Free Sky Tongues by Gina Ranalli

different T-shirts, one with the shows logo, one with the whole cast and then we each had one of our own, for the especially eclectic fan.
   Then there were posters, puzzles, lunch boxes, mugs, you name it. There were even boxer shorts and a set a sheets people could buy. And then came the real money-makers: the action figures, complete with moveable wings and detachable swords, harps and halos.
   Just to think about it made me dizzy.
   The show’s theme song started getting air play and gained enough popularity that we were all recruited to appear in the video, which was ridiculous and embarrassing, especially for Dove who was just not a video kind of guy.
   For the first time, we appeared on the cover of TV Guide. I say ‘we’ but it was actually just Dove and Lavinia, though the rest of us were interviewed for the article and had a few photos inside.
   It was assumed that the show was now a huge success because of the new president and our nation’s current political and emotion climate.
   I became involved in some activist organizations, speaking out publicly about the atrocities being enacted against Mues all over the world. It was an outrage and I wanted everyone to hear about it. I had it written into my contract that every year during the shows run, I would get a few days off in order to attend the national Mue’s Walk on Washington parade. I knew I was making a larger target of myself than was wise, but I didn’t care. This was important, not only for us, but for the future generations of all Mues everywhere.
   In order for us to be accepted and treated as equals by all walks of life, we needed to stand up and be counted. Change does not happen by sitting idly and praying for it. It comes with work and it comes slowly, but I was, and still am, willing to do my part, do to whatever it takes to get us all there, safe and sound.

46

   The hate mail began pouring in by the truckloads.
   Not for just me, but for all of us, including the studio head honchos, most of whom were Pure Humans.
   We tried not to pay too much attention to it but, admittedly, things like death threats can get under your skin after a while.
   So there was this odd sense of millions of folks loving us to death and millions of other folks hating us to death. Going out in public became a problem when it had never before been an issue.
   I had to disguise myself to go anywhere, wearing wigs, glasses, bulky nondescript clothes, and of course, gloves. Sometimes the disguises worked, sometimes not. Luckily though, it was only people who liked me that busted me trying to buy melons or whatever in the supermarket. Apparently, people can learn to hate you without paying any attention to what you look like or who you actually are.
   No surprise there.
   Occasionally, I received word that my family was still trying to reach me and I always ignored it. They’d never given a shit about me before; in fact, I’d been told to get out and never return.
   But now, I knew all of that would be denied. That would say I was misremembering things, that I had misunderstood. They would pretend to be surprised that I had taken the whole thing seriously, after all Dad had only been blowing off steam, the way all dads are prone to do now and then.
   I wanted no part of it. They could keep their grand illusions about what had gone down that day and all the days before it. But I remembered the truth and would never forget it. Never.    And so it went.

47

   The rumors of David and I whipped into a frenzy when we began hangout outside of work. David was also linked romantically to Lucia and about half a dozen other women in the biz. I could understand why, of course; he was an absolute doll, and very cute in a little boy kind of way.
   But, we were just buds. He was a blast to hang out with and more often than not would get me into trouble.
   For example, it was his idea that I get my tongues