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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJp6dPYmVY
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzedNR2CGuf
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4aYbKryL4
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pQhQQE3ej
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I was in clear sight of them now. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡms6oUtApUq
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"Soup!" the tiny voice blew on the breeze to catch my attention again. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomEm027rWC
It was so faint, but it was the sound I was waiting for. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIear6Et5u
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhCcNdTJRt
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnM41CB7Jx
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPvzxcJEtp
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyV5FkUqvd
I used to call him Bartleby. He preferred Bartie.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu234FmjTtc
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRlPY8fxqS
"MISSY!" Bartie cupped his hands around his mouth before pointing them to me "you've got to stop feeding the beast!" 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSns8ZtYb7
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcoB72Jwnp
I snickered at his concern and walked past Bartie before he cleared his throat to halt me. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbYdDtbTCD
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqHzXsFYA1
"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!" 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDG1kb2yhpx
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSMjOBN3OU
He had no reason to worry so much. It was the same empty threat he had been giving me for three months straight now. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvB4Cxb5AQ
I just shook off Bartie's concern and raced for the woman waving for me to come. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyt3ZkRyFY
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOxBDGMsMR
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnhibZrCWg
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGlkgNsRNR
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gd9WDAFo4
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIiZRwImX3A
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPCai1D2T6
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMos4S0NnkH
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjd0mjLsKT
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCEBYwQJSE
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsoLF0amUr
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VXX74Ot0G
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayeV88yq9c
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Z2F9RUjhi
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwv5E3oQD1
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTTqyAVTDv
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBeA63fXE2
"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." 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpppmHixGP
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroqkI2H7yl
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yJH1fFHtq
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCmCC2ovOS
"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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmGcGWrtYA
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX70uiK0yAF
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42FnHzxweF
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhYjarmlSP
She cradled her soup in her lap while I blew onto mine to try and cool it enough to scoff it down. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94yL210Ay8
My stomach was begging for the hot meal that little birds and discarded rubbish along the roads could never satisfy. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7kxDwHV2o
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQx9hZnZEUW
"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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJGL08avOP
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2b35vp7fM
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSUeNu96Vb
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdqahd9wJu
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBhn1ffpex
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I placed the bowl beside her and lowered myself back down. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FHeTn1gwq
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"More please" I pointed.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdWCUMJSRh
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GpYOp69NA
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGIsyRU1Gp
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0axwPcWpTV
Missy liked it when I talked to her, and I liked it when I made Missy happy. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyztxl4tba6
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7F9ur5Gmh
"You're hungry today" she mused "did I not feed you enough yesterday?" 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMedkCTkYdf
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I just smiled and watched her retreat back inside, leaving her bowl on the stairs. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSdlzJZRoD
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxs5I7IVjy
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSp3maesiX
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1T9ZaKC1o8
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOQWREjs1P
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydFllXjB9x
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iYrGQ8cFc
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ510Tu2eX4p
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZu6IsAKk7
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgYMfLaetb
I ate my soup and accepted her new name for me that spread through the town. It was simple and the way things were. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3Fua4nnIz
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8izlPElWM
"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." 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cgZiFZutq
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqY8el3YdX
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.334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTthnDWyUG
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlniBQdzTbT
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfrle7YFOw
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJphXHkQRx
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuuvatLoscY
I snapped down the tough meat, licked the bowl, then headed back for the wall of grass awaiting me. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGO4orag5i
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLM3uVvQte
"See you tomorrow?" Missy called out with a worried frown. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkq0J4DLkLU
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Of course, she would. I would never leave her wondering where I had gone. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7QifgCIfo
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I nodded and disappeared into the grass to follow the train tracks back to the East. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFRzixLipD
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzvOQwh492
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLp1bVeoSgh
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJCIjU0ccL
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAgyzWj3By
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwLh1n62O7
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQerF9EGGPg
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8qV93kkJu
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12USTLycrs
One day I might go visit those places. For now, I had my reason to stay here. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfoflCNdU8
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? 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgGj35el10
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I smiled at the moon and laid back, so I didn't have to take my eyes from it. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZkB5Nr377
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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXBP3TOYbu
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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. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB85dWIM9Sm
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaU4HXxLwJ
I curled up with my hands wrapped around me, pretending they were hers cradling me and breathing warmth into me. 334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZq7K4M7mIs
334Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MDckRmSSf
One day...
Penana
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