MR D.N. MARK PART II - A TASTE OF REALITY

By Katz - 23.06.2010

Read MR D.N. MARK PART I elsewhere at this website (use the search field in the upper right corner)!

Short story: As the men went back to their individual estates, Mr D.N. Mark was left alone in the conference room, still looking at the laws. It seemed as though he was not satisfied with everything, maybe because he felt that more animals were coming into his estate than onto the other members’ estates, and he did not like this...

Mr D.N. Mark got up to leave the conference room where the general assembly had just been held. As he opened the door, there in front of him was a very feeble animal with three of its young hud­dled behind it. Mr D.N. Mark had a closer look at the creature - it seemed to be severely wounded and looked to have come a very long way. Mr D.N. Mark then remembered the file of the new laws that the individual estates had just agreed upon in the general assembly.

He turned back to the conference hall where he had been sitting, and picked up the copy which Mr Sweeten had handed to him before the meeting had adjourned. Mr D.N. Mark quickly flipped to the section that discussed the laws for animals coming onto the farmlands in the differ­ent estates. The first thing he read directly related to the animals that were standing outside his door. The animals were obviously wounded and appeared to been underfed by their owner.

Mr. D.N. Mark went back to have a closer look at the animals again, and then realised that the mother did not have an ear tag, and none of her young ones had any ear tags either. There was therefore no proof of their identity or of their original estate. Mr. D.N. Mark tried to communi­cate with the animals, but they didn’t seem to understand any of his commands.

This was frustrating for Mr D.N. Mark, espe­cially since all of the other animals that belonged to him understood and obeyed every command he gave.

“Stand up!“ said Mr D.N. Mark, but all the animal did was to look at him and then made a sound that Mr D.N. Mark had never heard before. It was a very strange animal-language that Mr D.N. Mark could not understand. Even though the animal stood with its eyes wide open in fear of what was to come next, Mr D.N. Mark decided to close the door behind him, pocket his keys, and walk away.

Just as he did this, the mother animal made a much more violent sound as if it was trying to say something to him. The tone of her voice sent Mr D. N. Mark off running, with the animals trying to run after him. They only made it a few metres before they sat down, too weak and too hungry to pursue after Mr D.N. Mark. As Mr D.N. Mark ran, thoughts went through his mind about where he might be able to find immediate help; “Oh!” he thought, “Who can help me through this?!?”

Just then he remembered that there was a hired worker in one of his estates who claimed to be a specialist in speaking the many languages of foreign animals. The hired worker in mind was a man named Redcrest. He was called by this name because he had bright red, crest-like hair that resembled a rooster. He was known to be a very polygamous man whose land of origin was not known. In every estate he had a wife and children, a practice that was not generally accepted by any of the other estate owners; but Redcrest had fought and struggled to be accepted in all estates. He claimed to have unique abilities, among which were the ability to communicate with animals and understand different animal behaviours.

None of the other estate owners could do this, and they were impressed with his strong work ethic. He would go to any length to show kindness to whoever needed it. So, because of his unique skills, his polygamous behaviour was overlooked, and a high demand was put on his animal-language skills.

It was Redcrest that Mr. D. N. Mark ran to for help. When Mr D. N. Mark arrived at the residence of Redcrest, Redcrest was sitting and trying to feed some animals that had earlier been sent to him.

“Help help! I need your urgent help,” shouted Mr D.N. Mark, before he could even be offered a seat.

“Please have a seat, could I get you some beer, coffee, water or tea?” asked Redcrest.

“No I have had enough beers today and besides, there is an animal with its young that I just left outside the conference room. I don’t seem to understand how best to communicate with it, so I need your help because you seem to find your way round with these animals. Get up, let us go! Those animals you are feeding can wait until you come back.”

Off the two gentlemen went. When they arrived just outside the conference hall, the ani­mals were still there, but they appeared much weaker than before. The mother tried to make a sound, but she could barely be heard, and the young were asleep. Filled with compassion, Red­crest reached out to help the mother up, as Mr D. N. Mark stood akimbo in the distance.

“Do you understand what it is saying?” asked Mr D. N. Mark.

“Yes, well I should be able to understand, but her voice is so faint,” responded Redcrest.

“Where does she come from?” asked Mr D.N. Mark.

“I cannot tell you now, but I will be able to tell after she has regained some strength to commu­nicate with me.”

“How come she can’t communicate, and yet had all the strength to travel all the way to my estate?” asked Mr D.N. Mark.

Redcrest did not respond, he just looked at Mr D.N. Mark, and then back at the wounded animal.

“In my observation, we need to help her out of here. I will have to carry her and you may help me by carrying the young,” Redcrest said.

Mr D. N. Mark gave him a slightly annoyed look and replied:

“Okay, I will help you. But next time you need to be wise enough and come with some of your sons to help you with such work - this is not my kind of work, my duty is to tell you what to do and to see you respond with haste.”

Mr D. N. Mark reached out to help the young animals. They were so small that he carried two of them on one shoulder and the third in his right hand. Redcrest carried the mother on his back. The young awoke from their sleep as they were being carried and started to make noise as they com­municated with each other. They seemed to enjoy being carried, and understood that they were finally receiving help.

Mr D. N. Mark, annoyed by their noises, shouted “SHUT UP!” Redcrest asked him not to shout at them like that, and explained, “they are expressing their gratitude to you,” he said and smiled in his heart.

Even still, Mr D. N. Mark felt rather disturbed by this, and decided not to talk all the way as they went back to the residence of Redcrest.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Read part III in New Times #79 (download below).

Download:

» New_Times_79.pdf

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