-Open--When I see an Elephant Fly-

[Peep]

Nicholas Schyuler, otherwise known as Peep, stood on the pier, leaning against the railing. He was watching the sunset, and as the sunk sank beneath the waves, his blonde hair was alight. It looked almost like a halo. From his position, he could see Jersey real well, and to the northeast, Brooklyn. He sighed. Staten Island was way out there, but hey... They were a big borough and this mad him happy and proud.

Peep had not fit in anywhere else, but Staten Island was perfect for him. Out of the way, but still close enough for him to find out what he needed to. And he needed to know everything. He figured it was the neb in him, wanting to be in everyone's business. And his quiet, generally subdued nature allowed him to do this. It allowed him to fade into the background and pick up whatever he wanted to. He had thought about being a bird for Brooklyn, but there was something about Staten Island...

Peep sighed and stood straight, stretching his arms and leaning back to stretch his back. He gazed once more on the view to the main boroughs before turning his back on them and walking back down the pier. He scratched the back of his head while yawning and looked sleepily at the park benches as he passed them. He wondered which one he should curl up on...

He found one out of the way and lay down on it, falling into a light sleep rather quickly. Peep never slept heavily. It was against his nature. He was never totally distracted, he always seemed to know what was going on in the background. Even now he could subconciously hear the birds chirping, people moving around. Peep yawned and blinked once. Was there a sudden shadow, or was someone near him?

He did not like that idea. "Who's there?" He asked, still yawning. "I ain't in the mood to fight, or be mugged, or anything else you're planning." He said.

[Princess]

Princess

Alexandra walked along the pier, one hands wrapped around a pencil, the other a notebook. She had actually been planning on swimming, but had changed her mind last minute to relaxing at the edge of the pier. She dusted off her pants, and began to run from the lodging house. She was a tad clumsy, and she ran into three people on the way, including one bull, who began to yell, threatening jail for assaulting an officer, but she got there in one piece by the grace of God.

She had slowly to a walk by the time she had reached the pier. There was one particular bench that she loved to sit on, with a great view of the ocean. She loved it, and often sat out there until she had to leave. But today, a boy was sleeping where she loved to be, and she stood there for a moment, she wasn't sure what to do. He was asleep, so there was no moving him and it'd be rude to make him stand, but she was confused about what to do.

"Who's there? I ain't in the mood to fight, or be mugged, or anything else you're planning."

He sat up and yawned, and she was a bit shocked. She scribbled on the sheet of paper, leaning it on her leg, balancing precariously in the air. She held it out to him, showing him the words:

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. Assumed you weren't going to wake up. I'm not going to mug you or anything. Just used to sitting here."

She smiled in a sheepish sorry way.

[Peep]

Peep looked at the girl in confusion, not quite understanding why she was just standing there smiling at him. Then he noticed the paper, he read it quickly, thank ful for his father forcing him to learn to read not only English, but German and Hebrew too. 'One must have culture!' was his father's favorite line. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm a light sleeper." He said, yawning quietly. "Plus, I fall asleep a lot." He shrugged. He didn't ask about her not talking, he'd met weirded kids in his few years in New York. "My name's Peep, well Nicholas, but if you ever tal-" he glanced at her notebook, "Write about me, you call me Peep, okay? Can't go spreading around the Nicholas part. I'm the third." He shivered. It was bad enough to be named Nicholas, let alone after you father and grandfather...

He looked at her. "So, you gonna write down your name or something?" He asked, standing. He stretched, his shirt riding up a bit. He tugged it down lazily. "I need to get new clothes..." He muttered to himself. "You can sit if you want, I ain't gonna be using it much." He said, sitting down and sliding over. He patted the seat next to her. "This is quite interesting, you know, talking at someone. Usually I'm the one being talked at." He smiled kindly, still a little sleepy.

[Princess]

Princess

Princess smiled at the boy and stuck her hand in her pants pocket, tapping her toe against the wood while the boy read. She was used to the pauses in silence while people were reading her scrawl, and she was used to the shocked faces they made when they when they found she was not able, or not willing to speak. Of course, it was the former option, because Princess would love to hear herself talk, but that was not an option.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm a light sleeper. My name's Peep, well Nicholas, but if you ever tal-write about me, you call me Peep, okay? Can't go spreading around the Nicholas part. I'm the third. So, you gonna write down your name or something? I need to get new clothes... You can sit if you want, I ain't gonna be using it much. This is quite interesting, you know, talking at someone. Usually I'm the one being talked at."

She nodded, pulling her closed fingers over her lips, in a "my lips are sealed motion." In a last attempt, she made the sign for "Do you know sign language", but glanced at him and sat down with her pencil and notebook instead and began to write on it.

"My name is Alexandra, but everyone calls me Princess. Don't ask why. I'm glad your enjoying the experience. I'm quite use to being talked at. It grows on you eventually. You fall asleep in public places often? Cause you could be robbed that way. I'm just saying. Oh, and for future explanation, I'm am not crazy. I'm mute." She passed the notebook to Peep and bit the inside of her thumb and watched the ocean. It was so pretty!

[Peep]

Peep watched her curiously. She crossed her lips in the universal sign that said she would not say anything. He laughed, "You're pretty funny," He said, not trying to be mean. He just meant that it was good to see her not dwell on her limitations, whatever they may be. He did not, nor did he really care. She made a few hand motions, and Peep's jaw went slack, he was beyond confused. He watched her write something quickly and he waited patiently. He was like an old man that way, he could sit for hours and twiddle his thumbs.

He read the scrawl quickly, he glanced at her and said with a bright smile, "Nice to meet you Princess. I can tell why they call you that, you're dignified." He nodded, then continued reading. "Usually a simpering girl talks at me, well, what I can understand between the giggles." he rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, teenage girls can be annoying. But you're easy to get along with. Though, I'm not use to saying so much. Usually I just nod. I know! We can just sit here and nod and confuse anyone who walks by!" He laughed, it was clear and carried across the ocean. Then he returned to the notebook.

"Robbed?" He snorted, like the idea was affrontary. "If someone robs me, I'm happy for them. Just another way I can help them to survive. But, it's not likely. I'm a light sleeper and I wake up when someone comes near me, and I am a horrible actor. I cannot pretend to be asleep and they always run away before I have a chance to talk to them." He sighed.

"Mute, eh? I never said you were crazy, never thought it." He shrugged. "But hey, I'm Jewish, you're mute, just a part of who we are." He looked at her. "Here, you don't hold me being Jewish against me and I won't hold you being mute against you. Deal?" Peep asked, holding out his hand. He looked over the ocean with her. He was quiet for a bit, listening to the sea gulls and the waves.

"It's very beautiful, isn't it. Sometimes, on a clear day, you can see immigrants coming in. I try to wave, but it is only the smallest children that see me. They have the clearest eyes. I think about how my grandfather felt, coming from Germany so many years ago..." he sighed, his eyes in a far off place. "Oh, don't hold that I'm German against me either." He wagged a finger at her, teasing her playfully. He winked at her and leaned back.

"So? Got anything else you wanna say, Chatterbox?" He asked, winking again. He took a deep breath, really not use to talking and laughing so much. Peep closed his eyes and leaned his head back, breathing in the smell of the salt. Reminded him of his home in New England where everything smelled like sea salt.

[Princess]

Princess

"Nice to meet you Princess. I can tell why they call you that, you're dignified. Usually a simpering girl talks at me, well, what I can understand between the giggles. Sometimes, teenage girls can be annoying. But you're easy to get along with. Though, I'm not use to saying so much. Usually I just nod. I know! We can just sit here and nod and confuse anyone who walks by! Robbed? If someone robs me, I'm happy for them. Just another way I can help them to survive. But, it's not likely. I'm a light sleeper and I wake up when someone comes near me, and I am a horrible actor. I cannot pretend to be asleep and they always run away before I have a chance to talk to them. Mute, eh? I never said you were crazy, never thought it. But hey, I'm Jewish, you're mute, just a part of who we are. Here, you don't hold me being Jewish against me and I won't hold you being mute against you. Deal?"

Princess gave a quick bow to Peep and smiled at the compliments. She knew she wasn't much like other girls, and she was rather proud of that. She smiled at him again and curtsied also. She scribbled more. "Most teenage girl are annoying as hell. Pardon my french. I prefer to do more athletic things. They like makeup."

She rolled her eyes at the cockiness of his statement about being robbed but froze for a moment at his comment about being Jewish. She began to furiously write and she sat down with her eyes closed. "It's a lot different. Being Jewish is a heritage thing. You are Jewish because of who your parents are. People can't tell your Jewish by spending time around you. That is nothing like being mute. However, I can understand you trying to sympathize with my per say, disability." She tapped her pencil against the bench, realized how snappy she had been. "Maybe I am a lot like a teenage girls. Snappy. Sorry." she sighed and nibbled on her finger. God she was snappy. "Yes. We have a deal. And don't hold my awful snappiness against me."

It's very beautiful, isn't it. Sometimes, on a clear day, you can see immigrants coming in. I try to wave, but it is only the smallest children that see me. They have the clearest eyes. I think about how my grandfather felt, coming from Germany so many years ago... Oh, don't hold that I'm German against me either. So? Got anything else you wanna say, Chatterbox?"

She looked out on the horizon at the boats that were coming in, and she waved at the boats. She could see much, but she waved anyway. "I really love the ocean. I love the water in general. But I'm really scared of boats. I can't imagine riding one of those boats into a new place like this. There are thousands of people on those boats. What if it sank! Or someone got lost. Then what would happen?" She rest her pencil, shoved it over. She smiled and bit on the inside of her thumb and closed her eyes. God she was feeling sea sick even just sitting here.

[Peep]

Peep laughed. "I agree whole heartedly. Most teenage girls are annoying. I especially find those simpering fairy-tale damsel in distress types the most tiring. If I can barely save myself, why would I want to save some girl I don't even know?" He shrugged. "You're refreshing. Do you like stick ball? We could play some time, you look like you could be a heavy hitter. I sure know I don't want to be on the wrong end of one of your fastballs, that's if you got one." He said, shrugging again. He ran a hand through his bleach blonde hair, making it stand straight on end like a chicken's feathers.

He read her words and tilted his head, thinking quickly. "Well, I suppose you're right. I can't help me being Jewish and to be honest, I didn't know you were mute until you told me. Otherwise, I figured you were another one of those kids who were proud they can read and write and just wanted to show me." He tapped the page of her notebook. "You have lovely handwriting by the way." He said, smiling softly. Peep sighed. "Well now, some people seem to be able to tell I'm Jewish. Whether it's because I talk with my hands and make big gestures or they just want to assume that everyone they meet's Jewish unless proven otherwise." He shrugged. "My grandma was like that, blabbering away in Yiddish at everyone she met." He chuckled under his breath. His grandmother's strangeness was lengendary in Massachussetts.

He held up his hands, showing a sign of truce. "I have no problem against snappiness, unless you want me to have a problem with it." He said, trying to make a joke. It fell flat, but he ignored that and went on. "Have you ever gone fishing off the piers? I went once with Old Uncle Alfie and he reeled in this huge fish. He said it was a shark, but I argued until we were both blue about how it was only a big tuna or something." Peep laughed.

"I doubt it would sink. If it doesn't sink the first time, it won't sink for a while. Besides, the people who run it, the captain and all that, are professionals. It's sort of like you wouldn't go to the doctor's unless the guy was actually a doctor and they have to go to school and all that. Same with captains, they have to train forever. That's why there are no young captains. All peg legged name ol' one eye John or something." Peep tried to smooth his hair down. It failed. "Plus, they would find you, and I doubt you would be alone. How about this, you ever go on a boat, I will go with you and wrap you in a floatation device and tie you to my wrist so you don't get lost, okay? Do you take the ferry?" He asked, looking at you, he turned himself to face her.

[Princess]

"You're refreshing. Do you like stick ball? We could play some time, you look like you could be a heavy hitter. I sure know I don't want to be on the wrong end of one of your fastballs, that's if you got one." She smirked. "Ya. I can really hit one out of the park. Where would I play stickball? Never have played." She stood and swung, spinning around from the force and went back to the seat, slightly dizzy. "See, No stickball." "You have lovely handwriting by the way." She smiled. "I take pride in it. It's a bit of a necessary asset."

She smiled at his story about his grandmother. "Really. To tell you the truth, I didn't know that there was such a thing as Yiddish. Is it the same thing as Hebrew, or different? So many things to learn to write in." She was glad he wasn't offended. Even though he tried to tell a joke that was downright awful. But she gave him a nod and a smile now. He deserved it for biting out at him.

"Have you ever gone fishing off the piers? I went once with Old Uncle Alfie and he reeled in this huge fish. He said it was a shark, but I argued until we were both blue about how it was only a big tuna or something."

"I've never been fishing. I've never had a chance to go fishing. Nobody to take me. It sounds like fun though. Fish is delicious. And I find it amazing. How does it swim underwater only. Does it have lungs? Does it breath water?" She found it amazing how little she knew. How many things there were to learn. She could know anything in the world. If some things hadn't happened the way they did. But what else in the world was there to know?

"I doubt it would sink. If it doesn't sink the first time, it won't sink for a while. Besides, the people who run it, the captain and all that, are professionals. It's sort of like you wouldn't go to the doctor's unless the guy was actually a doctor and they have to go to school and all that. Same with captains, they have to train forever. That's why there are no young captains. All peg legged name ol' one eye John or something. Plus, they would find you, and I doubt you would be alone. How about this, you ever go on a boat, I will go with you and wrap you in a floatation device and tie you to my wrist so you don't get lost, okay? Do you take the ferry?"

She shook her head. "There are too many people on a boat to not sink. They will sink because there are so many people on them. And they all are so loud and noisy. You can't hear yourself think. Everyone is so focused on what they were talking about they try to down each other out, and no one can notice the little things. The captain can't control how many people get on. Eventually there are going to be too many people, and the boat will sink, and everyone will be so concentrated on what they are doing it won't matter." She listened to his proposition. "No." She frowned. "I won't do it, and I don't take the ferry unless there is no other choice."

[Peep]

Peep rolled his eyes. "Well, I can show you how to play street ball. Some kids over in 'Hattan play it alot, and thought I don't like to join, I watch sometimes. I'm trying to bring it to the Island, so the kids here can have some fun. Instead of gambling or fighting." He said, rubbing the side of his nose slowly. "So, we can try it one day. Only need a stick and a ball." He shrugged. "I have horrible handwriting. I have to pay people to either write my letters or type them up." He looked at her. "Maybe I'll pay you to write my letters for me? Mum and Dad get worried if I don't write once a week, whether or not they write back. They must know about Uncle Alfie... Too bad he died a year ago... Paid for the funeral myself and everything."

He read her question and scratched his head. "Yeah, Hebrew and Yiddish are two different things. I think." He laughed. "Don't ask me, my dad's the crazy religious one, not me. I didn't even have a bar mitzah or get circumsized-er... Don't ask, I couldn't explain it to you. Too embarrassing." He blushed and ducked his head quickly.

"I'll take you fishing too. As you can tell, I'm up for anything. And fish, hmm, I think they have lungs, and I know they can take oxygen out of the water or something. They're able to do that while us humans are too lazy to work for our air." He smiled. "As for swimming, they had fins and push forward." Peep mimed swimming through the air with webbed hands. "See?" He asked hopefully.

Peep shrugged, frankly giving up. "Whatever you say, Princess. My offer still stands. Maybe you'll want to see Paris one day, or maybe Moscow. I don't know." He glanced at her, raising his eyebrows in a silent question. Then, figuring she wouldn't change her mind-she seemed stubborn-he made a funny face at her. He crossed his eyes, perked his lips and tried unsuccessfully to twitch his ears.

[Princess]

"Well, I can show you how to play street ball. Some kids over in 'Hattan play it alot, and thought I don't like to join, I watch sometimes. I'm trying to bring it to the Island, so the kids here can have some fun. Instead of gambling or fighting. So, we can try it one day. Only need a stick and a ball. I have horrible handwriting. I have to pay people to either write my letters or type them up. Maybe I'll pay you to write my letters for me? Mum and Dad get worried if I don't write once a week, whether or not they write back. They must know about Uncle Alfie... Too bad he died a year ago... Paid for the funeral myself and everything."

Princess gave him an eye roll. "You weren't listening. I can't go to Manhattan. I'd have to get there by boat. But maybe. Maybe. And of course I'd write for you, but there is no need to pay me. Your my leader." She exaimened her fingers and knawed on them quickly. "I'm sorry about your uncle."

"Yeah, Hebrew and Yiddish are two different things. I think." Don't ask me, my dad's the crazy religious one, not me. I didn't even have a bar mitzah or get circumsized-er... Don't ask, I couldn't explain it to you. Too embarrassing. I'll take you fishing too. As you can tell, I'm up for anything. And fish, hmm, I think they have lungs, and I know they can take oxygen out of the water or something. They're able to do that while us humans are too lazy to work for our air. As for swimming, they had fins and push forward. See? Whatever you say, Princess. My offer still stands. Maybe you'll want to see Paris one day, or maybe Moscow. I don't know."

She nodded and made a note to herself to learn about Yiddish and Hebrew. At his mention of circumcision, she stood confused, she'd never heard of it, and she was curious, but she would not press him if he didn't wanna talk about it. "So that's how they breath." sh escribbled in an excited way. "I've asked everyone I know!" She smiled big. "And maybe some day. But not anytime soon. I'm happy with Staten."

[Peep]

Peep grinned. "That's why I'm bringing it here. So we all can play together. Um... Borough bonding, I guess." He laughed. Peep shook his head, patting her shoulder kindly. "No no, if you do it for me, you're getting paid. I'll pay you... A quarter a letter, how about that? I don't want people just giving me things because I'm a leader. It's not fair. You guys pay me back everyday by not killing each other." He grinned. "So, you're gonna have another job, okay?" Peep's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, it's no big deal! He was very old. But I took care of it. Full Jewish funeral and everything." He nodded. "I only forgot to say Kaddish."

Peep chuckled at her. "Yeah, I think that's how they breath. You know what? I'll bring you a book on fish from the Library over in Queens, okay?" He said, smiling. "And on anything else you want to know." He said. "I have a library card for there." He thought for a moment. "Yeah. You have your whole life for those kid of things." He looked at her, his teeth flashing as he grinned widely. "I'm glad you like Staten!" He said, hugging her. "I love it to. The best borough, in my opinion. We barely have any crime and everyone's nice..." He sighed. "Especially people like you." He chuckled.