The Peculiar Visitor, a short story I have brought out of storage

(Before we begin: What follows is a short story that I (re)wrote around two and a half years ago. It is based on a very similar short story that I wrote a little before that, in a time that I sincerely wish I could erase from my life. Apart from previously unnoticed spelling errors and some formatting to clarify the text, none of what you see in this document has been edited or altered in any manner. I hope you find the content enlightening or even enjoyable.)

Hate, part one

Lydia Brown, the author of the Autistic Hoya journal, recently published a photo on Fudgebook. This, in itself, is unremarkable, of course. People post photographs on their Fudgebook pages all of the time. But what makes this particular photograph worth noting is the content. In the photograph, both arms are crossed at angles across her torso. On the upper arm is a message in Arabic. On the lower is a message in English. According to Lydia, both have the same meaning. Being that I do not speak Arabic, I can only take her word for it. Whilst I have only been reading her work for a handful of weeks, I have yet to encounter any evidence of dishonesty being in her nature. But all waffling aside, the English version of the message reads “I don’t understand how many people can hate”.