My long nails wrapped around the old wooden boards of the train tracks buried amongst layers of grey gravel. The steel beams running either side were boiled under the sun slowly cooking them and my own body. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAwoRs0VOUZv
396Please respect copyright.PENANAUHX8RkAoeW
The sky was clear, as it had been for a week now, with not a grey cloud in the sky. It was the perfect temperature too. The air was cool but not cold enough to freeze me or hot enough to choke me. It was pleasant to idle in on my wander to the house in the distance. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAsNIGShdlOh
396Please respect copyright.PENANAuUP9ELCILQ
I kept my eyes locked on the tracks running as far as the eye could see through overgrown fields of grass that rippled like water in the breeze. My pace turned to excited running and my heart gripped at my chest when I saw a flash of orange and blue emerge from the house in the distance. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAgwRZWMV3fR
396Please respect copyright.PENANA1yKA07ZC0N
I bounded over the river and paused on the other side where people were moving across the empty road to the shops lined either side. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAo1o9EY0Dtt
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I was in clear sight of them now. 396Please respect copyright.PENANALIOwUxRYFw
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"Soup!" the tiny voice blew on the breeze to catch my attention again. 396Please respect copyright.PENANABOxzVkhQRa
It was so faint, but it was the sound I was waiting for. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAN6JWQAYtGg
396Please respect copyright.PENANAejPrS0UFsL
A portly man approached the tracks as quick as his waddling body allowed, placing distance between us so he could squint in the direction of the house. 396Please respect copyright.PENANA7Ov7yWfjzO
396Please respect copyright.PENANAr30b1QTMuM
He was the news agency owner here. His balding head with a halo of grey hair and leathery skin once roughed by laborious work in his youth was easily distinguishable. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAdz7RAbNoBw
His corner-shop was only a few meters from the tracks so he could have the time to waddle out each afternoon I made my appearance to make himself known. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAvC5VJeSSYR
396Please respect copyright.PENANAvV82sr1lCj
I used to call him Bartleby. He preferred Bartie.396Please respect copyright.PENANATHaqh0sAKA
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"MISSY!" Bartie cupped his hands around his mouth before pointing them to me "you've got to stop feeding the beast!" 396Please respect copyright.PENANAWk571fYqWT
396Please respect copyright.PENANA1oAEJIMUqE
I snickered at his concern and walked past Bartie before he cleared his throat to halt me. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAnGA5dG0s99
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"You be good to her, Soup, you hear?" he scowled and waved a finger to me "I'll know if you do anything to her!" 396Please respect copyright.PENANAUihs68ATuB
396Please respect copyright.PENANAKWMaqSJ4W3
He had no reason to worry so much. It was the same empty threat he had been giving me for three months straight now. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAaiUuBGcOi4
I just shook off Bartie's concern and raced for the woman waving for me to come. 396Please respect copyright.PENANA9AJyBWFMff
396Please respect copyright.PENANASsgkAw0yIt
I was smitten with her. She was so kind and had this wonderful light voice that was rougher around the edges. She had the most adorable freckles painted on her face and a lovely round body that she liked to swamp in knitted jumpers or flowing dresses she made. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAubO5we7hR2
396Please respect copyright.PENANAfPbr7AJcnF
When her features began to form on the figure bobbing closer into focus, I grinned wildly and pushed myself to sprint for her laughing face bent down to search for me through the sea of grass. I swam through it to break through to her open gate held back for me. Her scooter was heaved back into its stand here too. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAAoyJpkeSHe
396Please respect copyright.PENANA43mD2YpwfN
Missy stood on the wooden stairs to her porch hugging the front half of her little wooden home. It was a very cost place made entirely of old wood painted in a muted green. 396Please respect copyright.PENANArNa7IZ3q7X
It had herbs growing in the windows glimpsing into her sewing room in the left where she had spools of fabric hung on the wall next to her machine and dotted cloth mannequins. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAzG9vky7zFo
396Please respect copyright.PENANAAaU68rspF0
Her right window had parts of her kitchen on show. I had peered into it a few times when I had been too eager to wait, watching her cook on her gas oven nestled within stone countertops while she shooed me away with a smile. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAHRJCd52vYN
396Please respect copyright.PENANAA6XSX50yd7
Missy had the window wide open to waft out the smell of the food she had been cooking. The rich beef spiralled around the earthy tones of stock and tangy herbs freshly plucked from her windows. I could smell the carrots and buttery pumpkin I knew were harvested from her garden nestled out the back. 396Please respect copyright.PENANA4b0DWCIDUB
396Please respect copyright.PENANANFAcgUUUhg
That's how we had met. I had been raiding her gardens at night before she caught me and chased me off. After a few nights of futile attempts to stop me, and several vegetables left discarded in my escape, she started offering me her leftovers before it became proper meals. 396Please respect copyright.PENANA1SWf4f7FMH
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She didn't know what to call me, so she called me Soup. It was her favourite thing to feed me, and the easiest on her budget made selling homemade dresses. 396Please respect copyright.PENANARAuTm73TKL
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"Soup!" Missy cooed down to me waiting at the bottom of her stairs "I missed you! I'll grab your food. I think you'll like it today." 396Please respect copyright.PENANAZvGPpQmCKb
396Please respect copyright.PENANArZOq1IHYP6
I liked how her voice rose excitedly when she saw me. It sounded like she was greeting a lifelong pet dear to her heart. I didn’t mind that; I was just glad she loved me so dearly to put this much effort into caring for me. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAwMTWCevafl
396Please respect copyright.PENANAhYCzEJCKxZ
"Beef soup with my own vegetables and the local meat. I cooked it with teriyaki before putting it in" Missy exclaimed as she returned carrying two stone bowls and carefully placing one down on the grass for me. 396Please respect copyright.PENANATRLXmYpdN2
396Please respect copyright.PENANAWMhzkmYnU8
My mouth was watering when I saw the mixture of colours beside me. Steam spiralled from the fresh meal Missy set down so she could fan out her checkered blue and white dress to sit on the stairs. 396Please respect copyright.PENANACnrXMMZO1T
396Please respect copyright.PENANAzNkOxuyS8W
She cradled her soup in her lap while I blew onto mine to try and cool it enough to scoff it down. 396Please respect copyright.PENANADMdAWNFcvW
My stomach was begging for the hot meal that little birds and discarded rubbish along the roads could never satisfy. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAj4qY64WuKn
396Please respect copyright.PENANAh2hjRenRKG
"Thank you" I grinned to her and wrapped my hands around the hot bowl so I could lift myself onto my legs and drink it down. 396Please respect copyright.PENANA7XQXTYKPt6
Soup spilled down my chest to burn trails down my skin before I could swipe then up. The chunks of beef were chewy and wedged between my teeth. The bitter teriyaki coated all its layers to bring out the meaty flavour. 396Please respect copyright.PENANA5RhoJv46U5
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It was the cheap meat again. I don't think Missy could afford anything like the ones that fell from the bone or had soft marbles of fat throughout rather than thick coats. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAOmvgBp9p66
396Please respect copyright.PENANAZICQazj0jt
She grinned and watched me try to keep my balance as I felt the meal burn a new hole in my stomach that growled for more. My legs trembled, not used to being so relied upon when I had all four of my limbs to power me effortlessly now. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAdAj0YffRru
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I placed the bowl beside her and lowered myself back down. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAHDtfaeY6j0
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"More please" I pointed.396Please respect copyright.PENANAKzHN83igL8
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She couldn't understand me but smiled like she had. All she heard were the same noises I did whenever I spoke in this form. It was just a mixture of growls and low snaps that I preferred to keep quiet, so I didn't scare her. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAids68BjIgl
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Missy liked it when I talked to her, and I liked it when I made Missy happy. 396Please respect copyright.PENANARZ31oVCAXo
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"You're hungry today" she mused "did I not feed you enough yesterday?" 396Please respect copyright.PENANArlaM4XCU3q
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I just smiled and watched her retreat back inside, leaving her bowl on the stairs. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAoyW8ykKB1c
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Missy was the type of person I would grow old with as a human. I often let my mind wander to what we could be if I hid behind my skin again as a human and tried to form a relationship with her in this home built for two. 396Please respect copyright.PENANADpJJ6iZzSR
396Please respect copyright.PENANA6RABS0Wy3x
Despite having a sunny personality and being loved in town, Missy liked her quiet life. She didn't want her heart to be broken or taken advantage of. She was worried she was too poor to ever please a man or mother children. She hated that she was too scared to reach out and form those connections. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAaraDnDViLX
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She liked me because I was an animal to her. I had no commitments other than one hot meal a day. I wasn't going to make her sad or upset her simple lifestyle with big ambitions. I didn't drain her trickling budget or offer anything outside the trinkets of lost belongings or junk I presented her with. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAuCACJktMkW
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I didn't want to ruin that. I kept in this form and didn't dare to try and act on my daydreams of being accepted into her life as her partner with open arms. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAMnSZbug5bP
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I ate my soup and accepted her new name for me that spread through the town. It was simple and the way things were. 396Please respect copyright.PENANANa6kMaHkZi
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"Here we go!" Missy returned from the house along with two slices of crusty sourdough she had pushed into the bowl "buttered it for you too, you greedy guts. I'm surprised you didn't eat mine." 396Please respect copyright.PENANAa9EiyNtO5f
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I was lucky to have her. She was too kind to be so afraid of life itself. Missy deserved more than it was handing her.396Please respect copyright.PENANACLuMvMt0A1
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I took the filled bowl to drop one of the slices of bread into her own before shovelling this one down greedily. 396Please respect copyright.PENANApF1Fz2mifc
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I could feel the warmth of it leaking down my front from the inside and bubble in my gut gurgling from so much liquid drowning it at once. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAKRKBUXvklx
396Please respect copyright.PENANA3Ei3gvXIQO
I snapped down the tough meat, licked the bowl, then headed back for the wall of grass awaiting me. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAQq7wwAgxf2
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"See you tomorrow?" Missy called out with a worried frown. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAXvF61773lt
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Of course, she would. I would never leave her wondering where I had gone. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAWhMgwgCx6t
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I nodded and disappeared into the grass to follow the train tracks back to the East. 396Please respect copyright.PENANADOJnSbVYCY
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I stared up at the moon nestled in amongst the glittering stars from my grassy ledge curved over several meters from the tracks behind me. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAJvKDoJCW1f
396Please respect copyright.PENANAGu0Xw6jsZb
The field surrounding me was dancing with wildflowers that stirred at the touch of glowing fireflies blinking through the air like showers of floating embers. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAzMIArDudhD
396Please respect copyright.PENANAx9OOeLi9Iq
They flitted like fire in the cool air and amongst the flowers. The fireflies reached for the stars themselves and I watched them ascend to the dusted void above. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAphb6SKoJ7b
396Please respect copyright.PENANA69wVUfZ4Mf
It was so peaceful here with only the moonlight basking over the land. There was no artificial glow of streetlights or the sound of cars screeching on tar. The only sound piercing through the silence was the scraping of metal as the train thundered by on its nightly route to distant towns. Each lit window slashed over the grass below, reminding me of the loud and bright reality amongst the dark serenity until it was gone again. 396Please respect copyright.PENANA40PvERumqe
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One day I might go visit those places. For now, I had my reason to stay here. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAPn12V1I3df
I wonder if she just stopped to stare at the beauty of the moon too. Maybe she sewed in her room while wondering about things beyond her reach like I did? 396Please respect copyright.PENANA8xq6DpE5Dk
396Please respect copyright.PENANAcLLC1wXQso
I smiled at the moon and laid back, so I didn't have to take my eyes from it. 396Please respect copyright.PENANASQR4vzIFLd
The soft grass would be my bed tonight. Usually, I roamed for food or trash on the roadside for several kilometres to try and salvage something until sleep sapped my energy and I collapsed wherever I was. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAplVB7Fw2CA
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The moonlit field of fireflies would be nice tonight. I could wait until Missy gifted me with her wonderful food tomorrow. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAz5F0Ww14DW
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I curled up with my hands wrapped around me, pretending they were hers cradling me and breathing warmth into me. 396Please respect copyright.PENANAdfMRRNK6HF
396Please respect copyright.PENANAcYTpGgeGt8
One day...