{"submission_id":"258844","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"760","keyword_name":"animation","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"8662"},{"keyword_id":"434","keyword_name":"cartoon","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"9646"},{"keyword_id":"26772","keyword_name":"deception","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"65"},{"keyword_id":"14130","keyword_name":"destruction","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"642"},{"keyword_id":"7338","keyword_name":"disguise","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"447"},{"keyword_id":"878","keyword_name":"dream","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"3030"},{"keyword_id":"17936","keyword_name":"entertainment","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"152"},{"keyword_id":"2193","keyword_name":"fantasy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11600"},{"keyword_id":"98855","keyword_name":"fantasy-bubble","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1"},{"keyword_id":"123","keyword_name":"female","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"519816"},{"keyword_id":"1239","keyword_name":"ferret","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"5558"},{"keyword_id":"1799","keyword_name":"friendship","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"3611"},{"keyword_id":"3245","keyword_name":"furries","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"3132"},{"keyword_id":"2443","keyword_name":"genderless","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1472"},{"keyword_id":"1440","keyword_name":"human","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"46892"},{"keyword_id":"842","keyword_name":"imp","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"2529"},{"keyword_id":"165","keyword_name":"male","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"639773"},{"keyword_id":"27717","keyword_name":"metamorphosis","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"4192","keyword_name":"mischief","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"577"},{"keyword_id":"11194","keyword_name":"monsters","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"930"},{"keyword_id":"23305","keyword_name":"prank","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"498"},{"keyword_id":"186","keyword_name":"rabbit","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"64523"},{"keyword_id":"152","keyword_name":"raccoon","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"20417"},{"keyword_id":"98766","keyword_name":"stone 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Well, this more or less explains it. The story of the Imp is intended as a sort of parable for the events that led me here and the friendship I have gained (which I shall cherish for life =). My muse had already seen the rough concept which was presented to him as a very long PM where I described the story as a dream I had. He liked it, and I hope you all do too. But maybe that is also just a dream XP\n\nEnjoy. (Constructive criticism is welcome, especially if I'm to entertain the possibility of becoming published)","description_bbcode_parsed":"You see on my profile where I explain that I MIGHT tell the tale of the bizarre nature of my presence here on Inkbunny? Well, this more or less explains it. The story of the Imp is intended as a sort of parable for the events that led me here and the friendship I have gained (which I shall cherish for life =). My muse had already seen the rough concept which was presented to him as a very long PM where I described the story as a dream I had. He liked it, and I hope you all do too. But maybe that is also just a dream XP
Enjoy. (Constructive criticism is welcome, especially if I'm to entertain the possibility of becoming published)","writing":"[center][b]The Imp[/b][/center]\n\n\tCompletely lost in the middle of a white plain, you wonder if you are trapped inside a dream. You can take comfort knowing that the approaching figure in the distance will soon provide you with company, whether you want it or not. The pale-mauve coloured apparition starts off as a speck in the distance, and it looks like there is ground beneath him only when either his feet or hands actually touch ground. He closes the distance to you by doing back flips. Oddly, his motions seem almost animated, like out of a cartoon you might find at a film festival, and you cannot help but chuckle a little. On that note, you could be watching an animation short, for all you know. As you soon begin to discern his fluid form, it occurs to you that this gangly looking creature could be an imp.\n\n\tThe creature performs one more mighty flip in the air by launching himself upwards with his hands, and he nearly leaves your field of vision before returning to the ground. Gracefully, he lands flatly on his ridiculously large feet at the centre of your vision, just a couple of paces in front of you. Standing there with his legs spread apart, he flails his arms out and exclaims through a gaping smiley tooth-grin, “Aaaaah!”\n\n\tAt this point, your suspicions have thus been confirmed; this thing is indeed an imp. Leaning inwards, his big finger-clawed hands join and begin rolling around schemingly. Set behind a long beak-like nose, big beady yellow eyes shift left and right looking for mischief. Jutting out of the sides of his head are disproportionately large ears that taper off outward and flop over towards the ends, much like a jester’s hat. His big hands and oversized feet connect to his pear-shaped body by spindly, boney limbs. Although his arms and legs are fairly meatless, he is bottom heavy with a round and portly belly below a scrawny upper body. This pinkish devil also has a long, skinny, and pointed tail. Finally, his hair is blue, and possibly you wish it covered more than just his head since he wears nothing else. Fortunately for you, he has a plentiful amount of male fuzz adequately concealing his naughty bits, and it has the same colouring as the scruffy, unkempt mess atop of his head.\n\n\tThe Imp giggles and mutters incomprehensible words. Even though you cannot understand his speech, his dramatic introduction and the little dance he now performs clearly say to you, “Hey, look at me! Here I am.” You cannot be blamed for wanting to seek out better company, so you begin to scan the horizon. The background actually is not a crisp, clean white, but rather a more faded cream or beige colour, very much like an old canvass. Looking back to the Imp, you become more convinced you are stuck in a cartoon because his scratchy outline seems a little shaky, and his colouring looks painted with watercolours. Either you are in an old time animation, or it is simply the effect of the dream distorting your eyes. If this is a dream, it might be wise to have a second look at your surroundings.\n\n\tA second scan shows that you are not alone as you previously thought. To your left, four towering structures occupy your full field of view. They only have the inked outlines of statues resembling the kind you would find on Easter Island, though the heads are not as big. Aside from their outlines, they otherwise completely match the colouring of the background. Despite this, their solid, unwavering, and unanimated lines lend you to believe they are made of solid stone. Also, they look essentially planted into the ground, and you see they have shoulders, arms, and torsos, but not much else. Situated side by side, almost touching, they are arranged by height in the sequence of: short, tallest, tall, and shortest, as you look at them from left to right. You see them and their humanoid faces, but they pay no heed to you. Although you are a part of this dream or show, you are still very much separate from it. Instead, the statues have been observing the Imp.\n\n\t“Regarde,” the shortest one says.\n\n\t“Mira,” the leftmost one adds.\n\n\t“Ganawaabadan,” says the second tallest.\n\n\t“Behold,” the tallest one bellows in a deep resonating voice. He and his three counterparts watch amusedly as the Imp continues with his giggling, mutterings, somersaults, and on the spot acrobatics.\n\n\t“Heh, heh, heh,” three of the four statues chuckle in a delicate and subtle staccato, while the English one merely smiles without uttering a sound. As much as they apparently enjoy the spectacle before them, something in the distance distracts their attention away from the Imp. In unison, all four stony heads turn slowly and mechanically to their right. Following their gaze, you see a black speck at the centre of the scene, which suddenly zooms in like going through a warp tunnel. Here you see the object of the statues’ discontent, and it is a fat, balding, and annoying little man surrounded by a small gathering of people.\n\n\t“Hmmmm.” The sound emanating from all four statues is a deep, throaty, low frequency, and resonating rumble. Additionally, they all wear a sour frown over what they have seen in the distance. From your perspective, the Imp approaches the statues from the right of the scene, and he gazes up to them inquisitively. He is very close to their bases, and these towering giants make his stature seem quite dwarfish by comparison. Puzzled, the Imp looks out towards the distant fat-man, and he observes carefully to discern what has his rocky audience so offended.\n\n\tThe fat-man is waving around papers, a book, and a disc while he shouts out slogans like an auctioneer in order to sell his materials to the few people actually listening to him. In his little mind, the items he is trying to peddle off have the capacity to change the world and make him rich and universally admired. You know he thinks these things because you can see visual evidence to his deluded, self-indulgent fantasies. Hovering over his head is a bubble, and within this bubble is a fantasy of himself successfully wooing people with his works. The people in his fantasy wave large wads of cash in front of him, several beautiful women surround him, and everyone is thoroughly enriched by his biblical writings. Furthermore, his own physique is much more slender, and he is also less balding. Already brimming with his ego, he inflates his fantasy bubble larger as more people pay attention to him. In his fantasy, he is exactly how he wants to be and how he wants the world to perceive him, with the masses genuinely interested in what he has to say. You have probably realized that reality is much different than fat-man’s bubble.\n\n\tSquinting and pinching his chin, the Imp fully analyses fat-man’s shameful display, quickly peers back to the statues, and then back out to fat-man’s vicinity for additional verification. Almost in an instant, the Imp snaps his fingers as though he has had an epiphany, and he grins his evil grin. Putting two and two together, he concludes that it is fat-man’s lack of humility disturbing his viewers. Upon realizing this, he resolves to bust the man down a notch. In a pink flash, the Imp shoots off into the distance. The statues watch closely as the Imp zings away to his target.\n\n\tStrategically taking position behind a bush, the Imp pulls out a very large pin. As far as you can tell, this pin manifested out of thin air because the Imp is not even wearing a scabbard, a bag, or anything else except for his skin and blue fuzz. No point, really, in asking where he got it. Something that is quite noteworthy about the Imp’s pin is its size, and this is because it is very large in comparison to the Imp. It looks more like a shiny round short-sword when wielded by the Imp, and it is more than sufficient to satisfy a craving for mischief. He stealthily sneaks up behind fat-man, and with one mighty and precise jab he bursts fat-man’s bubble! After a powerful pop, fat-man’s fantasy disbands, and shards of it either dissolve in the air or melt into the ground, disappearing from sight. Fat-man’s diminutive audience responds by laughing, and he spins around, with a burning red face, where he sees the culprit.\n\n\t“Hey! Wabbadah, habba dabba da ba! Wo habba halla abba dah!” Understandably enough, fat-man is thoroughly enraged with the Imp as he shouts angrily. The Imp responds by laughing and mockingly shouting back the same words. Further infuriated, fat-man tries to strike the Imp; however, the Imp is very nimble and dodges every assault.\n\n\t“Heh, heh, heh,” three of the four statues laugh, subtly. The English statue again merely smiles. All four statues had observed carefully the events that have unfolded before them, and the Imp, seeing their pleasure, dons a look of pure smugness since he feels he has won their approval.\n\n\tSoon, another opportunity for the Imp to entertain his watchers presents itself off in the distance. The statues have already shifted their heads to the new source of discontent, and it starts off again as a black speck against the white background that suddenly zooms in to reveal a large congregation of creatures. Some of them are humans, others are monsters, and many are anthropomorphic animal people of varying species. Most of them have growing bubbles over their heads containing their personal fantasies, and just like the fat-man, many of these bubbles are filled with a nasty dose of narcissism. One fellow envisions himself as a knight in shining, sterling armor, and another sees herself as a princess dancing at a ball in a castle with the highest levels of society. Most of these bubbles are quite small as the projections of how these people would like to be is rather shallow. \n\n\tMany individuals do not even have a bubble yet. They need to make them first, and they do so by holding a fist to their foreheads, pulling out, and then opening their hands and pushing outward into the air immediately above their heads. It is as though they can pull thoughts from their heads, and send these thoughts into the air. If you know anything about the Eastern concept of the Third Eye, you would better understand the significance of the motions these people make. No, they do not have an eyeball seated in their foreheads, but that part of the forehead is where you would find the Third Eye. The denizens of this dream emanate thoughts from their Third Eyes, and these thoughts manifest as bubbles into which people pour their dreams. On the rare occasion, you see bubbles filled with beautiful fantasies, but mostly the bubbles are completely self-serving.\n\n\t“Hmmmm,” The statues rumble as they frown bitterly. No doubt the Imp has reasoned that if he had their approval once, he could easily have it again. Resolved, he rushes out to the crowd.\n\n\tArriving among the crowd as swiftly as a fired cannon ball, the Imp pulls out his pin ready to burst a few bubbles. He is about to give into the temptation to start bursting bubbles at random, but instead notices a significant gathering among the crowd. Above them is a massive bubble, several times bigger than the one fat-man had. Each member of the crowd circled around this bubble makes their own contributions to this collective effort growing to greater and greater proportions. Inside the bubble, everyone interacts happily with each other, but they still represent themselves in the epitome of the ideal to which they wish to be perceived. And yes, there is intercourse occurring in this bubble. A lot. As such, it would be a terrible shame if this fantasy shattered, so the Imp, recognizing the impact it would have, moves in quickly and bursts this massive bubble.\n\n\tNaturally, everyone starts shouting at the Imp. They shake their fists and scream curses as equally incomprehensible as the fat-man’s harsh words. The Imp, of course, laughs hysterically. As for his spectators, though, only two of the four statues chuckle, one smiles, and the English one gives a disapproving “hmmmm.”\n\n\tThe Imp hides away behind a tree, waiting for the crowd to resume building up their fantasies. Once a sizable bubble begins to take shape, the Imp runs out and again tries to burst it. Knowing full well what the Imp intends to do, a wall of people block his path. When he tries to run past them to reach his target, they shimmy from side to side, and the bobbing up and down of bodies makes the motions of this row of people look like a giant caterpillar. The shimmying results in the sounds of rattling knight’s armor or pots and pans. It is no use trying to figure out the origin of the sounds because you only need to know that this avant-garde display prevents the Imp from getting close.\n\n\tHe persists only for a moment or two before taking pause and grabbing his chin with his index finger and thumb, pondering. Within a quick moment, he clicks his fingers to signify the birth of another epiphany. Once again, apparently out of nowhere, he pulls out from some invisible inventory a suit and then slips into it. The disguise makes him look like a raccoon, equipped with the classical ringtail, but you know that raccoons are not brown, nor do they have the bizarre proportions of the Imp’s body. Despite these minor details, and the fact you can plainly see a zipper running up his front, the disguise makes him look like one of the anthropomorphic people in the crowd. Mysteriously, possibly due to low attention spans, the wall of people disbands and they welcome the Imp into their inner circle where a new giant bubble currently takes shape.\n\n\t“Eh, ah-heh heh, eeh!” The Imp says and nods, feigning amazement. He waits until the bubble grows larger than the one previous before pulling out his pin and bursting this latest creation. The crowd sneers at the Imp, and a few do yell at him, but they soon all break away and move on elsewhere. Interestingly, not only is the crowd less reactive, the statues are less enthusiastic over the Imp’s antics. Only one of them laughs while another one smiles.\n\n\t“Hmmmm,” resonates from the English statue and his next tallest counterpart, and they both frown.\n\n\tNot really sure what to do with himself now, the Imp paces around the emptied field for a while. He then walks over a hill to a small meadow, surrounded by trees, near a ravine. In the middle of this meadow stands a rather ghastly looking figure. You look at the object of the Imp’s attention and see what looks like a young rabbit boy. Outwardly, this boy appears very sickly to you and generally displeasing to your eyes. His long black tipped ears cannot seem to stand fully upright. One ear is bent while the other is nearly flopped over to the side of his head, and his dirty, off-white coat is patchy and bald in several areas. Even that which reveals he is a he lacks sufficient fur covering. Certainly, you expect nakedness in what has played out like a cartoon show for you, and perhaps you do not really mind at all, but this boy looks like one who is stripped, battered, and damaged. Additionally, his belly sags a bit, and his limbs look frail and wasted. If you were to judge entirely on outward appearance, you would not expect from him the incredulous talent that has caught the attention of everyone who had recently dispersed from the field.\n\n\tGathering around this patchy rabbit boy, the crowd watches as he creates a fantasy bubble unlike any other seen up to this point. What makes this particular creation so unique is that everyone represented inside of it is not inflated to the size of their egos. They are as they are. You notice everyone in this bubble enjoying the simple splendor of nature, and they look content and at ease with their own bodies and with their surroundings. Oh and yes, you witness copious amounts of coitus, but not at all like the shameless displays of perversion you observed in everyone else’s bubbles. Rather, the people in this bubble are actually making love, deeply and passionately. Everyone else had been using their bubbles to portray themselves in some kind of ideal, but the only ideal propped up by this bubble is everyone being happy and content without adulteration. Even though this boy weaves such a wonderful creation, it is, sadly, just another fantasy, but its power and beauty has everyone so enamored.\n\n\tFrom a safe vantage point well away from everyone, the Imp gazes on in sheer astonishment. In the same nonsensical gibberish you have already encountered, the crowd makes supportive calls to the boy and marvels at his creation. It is finished when it becomes greater in scale and more majestic than any other fantasy bubble made by anyone before. Reaching up to the bubble, the boy then freely passes it off to the crowd like a giant beach ball, not asking for anything in return. Ecstatic and giddy with excitement, the crowd wanders off with their prize, leaving the boy all alone.\n\n\tWhatever fleeting euphoria the boy felt over satisfying so many people fades quickly as the slight grin on his face yields to the look of sadness. Only one person, a female ferret creature, from the crowd looks back and returns out of sympathy. Oddly, before she can even get close, a mysterious barrier enveloping the boy stops her abruptly. It is as though the boy himself is trapped inside a bubble. You could well ask what this is supposed to mean, since no doubt you start to wonder if the boy is really just a fantasy too. If he is a fantasy, then someone must have a sad mind to conjure someone like him. On the other hand, the bubble could be protecting something as delicate as all the bubbles the Imp so easily destroyed. In any case, you may wonder if there is any escape for this poor boy. The fantasy bubbles may be fragile, but the boy’s invisible barrier is exceedingly more rigid. With earnest, the female ferret feels around the encasement trying to find a way in, and the boy reaches out his hand trying to make physical contact with this other being who has shown him some iota of caring. Sadly, she eventually gives up, shrugs, and then runs off to rejoin the crowd. The boy drops his arm and he becomes gripped with sadness.\n\n\tHaving witnessed everything, the Imp seems completely bemused by this enigmatic character he sees from his hideaway. He resolves to get in closer. As close as he possibly can. Very carefully, he sneaks up behind the boy and stops just outside of what he thinks is the limits of the barrier. Next, the Imp reaches out, and the forward motion of his big hand, strangely, does not cease as it gets close enough to grab the boy. He then taps on the boy’s shoulder with his index finger.\n\n\tTurning around, the boy looks puzzled at this creature, still disguised as a raccoon, who has somehow managed to breach his barrier. The Imp flails out his spindly arms in the same introductory “hey look at me” fashion you might recall seeing earlier. To prove his unprecedented ability to the boy, he hops in close and just in front of the boy, hops back out, and then hops back in again. Upon realizing the capability of this strange animal, the boy’s eyes lighten and he smiles brightly. Knowing that he has earned the boy’s trust, the Imp again outstretches his arms and both he and the boy embrace.\n\n\tPulling back, the Imp requests, “Eh, habbah a dabba da? Ba ah baba!”\n\n\tThe boy nods, makes a fist over his forehead, and then projects his fantasies out of his Third Eye into a brand new rapidly growing bubble. The Imp encourages and cheers on the boy while the bubble grows and grows. Happy to oblige his new friend, the boy continues with determination. Within mere moments, this bubble becomes even bigger than the one he made for the crowd. A sense of elation starts to stir in the boy as he works to create a very special bubble for his special friend, but the Imp came here with one thing on his mind. While the boy concentrates hard, the Imp pulls out his pin and pays the same cruelty to the lonely boy as he has to everyone else without discrimination.\n\n\tAs a result, despair and heartbreak overtake the boy. His lower lip quivers and his eyes gloss over. Through his disillusionment, he looks to the Imp with eyes that simply ask, “why?” but the Imp again just points and laughs. Completely crushed, the boy turns away and walks over to the bank of the ravine. He sits, folds his arms over top of his knees, lowers his head into his arms, and begins to weep. \n\n\tLooking over to the statues for approval, the Imp asks through his evil grin, “Ah? Ah?”\n\n\tAll four statues frown and give the same rumbling grumble granted to those who truly deserve it. No doubt you share the disapproval of your fellow spectators. Confused, the Imp drops his expression. He beckons the statues for a reason, but all they do is rotate their heads away slowly, gradually diminish, and fade into the background. Everything begins to turn dark, except for the immediate area around the Imp who now finds himself just as alone as his victim. His head droops, and he feels lost and completely alone.\n\n\tAbout the only thing the Imp can do now is sit beside the boy. Little by little, he shifts closer and closer, still able to breach the barrier no one else could. Now situated by the boy’s side, the Imp sighs and places an arm around the distraught youth. The boy raises his head and peers over to the Imp, daring to accept the Imp’s remorse and sympathy. But, he notices the zipper on the suit, and he pulls it down slightly to reveal the Imp’s pinkish chest. After seeing what really lies beneath the disguise, the boy sighs, gets up, and begins to walk away. Perhaps even you have reservations as to whether the Imp’s feelings are truly genuine.\n\n\tThe Imp pulls down his zipper enough to allow sufficient slack to pull back the head portion of his suit. He looks in disgust at the reflection of himself in the running water below; however, the swiftness of his mind allows him to click into an “ah ha!” moment as he knows what he must do next to prove himself.\n\n\t“Hey! Wa! Wa!” the Imp cries out as he runs out in front of the boy. “Loo. Loo.”\n\n\tRe-zipping his suit, the Imp then uses both hands to pull on the slider with all his might. Moans of agony begin at the moment sounds of tearing flesh fill the air. The boy looks on somewhat horrified, but also completely fixated. Slowly, the Imp rips the zipper away from his body. It is as though the item were really a part of his anatomy, albeit a part he wants to rid himself of, because an actual wound results as it departs from his body. When at last it is torn off, a steady stream of blood starts flowing from a nasty wound stretching from the Imp’s chin to between his legs. Although he is clearly in excruciating pain, he just looks up to the boy and smiles. He simply wipes away the blood running down his front, and reveals a seamlessness that has altered what he had been before. This raccoon now standing before the boy begins pulling on various parts of his fur coat to show its legitimacy. Everything about him, the fur, the skin, the ringtail, and even the male parts, is exactly as it should be. Indeed, the friend the boy thought he knew is the same friend he can see in front of him.\n\n\tThe raccoon holds the zipper out and entices the boy to place it over his own body. Reluctant at first, the boy does comply as he rubs the zipper on his front like a strip of cellophane tape. After full application of the zipper, the raccoon waves his arms, mutters encouragements, and persuades the boy to unzip. In so doing, the boy can then step out of his own suit to reveal the inner beauty once only expressed through his fantasy bubbles. His smooth white coat is no longer matted, free of blemishes, and is without missing patches. Even his long black tipped rabbit ears stand tall, no longer drooping or outright collapsed. You also take notice of the lack of despair and hopelessness that had once marked his face. These two friends you see before you smile brightly and embrace. Together, they begin to create a grand fantasy bubble, which draws the attention of a large admiring crowd.\n\n\tYour attention then turns to the four statues who have just reappeared. All four smile and chuckle, even the stuck up English one, as they also watch the two friends happily weaving wonders together. It is time for you to wake up now.","writing_bbcode_parsed":"The Imp
\tCompletely lost in the middle of a white plain, you wonder if you are trapped inside a dream. You can take comfort knowing that the approaching figure in the distance will soon provide you with company, whether you want it or not. The pale-mauve coloured apparition starts off as a speck in the distance, and it looks like there is ground beneath him only when either his feet or hands actually touch ground. He closes the distance to you by doing back flips. Oddly, his motions seem almost animated, like out of a cartoon you might find at a film festival, and you cannot help but chuckle a little. On that note, you could be watching an animation short, for all you know. As you soon begin to discern his fluid form, it occurs to you that this gangly looking creature could be an imp.
\tThe creature performs one more mighty flip in the air by launching himself upwards with his hands, and he nearly leaves your field of vision before returning to the ground. Gracefully, he lands flatly on his ridiculously large feet at the centre of your vision, just a couple of paces in front of you. Standing there with his legs spread apart, he flails his arms out and exclaims through a gaping smiley tooth-grin, “Aaaaah!”
\tAt this point, your suspicions have thus been confirmed; this thing is indeed an imp. Leaning inwards, his big finger-clawed hands join and begin rolling around schemingly. Set behind a long beak-like nose, big beady yellow eyes shift left and right looking for mischief. Jutting out of the sides of his head are disproportionately large ears that taper off outward and flop over towards the ends, much like a jester’s hat. His big hands and oversized feet connect to his pear-shaped body by spindly, boney limbs. Although his arms and legs are fairly meatless, he is bottom heavy with a round and portly belly below a scrawny upper body. This pinkish devil also has a long, skinny, and pointed tail. Finally, his hair is blue, and possibly you wish it covered more than just his head since he wears nothing else. Fortunately for you, he has a plentiful amount of male fuzz adequately concealing his naughty bits, and it has the same colouring as the scruffy, unkempt mess atop of his head.
\tThe Imp giggles and mutters incomprehensible words. Even though you cannot understand his speech, his dramatic introduction and the little dance he now performs clearly say to you, “Hey, look at me! Here I am.” You cannot be blamed for wanting to seek out better company, so you begin to scan the horizon. The background actually is not a crisp, clean white, but rather a more faded cream or beige colour, very much like an old canvass. Looking back to the Imp, you become more convinced you are stuck in a cartoon because his scratchy outline seems a little shaky, and his colouring looks painted with watercolours. Either you are in an old time animation, or it is simply the effect of the dream distorting your eyes. If this is a dream, it might be wise to have a second look at your surroundings.
\tA second scan shows that you are not alone as you previously thought. To your left, four towering structures occupy your full field of view. They only have the inked outlines of statues resembling the kind you would find on Easter Island, though the heads are not as big. Aside from their outlines, they otherwise completely match the colouring of the background. Despite this, their solid, unwavering, and unanimated lines lend you to believe they are made of solid stone. Also, they look essentially planted into the ground, and you see they have shoulders, arms, and torsos, but not much else. Situated side by side, almost touching, they are arranged by height in the sequence of: short, tallest, tall, and shortest, as you look at them from left to right. You see them and their humanoid faces, but they pay no heed to you. Although you are a part of this dream or show, you are still very much separate from it. Instead, the statues have been observing the Imp.
\t“Regarde,” the shortest one says.
\t“Mira,” the leftmost one adds.
\t“Ganawaabadan,” says the second tallest.
\t“Behold,” the tallest one bellows in a deep resonating voice. He and his three counterparts watch amusedly as the Imp continues with his giggling, mutterings, somersaults, and on the spot acrobatics.
\t“Heh, heh, heh,” three of the four statues chuckle in a delicate and subtle staccato, while the English one merely smiles without uttering a sound. As much as they apparently enjoy the spectacle before them, something in the distance distracts their attention away from the Imp. In unison, all four stony heads turn slowly and mechanically to their right. Following their gaze, you see a black speck at the centre of the scene, which suddenly zooms in like going through a warp tunnel. Here you see the object of the statues’ discontent, and it is a fat, balding, and annoying little man surrounded by a small gathering of people.
\t“Hmmmm.” The sound emanating from all four statues is a deep, throaty, low frequency, and resonating rumble. Additionally, they all wear a sour frown over what they have seen in the distance. From your perspective, the Imp approaches the statues from the right of the scene, and he gazes up to them inquisitively. He is very close to their bases, and these towering giants make his stature seem quite dwarfish by comparison. Puzzled, the Imp looks out towards the distant fat-man, and he observes carefully to discern what has his rocky audience so offended.
\tThe fat-man is waving around papers, a book, and a disc while he shouts out slogans like an auctioneer in order to sell his materials to the few people actually listening to him. In his little mind, the items he is trying to peddle off have the capacity to change the world and make him rich and universally admired. You know he thinks these things because you can see visual evidence to his deluded, self-indulgent fantasies. Hovering over his head is a bubble, and within this bubble is a fantasy of himself successfully wooing people with his works. The people in his fantasy wave large wads of cash in front of him, several beautiful women surround him, and everyone is thoroughly enriched by his biblical writings. Furthermore, his own physique is much more slender, and he is also less balding. Already brimming with his ego, he inflates his fantasy bubble larger as more people pay attention to him. In his fantasy, he is exactly how he wants to be and how he wants the world to perceive him, with the masses genuinely interested in what he has to say. You have probably realized that reality is much different than fat-man’s bubble.
\tSquinting and pinching his chin, the Imp fully analyses fat-man’s shameful display, quickly peers back to the statues, and then back out to fat-man’s vicinity for additional verification. Almost in an instant, the Imp snaps his fingers as though he has had an epiphany, and he grins his evil grin. Putting two and two together, he concludes that it is fat-man’s lack of humility disturbing his viewers. Upon realizing this, he resolves to bust the man down a notch. In a pink flash, the Imp shoots off into the distance. The statues watch closely as the Imp zings away to his target.
\tStrategically taking position behind a bush, the Imp pulls out a very large pin. As far as you can tell, this pin manifested out of thin air because the Imp is not even wearing a scabbard, a bag, or anything else except for his skin and blue fuzz. No point, really, in asking where he got it. Something that is quite noteworthy about the Imp’s pin is its size, and this is because it is very large in comparison to the Imp. It looks more like a shiny round short-sword when wielded by the Imp, and it is more than sufficient to satisfy a craving for mischief. He stealthily sneaks up behind fat-man, and with one mighty and precise jab he bursts fat-man’s bubble! After a powerful pop, fat-man’s fantasy disbands, and shards of it either dissolve in the air or melt into the ground, disappearing from sight. Fat-man’s diminutive audience responds by laughing, and he spins around, with a burning red face, where he sees the culprit.
\t“Hey! Wabbadah, habba dabba da ba! Wo habba halla abba dah!” Understandably enough, fat-man is thoroughly enraged with the Imp as he shouts angrily. The Imp responds by laughing and mockingly shouting back the same words. Further infuriated, fat-man tries to strike the Imp; however, the Imp is very nimble and dodges every assault.
\t“Heh, heh, heh,” three of the four statues laugh, subtly. The English statue again merely smiles. All four statues had observed carefully the events that have unfolded before them, and the Imp, seeing their pleasure, dons a look of pure smugness since he feels he has won their approval.
\tSoon, another opportunity for the Imp to entertain his watchers presents itself off in the distance. The statues have already shifted their heads to the new source of discontent, and it starts off again as a black speck against the white background that suddenly zooms in to reveal a large congregation of creatures. Some of them are humans, others are monsters, and many are anthropomorphic animal people of varying species. Most of them have growing bubbles over their heads containing their personal fantasies, and just like the fat-man, many of these bubbles are filled with a nasty dose of narcissism. One fellow envisions himself as a knight in shining, sterling armor, and another sees herself as a princess dancing at a ball in a castle with the highest levels of society. Most of these bubbles are quite small as the projections of how these people would like to be is rather shallow.
\tMany individuals do not even have a bubble yet. They need to make them first, and they do so by holding a fist to their foreheads, pulling out, and then opening their hands and pushing outward into the air immediately above their heads. It is as though they can pull thoughts from their heads, and send these thoughts into the air. If you know anything about the Eastern concept of the Third Eye, you would better understand the significance of the motions these people make. No, they do not have an eyeball seated in their foreheads, but that part of the forehead is where you would find the Third Eye. The denizens of this dream emanate thoughts from their Third Eyes, and these thoughts manifest as bubbles into which people pour their dreams. On the rare occasion, you see bubbles filled with beautiful fantasies, but mostly the bubbles are completely self-serving.
\t“Hmmmm,” The statues rumble as they frown bitterly. No doubt the Imp has reasoned that if he had their approval once, he could easily have it again. Resolved, he rushes out to the crowd.
\tArriving among the crowd as swiftly as a fired cannon ball, the Imp pulls out his pin ready to burst a few bubbles. He is about to give into the temptation to start bursting bubbles at random, but instead notices a significant gathering among the crowd. Above them is a massive bubble, several times bigger than the one fat-man had. Each member of the crowd circled around this bubble makes their own contributions to this collective effort growing to greater and greater proportions. Inside the bubble, everyone interacts happily with each other, but they still represent themselves in the epitome of the ideal to which they wish to be perceived. And yes, there is intercourse occurring in this bubble. A lot. As such, it would be a terrible shame if this fantasy shattered, so the Imp, recognizing the impact it would have, moves in quickly and bursts this massive bubble.
\tNaturally, everyone starts shouting at the Imp. They shake their fists and scream curses as equally incomprehensible as the fat-man’s harsh words. The Imp, of course, laughs hysterically. As for his spectators, though, only two of the four statues chuckle, one smiles, and the English one gives a disapproving “hmmmm.”
\tThe Imp hides away behind a tree, waiting for the crowd to resume building up their fantasies. Once a sizable bubble begins to take shape, the Imp runs out and again tries to burst it. Knowing full well what the Imp intends to do, a wall of people block his path. When he tries to run past them to reach his target, they shimmy from side to side, and the bobbing up and down of bodies makes the motions of this row of people look like a giant caterpillar. The shimmying results in the sounds of rattling knight’s armor or pots and pans. It is no use trying to figure out the origin of the sounds because you only need to know that this avant-garde display prevents the Imp from getting close.
\tHe persists only for a moment or two before taking pause and grabbing his chin with his index finger and thumb, pondering. Within a quick moment, he clicks his fingers to signify the birth of another epiphany. Once again, apparently out of nowhere, he pulls out from some invisible inventory a suit and then slips into it. The disguise makes him look like a raccoon, equipped with the classical ringtail, but you know that raccoons are not brown, nor do they have the bizarre proportions of the Imp’s body. Despite these minor details, and the fact you can plainly see a zipper running up his front, the disguise makes him look like one of the anthropomorphic people in the crowd. Mysteriously, possibly due to low attention spans, the wall of people disbands and they welcome the Imp into their inner circle where a new giant bubble currently takes shape.
\t“Eh, ah-heh heh, eeh!” The Imp says and nods, feigning amazement. He waits until the bubble grows larger than the one previous before pulling out his pin and bursting this latest creation. The crowd sneers at the Imp, and a few do yell at him, but they soon all break away and move on elsewhere. Interestingly, not only is the crowd less reactive, the statues are less enthusiastic over the Imp’s antics. Only one of them laughs while another one smiles.
\t“Hmmmm,” resonates from the English statue and his next tallest counterpart, and they both frown.
\tNot really sure what to do with himself now, the Imp paces around the emptied field for a while. He then walks over a hill to a small meadow, surrounded by trees, near a ravine. In the middle of this meadow stands a rather ghastly looking figure. You look at the object of the Imp’s attention and see what looks like a young rabbit boy. Outwardly, this boy appears very sickly to you and generally displeasing to your eyes. His long black tipped ears cannot seem to stand fully upright. One ear is bent while the other is nearly flopped over to the side of his head, and his dirty, off-white coat is patchy and bald in several areas. Even that which reveals he is a he lacks sufficient fur covering. Certainly, you expect nakedness in what has played out like a cartoon show for you, and perhaps you do not really mind at all, but this boy looks like one who is stripped, battered, and damaged. Additionally, his belly sags a bit, and his limbs look frail and wasted. If you were to judge entirely on outward appearance, you would not expect from him the incredulous talent that has caught the attention of everyone who had recently dispersed from the field.
\tGathering around this patchy rabbit boy, the crowd watches as he creates a fantasy bubble unlike any other seen up to this point. What makes this particular creation so unique is that everyone represented inside of it is not inflated to the size of their egos. They are as they are. You notice everyone in this bubble enjoying the simple splendor of nature, and they look content and at ease with their own bodies and with their surroundings. Oh and yes, you witness copious amounts of coitus, but not at all like the shameless displays of perversion you observed in everyone else’s bubbles. Rather, the people in this bubble are actually making love, deeply and passionately. Everyone else had been using their bubbles to portray themselves in some kind of ideal, but the only ideal propped up by this bubble is everyone being happy and content without adulteration. Even though this boy weaves such a wonderful creation, it is, sadly, just another fantasy, but its power and beauty has everyone so enamored.
\tFrom a safe vantage point well away from everyone, the Imp gazes on in sheer astonishment. In the same nonsensical gibberish you have already encountered, the crowd makes supportive calls to the boy and marvels at his creation. It is finished when it becomes greater in scale and more majestic than any other fantasy bubble made by anyone before. Reaching up to the bubble, the boy then freely passes it off to the crowd like a giant beach ball, not asking for anything in return. Ecstatic and giddy with excitement, the crowd wanders off with their prize, leaving the boy all alone.
\tWhatever fleeting euphoria the boy felt over satisfying so many people fades quickly as the slight grin on his face yields to the look of sadness. Only one person, a female ferret creature, from the crowd looks back and returns out of sympathy. Oddly, before she can even get close, a mysterious barrier enveloping the boy stops her abruptly. It is as though the boy himself is trapped inside a bubble. You could well ask what this is supposed to mean, since no doubt you start to wonder if the boy is really just a fantasy too. If he is a fantasy, then someone must have a sad mind to conjure someone like him. On the other hand, the bubble could be protecting something as delicate as all the bubbles the Imp so easily destroyed. In any case, you may wonder if there is any escape for this poor boy. The fantasy bubbles may be fragile, but the boy’s invisible barrier is exceedingly more rigid. With earnest, the female ferret feels around the encasement trying to find a way in, and the boy reaches out his hand trying to make physical contact with this other being who has shown him some iota of caring. Sadly, she eventually gives up, shrugs, and then runs off to rejoin the crowd. The boy drops his arm and he becomes gripped with sadness.
\tHaving witnessed everything, the Imp seems completely bemused by this enigmatic character he sees from his hideaway. He resolves to get in closer. As close as he possibly can. Very carefully, he sneaks up behind the boy and stops just outside of what he thinks is the limits of the barrier. Next, the Imp reaches out, and the forward motion of his big hand, strangely, does not cease as it gets close enough to grab the boy. He then taps on the boy’s shoulder with his index finger.
\tTurning around, the boy looks puzzled at this creature, still disguised as a raccoon, who has somehow managed to breach his barrier. The Imp flails out his spindly arms in the same introductory “hey look at me” fashion you might recall seeing earlier. To prove his unprecedented ability to the boy, he hops in close and just in front of the boy, hops back out, and then hops back in again. Upon realizing the capability of this strange animal, the boy’s eyes lighten and he smiles brightly. Knowing that he has earned the boy’s trust, the Imp again outstretches his arms and both he and the boy embrace.
\tPulling back, the Imp requests, “Eh, habbah a dabba da? Ba ah baba!”
\tThe boy nods, makes a fist over his forehead, and then projects his fantasies out of his Third Eye into a brand new rapidly growing bubble. The Imp encourages and cheers on the boy while the bubble grows and grows. Happy to oblige his new friend, the boy continues with determination. Within mere moments, this bubble becomes even bigger than the one he made for the crowd. A sense of elation starts to stir in the boy as he works to create a very special bubble for his special friend, but the Imp came here with one thing on his mind. While the boy concentrates hard, the Imp pulls out his pin and pays the same cruelty to the lonely boy as he has to everyone else without discrimination.
\tAs a result, despair and heartbreak overtake the boy. His lower lip quivers and his eyes gloss over. Through his disillusionment, he looks to the Imp with eyes that simply ask, “why?” but the Imp again just points and laughs. Completely crushed, the boy turns away and walks over to the bank of the ravine. He sits, folds his arms over top of his knees, lowers his head into his arms, and begins to weep.
\tLooking over to the statues for approval, the Imp asks through his evil grin, “Ah? Ah?”
\tAll four statues frown and give the same rumbling grumble granted to those who truly deserve it. No doubt you share the disapproval of your fellow spectators. Confused, the Imp drops his expression. He beckons the statues for a reason, but all they do is rotate their heads away slowly, gradually diminish, and fade into the background. Everything begins to turn dark, except for the immediate area around the Imp who now finds himself just as alone as his victim. His head droops, and he feels lost and completely alone.
\tAbout the only thing the Imp can do now is sit beside the boy. Little by little, he shifts closer and closer, still able to breach the barrier no one else could. Now situated by the boy’s side, the Imp sighs and places an arm around the distraught youth. The boy raises his head and peers over to the Imp, daring to accept the Imp’s remorse and sympathy. But, he notices the zipper on the suit, and he pulls it down slightly to reveal the Imp’s pinkish chest. After seeing what really lies beneath the disguise, the boy sighs, gets up, and begins to walk away. Perhaps even you have reservations as to whether the Imp’s feelings are truly genuine.
\tThe Imp pulls down his zipper enough to allow sufficient slack to pull back the head portion of his suit. He looks in disgust at the reflection of himself in the running water below; however, the swiftness of his mind allows him to click into an “ah ha!” moment as he knows what he must do next to prove himself.
\t“Hey! Wa! Wa!” the Imp cries out as he runs out in front of the boy. “Loo. Loo.”
\tRe-zipping his suit, the Imp then uses both hands to pull on the slider with all his might. Moans of agony begin at the moment sounds of tearing flesh fill the air. The boy looks on somewhat horrified, but also completely fixated. Slowly, the Imp rips the zipper away from his body. It is as though the item were really a part of his anatomy, albeit a part he wants to rid himself of, because an actual wound results as it departs from his body. When at last it is torn off, a steady stream of blood starts flowing from a nasty wound stretching from the Imp’s chin to between his legs. Although he is clearly in excruciating pain, he just looks up to the boy and smiles. He simply wipes away the blood running down his front, and reveals a seamlessness that has altered what he had been before. This raccoon now standing before the boy begins pulling on various parts of his fur coat to show its legitimacy. Everything about him, the fur, the skin, the ringtail, and even the male parts, is exactly as it should be. Indeed, the friend the boy thought he knew is the same friend he can see in front of him.
\tThe raccoon holds the zipper out and entices the boy to place it over his own body. Reluctant at first, the boy does comply as he rubs the zipper on his front like a strip of cellophane tape. After full application of the zipper, the raccoon waves his arms, mutters encouragements, and persuades the boy to unzip. In so doing, the boy can then step out of his own suit to reveal the inner beauty once only expressed through his fantasy bubbles. His smooth white coat is no longer matted, free of blemishes, and is without missing patches. Even his long black tipped rabbit ears stand tall, no longer drooping or outright collapsed. You also take notice of the lack of despair and hopelessness that had once marked his face. These two friends you see before you smile brightly and embrace. Together, they begin to create a grand fantasy bubble, which draws the attention of a large admiring crowd.
\tYour attention then turns to the four statues who have just reappeared. All four smile and chuckle, even the stuck up English one, as they also watch the two friends happily weaving wonders together. It is time for you to wake up now.","pools_count":0,"title":"The Imp","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"0","rating_name":"General","ratings":[],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"f","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"74","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}