So, picture this. You wake up one fine morning, have breakfast with your family, kiss the wife and children, then scrawl up the pipes to start your day. Your day is mainly walking, which you don’t mind, because it’s in your nature to walk. You do it with no complaint and you enjoy the weather, whatever climate it may be; whether the sky is bright blue and cloudy or red and raining balls of fire. You are a fine specimen – an example of what every being in your world should be like. You stroll through your world each day, admiring its beauty, minding your own business, and only harming those who attempt to harm you – which, might I add, you have no control over, since your skin is like a poison to human touch. YOU are peaceful, according to the standards of man, and yet, to them, you serve as an obstacle and a weapon. 

It was another bright day that morning, and I was doing everything I’ve just described. I awoke, and went for my daily walk above ground. I strolled by my fellow Koopa brothers, greeted the angry Goomba mushrooms, and continued to mind my own business. And as I was walking, I saw my friend Kyle, another green-shelled Koopa, walking back and forth on a brick platform as he often does. I was about to greet him, when I saw it. In the sky appeared these symbols – these numbers. To the right, were many; nine in a row and three beside a clock winding down. To the left were numbers as well, but they weren’t like the others; “x05” was written in the sky. Beside it was the face of a man – an ugly man, might I add, with his red hat, big nose and thick stache.’ But you would never hear me tell him how ugly he is because, as I said, I mind my own business. And as far as I know, my brothers do the same, as many as we may be. We don’t go hopping in the way in an unavoidable line like the Goombas do. Anyway, I saw those numbers in the sky and was so caught off guard, I had looked away from my path for just a moment. Just a moment… Then I heard the yell. “It issa’ me, Mario!”

I dropped my gaze to see the ugly young man coming down the path. I could see it in his eyes – this look, not of sorrow, or determination, but of apathy. And as he walked below my fellow brother’s platform, something gripped my stomach. Fear seemed to grip him as well, and for a moment our eyes met and within that brief moment, as he stepped onto the third square of his platform, we heard a crash. The ugly young man had hopped and destroyed the second square where Kyle had just been standing. He had gained nothing from doing so, and yet, as he approached Kyle’s square, the monster did it again. I saw the flash of fear in Kyle’s eyes. I saw his fear morph to acceptance as he retreated into his shell. The green shell fell to the ground at the man’s feet. I approached him in stunned silence and waited with him as he seemed to contemplate his next move. It was as if he had questioned the moral repercussions of kicking the shell. Then his eyes met mine and he drew his leg back to kick it. Just as he was about to, a loud sound startled us both. Him more than me, it seems. He winced, cried aloud, and stumbled to his death. His timer had gone down, the points he’d gained killing my brother had been lost, and the x05 lives he had went down to x04.

I’ve spoken to some of my brothers since my interaction with the criminal. I’ve been told that I was one of the lucky ones – that this monster has been terrorizing our worlds and killing Koopas and Goombas ruthlessly for the sake of gaining points. They’ve made excuses for his barbarity, saying that he’s on his way to save his captured princess. But if he’s in such a hurry, why stop to kill innocent creatures? Why not ignore us, jump over us – mind your own business as we do ours? I’m sure the points you gain do nothing to help your quest. So, this is my appeal. If you know that man I speak of, the monster Mario who kills innocent Koopa brothers, I ask you to send this to him. And to you, Mario, are the points worth gaining if they cost you your humanity? 

“x05” by Adana H.