#98: Banana Slug - Lucy Get’s ‘Splained To

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That morning’s business breakfast at Ernie’s had just concluded. Everyone had flown off to take care of ‘bizzness’ here and there. The Dragon Lady lingered. She was sitting, thinking, and sipping coffee.

A black whirlwind flew in. It was Lucy. Lucy saw the DragonLady sitting all by herself and decided to join her. That girl had no respect. Nothing intimidated her. That was one of the things that the DragonLady most admired about the youngster. That girl would charge the gates of hell with a bucket of warm spit if she took a mind to.



“Hi Mrs. Dragon Lady Ma’am.” Lucy said “Can I join you? Cody and Josh are doing boring stuff. I decided to come here and have a milkshake.”

“Of course you can dear.” the Dragon Lady said “I’m alway happy to visit with you.”

“That’s good.” Lucy said. She texted her order to Ernie “Cause I got some stuff I don’t understand. When I ask my momma about it she gets all strange and stuff.”

Lucy was pushing puberty. The Dragon Lady had an idea what she might be leading up to.

“Oh? And what might that be dear?” she feigned ignorance.

“Something about the birds and the bee’s“ Lucy said “I want to know about sex and babies and she keeps veering off into a zoology lesson.”



The DragonLady grinned. “Was your momma raised in a City?”

“Well yeah she was.” Lucy said “I don’t think she hooked up with poppa until just before I was born. Why?”



“That might explain it” The Dragon Lady replied “so how may I be of service?”

“Well it has to do with abortion.” Lucy said

“Oh?” the dragon lady made a show of looking at Lucy’s waist line.

Lucy caught that and started giggling. “Not ME silly. I haven’t even started having periods yet. I’m just curious.”

“It’s well that you are curious.” The Dragon Lady replied “Forewarned is forearmed.”

“Well it’s like this.” Lucy sipped noisily on her milk shake that had just floated across the room into her waiting hands. “Why do those girls want to kill their babies?”

“It’s a long complicated story” the Dragon Lady began.

“I got time. Those boys were up to their elbows in techie stuff.” Lucy replied not to be put off.

“Well it so happens that I do too.” the DragonLady replied. She so loved to teach. This was a perfect opportunity. Wild horses couldn’t drag her away.

She began her lecture.



Some time later.

“They try to dehumanize their babies so they’ll feel better about themselves?” Lucy asked.

Kamiko looked at Lucy in surprise and admiration. This was one smart little girl. “That’s exactly right. It’s an old, old procedure. The military has been doing it since the dawn of time. If the enemy is ‘not human’ then they feel no guilt about killing them.”



“It’s still killing though.” Lucy said.

“That it is.” The Dragon Lady said “I suppose we shouldn’t be too hard on them. It’s wired into their brains. We shouldn’t be too smug either. It’s wired into our brains too.”

“Oh? How’s that?” as Lucy finished her chocolate milkshake a vanilla one set itself on the table in front of her. The Dragon Lady cocked an eyebrow.

“I try to be racially diverse” Lucy said.

“I see” the dragon lady held back a giggle, but only just. “Are you familiar with the MonkeySphere concept?”

“Not yet.” Lucy said “ I had never heard of it until you mentioned it. I will be as soon as I get a chance to track it down.”

“I’ll give you the executive summary.” Kamiko replied. She just bet that Lucy would do that very thing. In a week the little girl would be an expert on the subject. That was a good thing.

“Due to the hardwiring of our brains we can only wrap our minds around a certain number of people as being really human. Sure, we know intellectually that all of humanity is, well, human, but we can’t internalize it. ‘Us’ is a certain number. Once that number is exceeded it becomes ‘them’.” she said.

Lucy sat there expectantly, eyes wide, waiting for more.

‘It’s a survival instinct perhaps.” Kamiko continued. “Can you imagine feeling the same way about an enemy that you HAVE to kill in order to protect your family as you do about that very same family? That way lies madness.”



“Furthermore, back to babies in particular, the large percentage of fetus self-abort without the mother even knowing she was pregnant. In times past and until very recently the infant mortality rate was scandalous. Eight out of ten children died before they reached your age.” Lucy’s eyes got wide at that.

“In some cultures, as a mental health self defense mechanism, children weren’t considered human until they survived to a certain age. That age varied from culture to culture. In some it was quiet high.” She concluded. “The pain must have been too great to get to know them, love them, open your hearts to them, only to see them die. That way lie madness also.”



Lucy’s eyes got even bigger, but not from what the dragon lady had said. She had received a text.“Scuse me ma’am. I gotta go. Momma is calling me.”

“Always obey your mother child.” the Dragon lady replied. “I have enjoyed talking to you this morning.”

Lucy grinned. Morning was way long gone. It was well into the afternoon. They’d been sitting there talking for a great many milkshakes.

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The Next Episode Is
#99:The EggChild.…
The Previous Episode was
#97: Henry Drake: Fluffy…
The First Episode was
# 1 : Prologue…
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Book One: SoulStone
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