The drama at the club is chasing away the regulars. People who were there when I started hanging out are coming in less and less. At first I wondered why, but recently I've been peeling away at the mystery like wrapping paper on a present. Only the present is the reality of the situation.

I wish I could return this present for the past, when things were fun in my ignorance.

There's a group--a popular group, I suppose--that cluster around each other. When one shows, the others wind up appearing as if out of thin air. A hive mind of like individuals. When one hates you, they all hate you. Like a virus they try to spread the hate to others, claiming what they say or do is "all in fun". I never thought species slurs were funny, not even when the people spouting such filth belonged to said species. I hear how they're starting to use those epithets now, and in the dark corner of my mind I wonder if they'll start to slur my species.

It makes me wonder if the members of this group really do like each other, or do they just cling to each other because they're afraid of being alone? Do they provide each other with a group camouflage so that no one can see into their true selves? Do they cause a paradigm shift so that hate and intolerance is the cool thing to do? When will we have seating again that separates us by gender and species? Are we returning to darker times where all are created equal, but some are more equal than others?

This club had...has...so much promise, but it only holds the promise. it is...was...up to the people who frequent it to fulfill the promise. I think we broke that promise, and I'm no better. I'm friends with many in that group, and I don't wish to cause drama. Am I afraid to make change? Would I just stand idly by as they growl out species slurs? Will I do nothing as they insult others if they don't belong to their favored genus?

I don't want this present.