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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkkeO0LTof
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmSXzw4Ml9
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8bFKUh0Lp
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKsG4QvM9P
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnGsq00vM2
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSx8X9aDaqA
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1t67cgl9EV
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3t7QrKapDG
I was in clear sight of them now. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbjJWjD3vJ
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CGCADhMaA
"Soup!" the tiny voice blew on the breeze to catch my attention again. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHQXpSSg7h
It was so faint, but it was the sound I was waiting for. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5chCYSpb7l
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUikXxzaeGP
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxElfIXtZG
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0RntvCE0r
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWMQaZi4JE
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61mKBfWZRb
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSRek50zpt
I used to call him Bartleby. He preferred Bartie.289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQYPgrE6OU
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kyrQLWgbS
"MISSY!" Bartie cupped his hands around his mouth before pointing them to me "you've got to stop feeding the beast!" 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47C3j9CXsa
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPLpm9uA0Y
I snickered at his concern and walked past Bartie before he cleared his throat to halt me. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbJqzxLAL2
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5UUyZPeKj
"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!" 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyWP9MF1bc
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8aZ0GbZZ9
He had no reason to worry so much. It was the same empty threat he had been giving me for three months straight now. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOjoBxOcUl
I just shook off Bartie's concern and raced for the woman waving for me to come. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMyiDhV5Rd
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0kkyGgpwJ
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaM2yF31mU7
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡna0oKLlORn
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzMrXptbOC
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswale37iWH
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaw7Fw1kjU
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVN7gr9t18s
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ASASefK2V
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihGz1zHVDF
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3CD7Qogxa
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5qCV3GumM
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXGGsfYbLt
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXXbs0gnVM
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLNHc9b8MK
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVDT8MmNvZ
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQ4nznb0xS
"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." 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVZ9aUyLZw
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bqJy2PATd
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oRIbs1PAs
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UdlAMEBiR
"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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFaLpgQ6de
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIT6rKcCAGa
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwLDPc5c72
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCG5j0NOoD
She cradled her soup in her lap while I blew onto mine to try and cool it enough to scoff it down. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpScLIXuwVl
My stomach was begging for the hot meal that little birds and discarded rubbish along the roads could never satisfy. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNswvfoeaE
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKvF3hdtvQ
"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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HA1syOSCV
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZajZzCQ7l
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGm0FVbFsCX
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4AYSgj4hn
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixAbZ7KC03
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kTKGZrVHH
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXlXirxNW8
I placed the bowl beside her and lowered myself back down. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59YPWRRuGP
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6el7stBhu
"More please" I pointed.289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8YYNfB6FU
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwc0N4Gbja
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBlxDTc644
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYseSBRo3L
Missy liked it when I talked to her, and I liked it when I made Missy happy. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2ABT3HNYE
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdglekFS4fT
"You're hungry today" she mused "did I not feed you enough yesterday?" 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CBEGAxy1U
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfB1yNrzhi
I just smiled and watched her retreat back inside, leaving her bowl on the stairs. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqyWYyFymq
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvmJCwRxZp
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqpcf8DJPo
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHA4Qg7Jntp
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVjGYjYubT
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeqDSt5zut
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfvnVoJ3AD
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BTp7nX796
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMF2BzOJ67
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuafDOxzXsc
I ate my soup and accepted her new name for me that spread through the town. It was simple and the way things were. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsdy28rumP
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMldNAIZ1e
"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." 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ03mHT1M2n
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIa9RfMCmga
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.289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkto7N4oMT0
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSTnCsWBRn
I took the filled bowl to drop one of the slices of bread into her own before shovelling this one down greedily. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKfwyTFEeM
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2UCzmZ7tl
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZuSIUvD0e
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSQet1ADXB
I snapped down the tough meat, licked the bowl, then headed back for the wall of grass awaiting me. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTiOwWydU4
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4PtCbzt1U
"See you tomorrow?" Missy called out with a worried frown. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84LTgTT8TF
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohUrAtb2SD
Of course, she would. I would never leave her wondering where I had gone. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIi1fssPOR
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9Ja2o82Z1
I nodded and disappeared into the grass to follow the train tracks back to the East. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJv3q8u6pk4
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYptnFPkaR
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKrTi3UyiS
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsp0gH5Nn9
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZnCRu2Cwi
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoXDqadOZS
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEzt3KxCv7
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnzXTKNM3h
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSKzBrXxAg
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxBziCRNVP
One day I might go visit those places. For now, I had my reason to stay here. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrL5bDMEGN
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? 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkftYIhF0I4
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aHxnc2pwV
I smiled at the moon and laid back, so I didn't have to take my eyes from it. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrIviMKKNJ
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. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxrE35t9V1
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNS60Gv2QP
The moonlit field of fireflies would be nice tonight. I could wait until Missy gifted me with her wonderful food tomorrow. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6nPizQveo
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheC9PlWI0U
I curled up with my hands wrapped around me, pretending they were hers cradling me and breathing warmth into me. 289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLdrGUUQCE
289Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFinazdIrd3
One day...
Penana
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