Cockroach County

"If you ever dreamt about a treehouse, the governor's palace is the ultimate treehouse. When the previous walker died, a fast growing sapling was planted. The sapling is religiously fertilized to grow fast and strong. At about five years old, it is ready for the first small room. As the tree grows and stretches each year, the wood planks move. The builders know how to anticipate shifts. They'll put a plank diagonal, so that it stretches straight over the years. As the tree becomes large enough, an additional room is added. Trained so early to hold a treehouse, the tree grows around the structure and conforms to it."

"At age 10, the tree's roots were pierced in such a way that a new trunk arose out of the trunk, completely connected through the root network. Thus, the tree turned into a little forest of many trunks and that belong to the same tree."

"At age 50, the governor's palace would be fully mature with a sunrise chamber for morning meditation, a bathroom that had strings tensioned to catch morning mist into droplets for a shower, a garden terrace with many young budding leaves for tender salads, and the big gathering auditorium. That's where all the hopefuls would meet the prodigy. They'd arrive voluntarily and leave voluntarily. When only one hopeful was left, the trials would complete with the ceremony that turned the last prodigy into the new walker and the hopeful into the new prodigy."

"Wilkur was the last hopeful. She was said to have been young, tall woman with long blond hair from the farthest Northern reach. At the tender age of 18, she arrived at the governor's palace. Nervously, she settled into a seat in the gathering auditorium. There were dumb young girls who didn't even know what they were getting into. They were merely excited. There were white haired, elegant male scholars who hoped to impress with their knowledge, yet knew that the male prodigy was unlikely to choose them. Many would leave within the first day, drawn in more by the glory than acceptance of the hard work. Wilkur wasn't the most promising hopeful. However, the longer winters made her hard and enduring. The long days spent inside away from the freezing winter made her skin soft and limbs gentle. While the others flew boisterously through the trees, she softly glided at a slow and even pace, almost melancholic, like an airy being."

"The prodigy Tarantis was an old, nimble man with a white mane and long white beard. His torso was stopped forward. His legs didn't extend. His arms were stiffened into a bear hug like shape. Despite all of those physical handicaps, his feet darted swiftly through the trees and his eyes shifted rapidly taking in every bit of information in his environment, a little flash of pride on a face, a hawk spreading the wings in the corner of his eyes, and the absence of who should have been there or what should have been said. He wore a white clothes across his chest. A quiet little fellow, he observed the hopefuls streaming in talking to no one, observing, reading, piercing the hopefuls to the core of their being actually."

"When everyone settled down, the ceremony keepers left the governor's palace, closed the doors, and stood guard outside. Tarantis raised to his feet, pulling himself up by his staff. 'Thank you all for coming. The next prodigy has been chosen,' he said and sat back down. A shuffle of feet ensued as almost everyone rose to their feet. There were angry threads about breaking with tradition. There were some fists pumped and angry cries from young girls. The old man simply smiled, very amused, not saying a word, not hinting at who the chosen was."

"When the gathering auditorium had nearly emptied, the gate closed again. Wilkur found herself with nine other hopefuls remaining. She knew that leaving was voluntary and the last person would become the prodigy. Still, she was nervous if she had been right in the face of so many. The other nine hopefuls sat still and strong with determination. She brushed her silky, long, blond hair to soothe her nerves. Tarantis waited for a whole hour in silence until he said, 'Good!' and launched into an introductory lecture about being a walker."

"For a month, Wilkur trained them in walker 101. He poured the knowledge as intensely into their minds as he could both to make them understand their life from now on and to whittle the group of hopefuls down. The brain has a hard time processing a lot of information. One hopeful developed an intense paranoia. Another hopeful started hallucinating until he tried to jump onto an imagined fluffy cloud and fell to his death. A very sad hopeful got to frustrated that he started punching the walls in rage. As per the rules, leaving is voluntary, and he wasn't expelled. However, on the second day, his knuckles were bleeding and showing bone. In a moment of clarity, he realized that he had to leave."

"At the end of the month, only Wilkur and Kirstin were left. Kirstin was short and stocky. Her muscles were strong from the plenty food of the South. Her cheeks were cheery from the laughing in the joys of the warm summer. Her large family had taught her many things. She had trained herself very well both physically and mentally. Since a young girl, she had wanted to be a walker. She had visited Ternobyl frequently to ask the last walker question and learn from him. She had asked the question of how to become a walker. The past walker had walked her to the history tree where a knowledge keeper had spent his whole life retelling himself the stories of past walkers to not forget because nobody had come asking him."

"Kirstin had heard of prodigy the terrible who had beaten the hopefuls until only one was left. She had heard of the orgy prodigy who had fucked all the hopefuls for days and weeks until all but one had left in disgust, shame, frustration, or disillusionment. There was the millennia prodigy who had a thousand hopefuls and was so tender that the selection process took over two years. The trials was always left to the preferences and whims of the prodigy."

"Tarantis sent Wilkur and Tristin to gather a bendy long willow stick each. They were to bath them in water to make the stick supple and soft. They returned to kneel in front of him, kiss the floor with their lips, and offer the willow sticks with outstretched arms. The daily routine of following is orders had become familiar. The golden sunlight filtering into the dark auditorium in splotches on the wood and rays in the air had grown into a familiar good feeling. The floor pillows had become intimate places to rest their bodies while their minds worked. The bathhouse room had been a joy every morning to immerse into the water and splash a little around."

"'Strip naked,' Tarantis said. They pulled their robes overhead and bared their naked skin. Unsure and uncertain about why they were asked to do this. Unsure and uncertain about how he perceived their bared bodies. Unsure and uncertain, about what would happen next. Wilkur's long slender button had tear shape boobs and a thin hair, almost as straight as head hair, between her legs. Her body was slender without an ounce of fat. The body shapes smoothly blended, not leaving on hard crease or outline. She stood on one leg, crossing the other knee in front of her. Her hands tentatively covered herself a little bit knowing that Tarantis wanted to see her naked."

"Kirstin was the opposite. She had big bold boobs and a thick bush between her legs. Her belly and back was full of definition from strong muscles. She stood with her stubby feet wide. She seemed bold and daring about presenting her body: 'Go have a look old man!' There was an air of her having had sex with many boys. And she was the one who did the asking."

"The old man tied their hands and feet. Wilkur's porcelain white skin and Kristin's golden-brown skin, both painted in a leopard pattern print of sunlight spots from crevices in the wall against the half-light of the den, had neat lines of rope running across them. Then, he tied the hand restraint to the ceiling. Rope thrown over a ceiling beam pulled their feet up until they hang in the air like helpless, lifeless sacks of flesh and tender young skin. The buttocks muscles contracted in an effort that was in vain and still left them hanging as gravity and their joints naturally draped them. A little panic showed in the corner of their eyes, which eagerly turned left and right in an attempt to gain control by seeing what was going on. The wrists turned around minutely to confirm the five run of ropes were sung and impossible to escape from."

"Tarantis picked up a brown earthen bowl with golden oil that sloshed with each step. So, he had to walk carefully through the den with the colorful rugs and turquois pillows. The scent of cedar planks and lavender bouquets was in the air. His hand scooped oil of the bowl and let it drizzle on Wilkur's back. His hand caressed across her skin. He had touched her for the first time. She learned the way his hand felt and the way his mind moved the hand. He felt the care in the slow movements and the unfamiliarity with her body in the lack of closely contouring brushes on her skin. If she was going to outlast Kirstin, this would be the man she'd be with for the next decades. Also, the spread of the oil across her back, buttocks, back of the thighs, front of the body, belly, and chest foretold her where the willow stick was going to hit her. The hand didn't stop spreading oil there. The oil coated the bottom of her feet, tenderly every groove of her face, and deeply across her sex."

"Then, Wilkur watched Kirstin's body being coated in oil. Wilkur saw the struggles in Kirstin's body. She saw the bulging of the neck muscles in tension, a mental struggle against Kirstin's instinct to flee and dread of pain. Wilkur had to acknowledge the much larger boobs of Kirstin. She had to witness how Tarantis took his time squeezing Wilkur's nipple for enjoyment rather than simply distribute the oil. Wilkur had to accept the lust and desire that Tarantis felt for Kirstin despite his attempts to appear impartial in the trial for the last standing hopeful to win."

"The moment of the first whip snap happened across Wilkur's buttocks. The moment the whip stick lifted, a thin, straight red line run across both butt cheeks with an interruption at the cleft between the buttocks. Without time to recover, the whip stroked down again, leaving hash mark after hash mark. Wilkur cried out, having lost restrained. Her body struggled in the suspended rope works like a wild animal. Her mind no longer processed. The pain drove her body to reflex. A dozen smacks on the butt, the willow stick settled on her right nipple, hitting lighter yet rapidly tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk. She wriggled her torso to shake it off, yet the willow tip followed mercilessly."

"An intense struggle of wills held between the two women: The bodies out of control by the rope. The mind consumed by pain and torment. Yet, their soul held onto the single desire to last a little longer. Any moment, the other hopeful could cave. All this investment and holding on one more second could be the difference between fruition and failure. The afternoon carried on into a certain relaxation about the pain after the nervous system became exhausted. Black, blue, red, and yellow bruises covered their bodies. The balance between a life as the most important woman of the tribe and a life of mundane labor hung in the balance of holding on a little longer - all or nothing - winner takes it all. During supper time, Kirstin begged, 'I'll leave.'"

"The second strongest woman of the tribe, Kirstin, walked out humbled, bruised, limping, and whimpering in pain. Wilkur was lowered to the ground. Tarantis started the ceremony. He fucked her and placed his seed in all her three holes. The guardians were invited in to inspect the crumbled Wilkur, exhausted and crumbled face down, in all three holes to confirm the gelatinous, white liquid. The new walker and the new prodigy had bonded for life. The message was sent out into all the corners of their known world."

"Why do I tell you about Kirstin in so much detail? She was the last walker of the Arborist People. During her years, the Native Americans arrived from modern day Russia over a frozen Bering Sea. A huge migration of foreigners invaded America. The Native Americans arrived with spears and tomahawks. The well-known scalping is only one example of their cruelty. They were hunters and gatherers. There were some farming techniques. The biggest food staple were there buffalos. Buffalos needed grass. America used to be covered by thick forest from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains. The Native American burned the forest in giant fires, whose smoke altered the climate globally. The Arborist People lost habitat and were pushed back to the East Coast, where the moisture trees didn't light as easily. The ground soil was lost to erosion without the tree roots binding it. That's why even today the middle states are covered in grassland."

"As any majority culture, the Native Americans killed and marginalized the Arborist People. They went to an extent that would even make Hitler blush with his race policies and attempt at extermination of the Jewish people. The porum nut is known to be cancer causing today. Cancer is caused by a defect to the DNA, e.g. a UV ray knocking a gene out of place. The DNA defect causes tissue to behave in bad ways, like out of control growth. Porum nut contains a chemical that loosens up the protective sheath around DNA making it susceptible to damage."

"The Native Americans didn't have an understanding of the mechanism, yet knew how to employ it. A band of battle hardened warriors with feathers in their hair a tomahawk in each fist, crawled through the forest undetected deeply into Arborist territory, right where the knowledge trees were. The warriors observed the Arborists hidden behind foliage, watched their walkings-about and deduced from social interactions social status. Not quite realizing the importance of Wilkur, who walked people from the waiting area to the knowledge keepers they whole day, the band snuck up on her in the twilight, jumped onto a rope bridge, snatched her wrists and pressed a strong hand on her mouth and nostrils."

"Thus, Wilkur was captured. Without access to knowledge, the Arborists stopped functioning. Chaos and disarray befell them. Famine whittled down their numbers. The Native Americans under Great Sitting Bull extorted the Arborist People into compliance. Around a big campfire in a neutral spot for diplomatic negotiation, he dumped a big sack of porum nuts. He took a pestle and ground the nut into a fine powder. Then, he forced the humiliated Arborist leader to ejaculate into the powder. Big Sitting Bull carefully mixed the two things together. Then, he took a dung beetle, ground that up as well, and mixed it in. Without asking, he grabbed an Arborist woman, ripped her clothes off, and forced the mixture into her vagina. He pressed his hand on the opening to seal it in."

"Nine months later that woman bear birth to a monstrosity, a child with hands the size of a head. The child was a stillborn birth. The insect DNA had mixed into the human DNA. Most births were cancerous stillborn babies or even killed the mother before birth. Some DNA mutations however ended up being viable. A child born with butterfly DNA had a beautiful purple skin on the face that glimmered in sunlight. People came from far to marvel at the translucent color. A son with horn beetle DNA had a horn on his head, the scorn and laughter of all the other kids. One kid had a tongue three feet long that was skinny, bendy, and dexterous."

"That treatment lasted a few years, until the minority became a minuscule minority. The Native Americans no longer feared getting hurt in an all-out war. The night of the fall equinox, the Native Americans crawled up on all the tree villages of the Arborist People. At sunset, the Native Americans overran the villages and killed the Arborist People relaxing after a long working day."

"The Native Americans had expected any survivors to be clobbered up by winter. Indeed, the Arborist People fled north. They went very far. They went past what is modern day Canada. They walked across the frozen ice to the North Pole. The Native Americans gave up pursuit once the freezing ice decimated the Native American armies. Most of the Arborist People died as well. However, there was a small group who had cockroach DNA. As you have heard, cockroaches are expected to survive a nuclear winter, very hardy insects. There was a smaller group of people with wasp DNA. Wasps lay their eggs inside of cockroaches. The wasp baby will eat the cockroach from the inside out. In such a symbiotic relationship, the two mutations managed to make a living in the eternal ice of the North Pole."

"They'd bore through the ice to fish. They'd hole up in deep ice caves during horrific month-long ice storms. You can see why the hardiness of Wilkur provided them with leadership to last through this ordeal. Myth has that Wilkur committed suicide to strip off her body and escape the Native American prison. Thus freed from her body, she had become immortal. Modern day ice explorers in the North Pole witnesses a shrouded female figure watching them in the distance. We are talking legend here."

"What is a fact is that in 1776, a group of twenty savage fighters arrived here in West Liberty seemingly out of nowhere. They claimed to have come from the North Pole. They claimed that a frightening force compelled them strongly to move south. I don't know if these were descendants of the Arborist People. However, the Native Americans who were now a minority were negotiating hard with the American government over land and other concession. Any new tribe helped them bolster their demands. So, Big Grasshopper declared this band of savage fighters to be a lost Native American tribe."

"The savage fighters interbred with the white settlers. You can still see in our county people who seem to have characteristics of cockroaches and wasps. Most people think that it is simply a local genetic mutation that happens sporadically. However, perhaps there is more to it as this legend suggests."

"For our next photojournalism project, I'd like you to go out in the community and capture these local Appalachian mutations. Put a human face to it. Tell their story with your photos."

Mr. Grumbersky paused in his story. He looked at Randalf, who was shivering and shaking while blowing air through his lips: "brrr - brrr - brrr - brrr." His face was blue, the eyes sockets dark, and the skin clammy. A big puddle of water was on the ground underneath him. His face was still unresponsive. His whole body was shaking. The wet and cold water had robbed his body of heat. He himself didn't even seem to realize what was going on with his body.

"Is that normal for reverse ADD?" asked Mr. Grumbersky, the voice jerking with temper.

"Maybe, he's not feeling so well. I'll take him home," admitted Jenna.

"Yes, why don't you do that? The front row will surely enjoy the better air," snapped Mr. Grumbersky.

Jenna got up and slowly waddled to the front row. She pulled his left arm over her shoulders and lifted him to his feet. His head was hanging down, the eyes passively staring ahead. She felt the water diffusing through her clothes. His small body was shivering. The wet lock of hair looked sad. All he said was, "bh-bh-bh-bh-bh-bh."

They walked together through the neighborhood covered in low afternoon light. The spacious sidewalks and shaggy grass lawns, thick, rain fed blades, were quiet with little foot traffic. The silence between them grew acceptance. She recognized that her duty of carrying the stranger. He recognized that his limp body was entirely dependent on the scaffolding that she provided. He surrendered his body to her care, almost like a kid looking up to a parent for safety and direction, by letting his entire weight shift onto her frame and letting his body touch hers without reserve, his cheek resting on her shoulder, bumping up and down with each step, rattling the teeth together.