The Tale of Ragdoll

Mo Rings No Problems

We stood on the pier as I watched the waves recede and then proceed towards the shore once again. The water was calling for me the way an old friend calls to one they haven't seen in such a long time.

"Oh god! Please don't hurt me. I have a daughter and a wife. I'm not done living yet!" He screamed as Shenanigunza pranced around him while slapping him and nudging him randomly. She laughed louder as he cried out for mercy. She didn't respond in any way, but kept doing what she was doing. Somehow he was so sure she was being swayed by his words.

"I know you aren't all bad, just let me go and I'll help you fight her, you can be free again." He whispered, hoping I wouldn't hear, but I did.

"I wouldn't try to appeal to her humanity. This was her plan. I'm not the leader or some tyrannical friend who controls others. I merely showed her the truth of her reality and set her free to do with that information as she will. If she told me right now that she wanted to walk away from this I wouldn't stop her." I didn't look away from the water. I couldn't because its call was too seductive.

"Do with him as you will, I'm going to check something." I said as I peeled away the layers of clothing she dressed me in.

Stark naked, I climbed the wood handrails that were there to keep people out of the water, the sheep. I jumped into the water and I felt like I was home. My body changed as soon as I hit the water. The changes were painful as they continued. My legs fused and scales grew from my skin and covered my entire body. My neck split open as gills revealed themselves from the scars that were there just a moment ago. My fingers grew this webbing between them. Every change was painful, I screamed out, but no one could hear me. I was hot and the water around me did not cool me but only made me hotter. The fins came now. Splitting painfully from my newly formed scales. Before the last of the changes were made I saw a blinding light in the distance of the waters. I didn't know how to swim like this. Did I even know how to swim? Breathing was also painful, like I'd been holding my breath and was just taking my first breaths in a long time. My body felt as though it had every bone broken and healed over and over before I was lit on fire. My throat felt tight, like someone was strangling me with barbed wire. With every movement I made the wave of pain was renewed as I screamed and cried out, but the bubbles of air were the only things coming from my mouth. I tried to slither, but I only sank into the depths of the water as waves of water on the surface made me bob and shift as I sank further and further. After a few moments the pain slowly began to subside, I wasn't sure if it was because I was only getting used to it or if I was dying from the shock that comes from strong pain. I tried to move, but I still couldn't get it when a voice came into my head.

"You're thinking of your legs as if they are two independent appendages, they aren't that way anymore. Think of them as if they have been tied together and try again."

I sat thoughtfully, looking down at my legs. They were just one long tale now. It was purple but not shiny like one imagines when looking at a mermaid's tail. The scales were shiny in the fact that they dully reflected light, but they weren't very shiny. I kicked my legs and the tail responded, but not very much. I kicked harder, and the tale responded in time.

I stood on the wooden pier as Ragdoll stripped off her clothes, exposing her lightly purple skin which was covered in angry scars. We usually cover them with make-up, but it wasn't necessary, because today she wasn't bait. We heard it through the grapevine that this Poor Bastard detective who was tailing us had learned some information on the whereabouts of some of the rings. Honestly, this guy's life is so sad, it goes well beyond misfortune. I don't understand why he doesn't change his life for the better. The smallest of changes would make a whole difference, but it's like no matter the choices he makes, he ends up in the worst possible scenario. I think we should just call him Poor Bastard.

" Look, just tell us what you know about the rings and which ones are where and we will let you go. No one needs to get hurt. You aren't a bad guy, it'd be better if we didn't have to torture you, but make no mistake, Poor Bastard, I will torture you if I have to." I smiled at him.

I could see from the lines on his face and the designer bags under his eyes that he was tired and would love to sleep, but I also knew it wasn't right for him to sleep, not yet. He had to stay awake just a bit longer. Letting them live wasn't my favorite thing, but sometimes it could be fun. Like catching fish to let them go, it was fun to watch the chaos it brings to the world. The fear that comes from a lack of control is stronger than their fear of death. People would happily kill themselves as long as they believed it was their idea to do so. People are unfortunate creatures. They are all crazy, but they live under the assumption that if they do what others want them to do for their entire lives, they'll be living some sort of idealized dream. If you take the illusion of choice from them, their entire sense of self is lost. This man was no different. The idea of men in this society is ridiculous! You aren't allowed to show any emotion but anger. If you do, you are gay, and if you are gay, you aren't a man. What does it say about their sense of masculinity if it is so easily threatened by an emotion? I will never understand how the same society which preaches how important it is to be an individual also beats down anyone who is perceived as different. An alteration from their perfectly manicured idea of right and wrong is so easily dismantled; yet they build their entire lives on it! I could never be one of them, and with this ring I don't ever have to be. While I pondered what it meant to be human. Poor Bastard was crying and screaming, s**t! I probably should have been paying attention to what he was saying. Oh well, he'll repeat it. He wiggled and squirmed like a worm on a hook. His face was all crinkled up as he wept for mercy.

The water splashed and bubbled violently before it calmed once more. I knew I hadn't been gone for a very long time. Shenanigunz hadn't started torturing that detective yet. I looked at the bluish green stone with the slow waves that made up the band. I don't know the god it belonged to, but that's what the internet was for. I still had the feeling touching this ring was not the best idea. A voice in my head told me to quickly hand it over to Shenanigunz as quickly as possible.

"Catch" I yelled as I tossed the ring at her.

"Oh cool, you found one!" She said as she examined the ring before putting it in her pocket.

"What did you find out from that one?" I asked, nodding to the blubbering mess wrapped in rope as he lay on the pier. I bent to dress while I patiently waited for an answer.

" Nothing yet. But I did decide on a name for him: Poor Bastard. It seemed appropriate for such an unfortunate being."She said proudly as she sat him back up once again, since his dramatics had caused him to fall over several times.

"That name will do, the lack of information won't though." I said as I sauntered over to him.