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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVT3ZC58Zb
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6uE07ERy3
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEaYKxMghu
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZvbcVzN93
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFOaDXSr8n
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXL75UAQie3
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuK5KA05Dgg
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Mnl7uAabz
I was in clear sight of them now. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkd9pggDmb
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYfdWIkGNT
"Soup!" the tiny voice blew on the breeze to catch my attention again. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFNkxbuBre
It was so faint, but it was the sound I was waiting for. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82eWGam1SH
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPk7BEfGzqR
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIe4tr0J9Sc
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdbwteDSjd
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GghORmz3W
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlbZkJTk9m
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡantjtdSytG
I used to call him Bartleby. He preferred Bartie.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMQyWYxke1
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhDmXCaSbC
"MISSY!" Bartie cupped his hands around his mouth before pointing them to me "you've got to stop feeding the beast!" 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDAcXkLRO4
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVG6FqneXqN
I snickered at his concern and walked past Bartie before he cleared his throat to halt me. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhp2WJ1BOe
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqwCJI8dTP
"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!" 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFa9xjeT8M
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1rdsqWhjz
He had no reason to worry so much. It was the same empty threat he had been giving me for three months straight now. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdZY3rt0eI
I just shook off Bartie's concern and raced for the woman waving for me to come. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFGeo1Z9hI
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdgZhX2ZfP
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNIxCGTE76
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxn7yFjeq2
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbluVx9Gn4
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FBjhBJ8Zq
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYYdCqUdpK
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrnYL3NDEJ
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvtksLarNa
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZVOfwhdV8
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxewYVUnBF
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91S8tf0JhI
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUlmXMY5y4
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6N3oavPDol
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyovO3W9TzU
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRM1sAP8uC
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEnJstRc8v
"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." 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4msoIIEd9G
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaULNlOQ6o
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWStMBnvoi
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUG1gBWw6DJ
"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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaXLcJGqAe
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8GbhEqrTe
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TKm94ToQD
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTKvblSBH0
She cradled her soup in her lap while I blew onto mine to try and cool it enough to scoff it down. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JJE1aSS09
My stomach was begging for the hot meal that little birds and discarded rubbish along the roads could never satisfy. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNHRPbudwE
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeShnQ1doY
"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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBt80WitIPq
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZ09Kw9WZX
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoS0LkZbAtK
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fzSc06psW
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDqqdh5YM5
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NyO6NXvHu
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTg4ZouK3x3
I placed the bowl beside her and lowered myself back down. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUrgieewDM
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sKyGJc3j4
"More please" I pointed.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6bBEYRPiq
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjlxtFl27I
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeYBQTgFah
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmykelX7sxP
Missy liked it when I talked to her, and I liked it when I made Missy happy. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75y63CEeyr
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DNmSVvF78
"You're hungry today" she mused "did I not feed you enough yesterday?" 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPCeQ6vSg0
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIZC4z6RG2
I just smiled and watched her retreat back inside, leaving her bowl on the stairs. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIujrBrnPg
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvpqiAWQk2
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyyyzyjTJF
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCnn9AESoZ
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SALeTKKS6
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65ftHWXJVf
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTev7OpTWh
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cTNzqse7U
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QXy0J3IPh
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EGDl7Ql7v
I ate my soup and accepted her new name for me that spread through the town. It was simple and the way things were. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGk8JKtr3Di
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifDJB36gNU
"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." 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShoxtGwEMP
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzHZ0c0LH9
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.399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDNikQodWv
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwFQlpDKdb
I took the filled bowl to drop one of the slices of bread into her own before shovelling this one down greedily. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVc4KLHUUqp
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJt4RCjspm
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRTIoJrjLE
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJA5l2B6BkW
I snapped down the tough meat, licked the bowl, then headed back for the wall of grass awaiting me. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyy7pUWaDac
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2DE5zdJlw
"See you tomorrow?" Missy called out with a worried frown. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfADxYCXwxp
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxph35fwaoH
Of course, she would. I would never leave her wondering where I had gone. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehQmXnbwwV
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRbbOVrbCR
I nodded and disappeared into the grass to follow the train tracks back to the East. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIlCUrC4J5
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTmPbJ8vns
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrUn13EgPR
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCEmOrgiBY
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmNLAkUqX1
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKymlFhmYU
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ097hZCmMMo
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh2QG1IHgIy
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFM1XTjQFop
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTO04ERKyRs
One day I might go visit those places. For now, I had my reason to stay here. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwm7IGOdgit
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? 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlhBG5gjBh
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPCzb4Mg35
I smiled at the moon and laid back, so I didn't have to take my eyes from it. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9gMz2MET9
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. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfXL8rh170
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuAYRKNgYW
The moonlit field of fireflies would be nice tonight. I could wait until Missy gifted me with her wonderful food tomorrow. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53Ynt2jr2w
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpjh7VY0pb
I curled up with my hands wrapped around me, pretending they were hers cradling me and breathing warmth into me. 399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPIYqNk5vF
399Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKMuTqJ541
One day...
Penana
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