurt you!” I snapped at them and glared at them.

He let go of my ponytail and backed away. I grabbed my books and stood up again. I walked to the door to the office and reached for the foor handle that was a few feet from my hand. Everyone started laughing at me again as I reached for the door handle.

“H... Here. Let me help you.” A dark woman asked me as she opened the door and held it open for me to enter.

“Th... Thank you, madam. Are... are you new to this school?” I asked as I stared at her in disbelief.

Her skin was a dark chocolate color and her hair was black as the night could be. Her eyes were a scarlet color. Her voice was silky smooth when she spoke at first. She was a one of a kind gal.

“No. I am not new here. I am only visiting since my father owns this school.” She said with the most beautiful smile.

“Oh! Who is your father?” I asked her as she closed the door behind us.

“My Papa is Drago Freedom.” She said as we could hear a deep voice speak.

“Wow. My name is Tara Diera. What is your name, madam?” I asked as I bowed to her.

“Deera Freedom!! Come, my child! We are now leaving.” A deep voice said as he looked over the counter at us.

“Yes, Papa. I will be out soon. I am helping him find his way to his first class.” Deera said as she grabbed my schedule from the desktop.

The guy nodded and left the office. We both sighed and smiled at each other.

“First class is Advanced Magic? Why do you have that?” Deeta asked as she handed me the paper.

“Well, my parents noticed my ability to manifest any kind of magic that I wanted. So, they sent me here.” I said as we left the office.

“Advanced is down the third hall and at the end of that hallway, turn to your left to that classroom.” Deera said with a smile as we walked across the court yard.

“How do you know this place so well?” I asked her as we got to the third hallway.

“My Papa and Mama built this place. Well, I designed it when I was little. Got to go. See you at lunch?” She said with a smile.

“Yes, madam. See you at lunch.” I said as I bowed to here.

She skipped away and I went to my first class. My second class ended up being Home Exotics. How... exciting. Once that class was over I rushed to my third class which was Healing Magic and Potions. The bell rang for the class to start and in strode the teacher Ms. Freedom. She looked familiar, somehow, she was young and wore slacks and no shoes. This teacher was Deera Freedom!! I met her in the halls earlier this morning.

“Morning, my students.” She said elegantly.

She sounded mature and not that squeaky, annoying and immature voice from earlier. She was wearing a red garb and a golden pin that was in the shape of a Draginucous.

“M... Morning, Ms. Freedom.” My class and I said altogether.

“Now, we will start with simple instructions to make a weak healing potion. Tara, will you grab the sage, lavender and a jar from the back of the classroom, please?” She said with elegance and my response was a nod.

I did what she said and grabbed the glass jar, a bushel of lavendar and a small branch of Sage. Not just any sage, white sage.

“Thank you, Tara. How did you know to get white Sage instead of the other sage?” She asked as I sat back back down.

“Well, my father is a healer and my mother taught me the difference between white sage and the other. White sage is used as a deep laceration cleaner to keep infections at bay. The other sage could kill anyone.” I said with a smile.

She smiled back and continued with the lesson. She demonstrated and then it was time to pick a partner. No one picked me as a partner. I shrugged and grabbed the stuff we needed, but I grabbed more ingredients. Ms. Freedom watched all of us, especially me. She walked up and touched my shoulder.

The bell rang and we put the stuff away. Actually, everyone left and I was stuck with cleaning the classroom. I cleaned everything and put it all away. Ms. Freedom smiled as she swept the messy floor.

“Walk with me, Tara.” She said with a smile and opened the door.

I nodded and followed her to the cafeteria. Everyone stopped talking and the lunch line split. We walked up to the counter and I felt eyes upon me. Not just watching me, but it felt like they were going to rip my flesh from my bones. I grabbed my food after she did and someone tripped me. I fell and face planted into the tray of spaghetti. Everyone started laughing at me. I felt someone pull on my ponytail, lifting my head. I turned my head and saw it was the same guy from this morning.

"How does it feel to have spaghetti all over your face, huh punk?" He asked as he looked at me and stepped onto my lower back.

"You made a big mistake by doing this in front of my teacher." I said as I winced at the pain in my head and my lower back.

"What do you mean by that, punk?" He asked as he started twisting his foot on my lower back and pushing down at the same time.

I couldn't bear the pain anymore, so I screamed. They laughed and laughed at the torture they were giving me. Ms. Freedom turned around and looked at me, then them.

"Let him go, Darius." Ms. Freedom said as she set her food down on a table near her.

"Or what? Is the young teacher going to give us detention? How lame!!" He said as he looked at her while holding onto my ponytail.

"No. Much worse." She growled as the lights started to dim and her body had transformed into a Black Draginucous.

Darius let go of my ponytail and fell backwards. He scooted away from me and opened his mouth to say something but shut it again. She turned into her human form again and held her hand out for me to grab.

Darius and his group ran off as I stood up with the help of Ms. Freedom and said, "Ms. Freedom, why did you help me?"

"Call me Deera, Tara. I am a temporary teacher for now, until Professor Nolann comes back." She said with a smile.

"Well, thank you, Deera. Professor Nolann is back today and you shall now be a student helper. MY student helper." I said as I smiled wide.

Deera smiled back at me and grabbed her food. She handed me her tray of spaghetti and grabbed my books from the ground. No one bothered bullying me when Deera was around me. This ended about a week into school, when she moved away from the Elven Kingdom to the town of Shelldera with her mother and her strict father.

You know what? I actually felt love for her and I knew that there is no way for us to be together. I didn't care about rules and she felt love for me.