The Raxlor

By Emma Zhang

Published April 1st

Once upon a time, in a beautiful place known as the Ununited States of Camiera, there was a state known as Bajinka. Because of how Bajinka was formed, there were many candies in the land. These candies could be made into fabrics, and the creatures there did just that, though they were careful not to make too much because they didn’t want to disturb the land. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Bajinka could talk, and it was pretty scary when it did, but it didn’t mind giving a bit of the candy to the creatures, as long as they wouldn’t harm it. Other than that, Bajinka was amazing. There were many animals, such as dribs, raebs, and uobiracs, and the land was rich and green. The animals in Bajinka relied heavily on the resources and looked up to a creature called the Raxlor. The Raxlor was Bajinka’s oldest friend and the only one who could talk to the land. He was a tiny little thing, about two feet and three inches tall, covered in sky-blue fuzz. He had small eyes barely poking out through the fuzz and a very large nose. His hands and feet were long, but no matter how strange he looked, the animals in Bajinka loved the Raxlor, and he loved them all too. 

Shanot Eco, the king of Camiera, was worried about the future of his people. Here’s the thing: Camiera was dependent on fabrics. Many things were made out of fabric, such as clothing, buildings, hairbrushes, and beds, which were all essential to living. He knew that he had to find candies to be able to create these items for the people, but he just didn’t know where to look. 

Bajinka eventually caught the attention of some people from a candy collector company, who decided to explore the state. They found that there was lots and lots of candy, and took most of it for themselves, and decided to convert it to different fabrics for the other people living in the Ununited States. Bajinka told the Raxlor, but he told Bajinka not to worry about it. 

Bajinka was a little annoyed at the people and thought they were rude. It complained to the creatures, telling them about all the obnoxious people taking the candy without asking. However, it decided to ignore them  in hopes that they would soon go away. Unfortunately, the people did not go away, and Bajinka decided to remain patiently waiting for them to do so. The creatures observed the strange people planting machines on Bajinka from afar, and scurried away when the people looked in their direction. 

A little while later, Shanot Eco heard that Bajinka had lots of candy and became very excited. He thought about taking a trip to Bajinka and talking to it, thinking that maybe Bajinka would let him take the candy because Camiera would need more fabric to continue developing, and the candy in Bajinka would fix this problem. 

He took a dolphin chariot across the land to Bajinka, where he asked the locals how to talk to Bajinka. The creatures told him to go to the Raxlor and show respect for the Raxlor because he was a very important guy. Shanot went to go find the Raxlor and eventually found him sitting in a purple bush, giving out money with a money gun to the fellow creatures. 

The Raxlor looked up at Shanot startled and shooed the creatures away. He told them he would continue giving money out after. The Raxlor asked Shanot why he was there, and Shanot replied by asking if he could take the candy out of the ground to make more fabrics for clothing for the people of Camiera. He said he’d call it the ECO Project, which stood for the Extracting Candy Operation. The Raxlor considered this question and decided no. Shanot didn’t understand why because if they took more candy out of Bajinka, there would be more job opportunities for the people Additionally, the candy would generate more fabric and more clothing for the people in Camiera, and, therefore, more money for the government. 

The Raxlor understood his reasoning, but  he thought the consequences would be too drastic for  Bajinka and even the whole world. He explained to Shanot that getting the candy out of Bajinkawould release harmful toxins in the environment and the creatures and nature would suffer. Shanot couldn’t understand why the Raxlor didn’t see a better future for Camiera if the candy was taken out and was very angry. He stormed away and, in the process, stepped on the toe of a raeb. The raeb howled in pain and cried, but Shanot was too angry to care. 

A couple of days later, Shanot announced that the ECO Project was to begin soon. The Raxlor was furious and told Bajinka and all the creatures there the horrible news. They did everything they could to prevent this, by mailing letters to the government and signing petitions. They had "stop ECO"-parties where each would send out emails and letters to websites like gro.egnahc. Some creatures decided to download ClickClack and other social media apps to spread awareness. Many people felt sympathetic and tried to help them. Sadly, no matter how many letters and emails were sent, the ECO Project was set to continue. 

Shanot was very happy, and soon Camiera was the country with the most resources to make these fabrics, and everyone was happy, except the Raxlor. At this point, the damage was done. The drib, raeb, and uobirac populations slowly faded. Bajinka, who had once been green and lush, turned brown and dry. Bajinka slowly lost its voice, and the Raxlor couldn’t talk to it anymore because he was also getting weaker. Looking around at Bajinka, the Raxlor gave the land one last look and lay on his back. He felt the dry, scratchy grass on his toes, and smelt the thick air polluted with human disruption. Although he didn’t have his creatures with him, he didn’t mind lying on his oldest friend for one last time.