Author's Note:83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjkYgP8GHt
Thank you for getting this far into the story! I promise that that a lot of your outstanding questions will answered in time. Hang in there.
Inside the tiny shack was just as simple as its owner. A wooden chair hugged a small table across the room and a sheet hammock hung slack behind it. To his left at the entrance stood a wood burning stove with an iron skillet resting atop it. A light layer of desert dust coated the room, apparently free-flowing from the window whenever a light wind would visit the home.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6rQL6V2AC
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDbhQEffu4
In the center of the room was an upside down clay flower pot, spot lit by the rays pouring in from the gap left in the shutters on the window.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysCiRg9nRb
It was small, with enamel glaze or flowers on the outside that looked to be painted by a child. It rested on the dirt floor with a long crack down the side and paint that chipped at the edges. Still, Zeph decided to carefully walk around it and sit at the table.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3BUV0UPRx
Only moments passed before the man pushed open the shack door and took a few steps into the room. He spared a look at Zeph, sitting bare-cheeked in his only chair, before wordlessly shaking his head and setting down his things.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUY27OU6c9
Zeph impatiently bounced his leg, watching the man set his basket on the ground next to the table and move around a pot and some utensils as if he was preparing to cook. He was rough looking; a thick raggy shirt draped from his shoulders and thicker pants clung drying mud to the fabric around his knees. He bore an unkempt, mostly grey beard and matching long grey hair that hid his aging face, leaving only his dark brown eyes and sun-spotted nose exposed to the elements.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqoSKbhsUr
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4GPdUd2GB
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUUS2eIkRZ
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYXKnBJ3KN
It took a longer moment than Zeph would like to admit before he understood the man’s meaning before responding,“I have nothing to give.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoO3IzzIFIB
“And you get that in return,” but just as the man finished his sentence, movement caught Zeph’s eye from the center of the room.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0pdfk2rew
The pot wiggled.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mpOQcTj79
The man spun around, quickly slicked back some droopy curls from his forehead and dropped to all fours, his head mere inches from the flower pot. With a free hand, he gently lifted it from the ground revealing a tiny, pinky-capped mushroom.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrUCtqWmrk
The man drew his face so close to the mushroom that he nearly touched it with his nose, eyes crossed as he watched it. He listened to it. He paused for a moment before he spoke.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3beI8sHOpB
“Well sure but he isn't a ‘somebody’, neither.” The man addressed the fungus, straining his eyes to maintain focus on it. Zeph watched the man speak to the mushroom in the middle of the room and began to wonder if entering this shack was a mistake.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDglP2G1kZd
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3h6bL6eVir
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22P8wgCnQW
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyt0JN5YBH
“I guess that's true.” Seemingly satisfied, the mushroom man stood up, leaving the clay pot next to the mushroom. He turned around to fetch a small cup full of well water from a bucket in the corner.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQkL5cfTkN
“Go ahead and grab my spare garment from the chest behind you.” He sprinkled water and bone dust on the soil around the mushroom and replaced the clay pot.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9whTfEqWCm
It took a moment for Zeph to realize the man was talking to him now. He looked behind the chair and found a small wooden chest on the floor. He retrieved the only set of clothes inside.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQxVm93GWW
While Zeph was busy getting dressed, the mushroom man skirted around him to his favorite and only chair. He spared a moment of still reprieve before bringing himself to use a small cloth to wipe the dubious shapes Zeph left behind in the dust with his naked rear.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopYtPvZQdM
“Baker,” the old man began. He pinched out the rest as he sat, enduring the creak of his old bones, “hadn’t been so busy before late.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGZbwp8FA4
“Who’s Baker?”83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzeZBy0Qq1
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHefkjZIY6
“Aint a ‘who.’ Baker’s a town about 3 miles north from here,” he scratched some dirt free from his beard before continuing, pointing a weathered finger in various directions as he explained. “First, some dead Laudendales two nights back. Then a poor farmer’s family there on one side of town, same night. Wuddn’t but last night that the banker, Crock, and his wife on the other side turn up dead in the most heinous. Lotta dead folk. Lotta strangers.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAqqocQi5g
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhq1Ww1s8ng
“Trouble ain't something you bring along with you. I got a feeling trouble is sumin’ you gon find,” he took a visual inventory of the oversized clothes cascading over Zeph’s body. “Stranger.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPPjWXzybr
“I’m trying to find a lost boy. He’s the one in trouble. Is there anyone else new to town? It would have been last night, I think.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LZxQIgPOB
“Well, it wuddn’t no ‘last night’ but they say a stranger came from the forest. A boy, but he’s wanted by the sheriff.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTYNZOPSCL
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzmQC3FR8v
“Well, if’n you know the boy, you oughta get to town and state a case for ‘em. Though, he might get hanged ‘fore then.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOm7ibRMnlc
Zeph’s arms dropped.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu08qGI2MCB
Without a word he sprinted out the door back into the savanna. The man looked down introspectively until the sound of footsteps came back to his door as quickly as they left. Zeph came bursting back through the door.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ru2J10UCl
“Which way is Baker again?”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeB61ObDFTI
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOk6lXEDp8T
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKII3S2gBp
Zeph heard it but dismissed it for the crazed rambling of a dessert loner. If he found Dylan, he has no intention of staying here. Wherever here was. He doubted he would ever see that little shack ever again.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8tG8b2OVd
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.
Inside the tiny shack was just as simple as its owner. A wooden chair hugged a small table across the room and a sheet hammock hung slack behind it. To his left at the entrance stood a wood burning stove with an iron skillet resting atop it. A light layer of desert dust coated the room, apparently free-flowing from the window whenever a light wind would visit the home.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4E5hoMl1w
In the center of the room was an upside down clay flower pot, spot lit by the rays pouring in from the gap left in the shutters on the window.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBBoQyAITM
It was small, with enamel glaze or flowers on the outside that looked to be painted by a child. It rested on the dirt floor with a long crack down the side and paint that chipped at the edges. Still, Zeph decided to carefully walk around it and sit at the table.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBoIgiV2Bv
Only moments passed before the man pushed open the shack door and took a few steps into the room. He spared a look at Zeph, sitting bare-cheeked in his only chair, before wordlessly shaking his head and setting down his things.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyF9S9ZDlFk
Zeph impatiently bounced his leg, watching the man set his basket on the ground next to the table and move around a pot and some utensils as if he was preparing to cook. He was rough looking; a thick raggy shirt draped from his shoulders and thicker pants clung drying mud to the fabric around his knees. He bore an unkempt, mostly grey beard and matching long grey hair that hid his aging face, leaving only his dark brown eyes and sun-spotted nose exposed to the elements.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDN5NhSmLgE
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrkqoJImjo
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPR9U7VmwJ
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORxeq2Ci2U
It took a longer moment than Zeph would like to admit before he understood the man’s meaning before responding,“I have nothing to give.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcYpoEjkmk
“And you get that in return,” but just as the man finished his sentence, movement caught Zeph’s eye from the center of the room.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwr7Duq8GuL
The pot wiggled.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFrpgI9nFi
The man spun around, quickly slicked back some droopy curls from his forehead and dropped to all fours, his head mere inches from the flower pot. With a free hand, he gently lifted it from the ground revealing a tiny, pinky-capped mushroom.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBopjRSDnLl
The man drew his face so close to the mushroom that he nearly touched it with his nose, eyes crossed as he watched it. He listened to it. He paused for a moment before he spoke.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyluicPfTmz
“Well sure but he isn't a ‘somebody’, neither.” The man addressed the fungus, straining his eyes to maintain focus on it. Zeph watched the man speak to the mushroom in the middle of the room and began to wonder if entering this shack was a mistake.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iW4o9NLoA
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0agPuAFtQ
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42zborvilA
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMHsWE062b
“I guess that's true.” Seemingly satisfied, the mushroom man stood up, leaving the clay pot next to the mushroom. He turned around to fetch a small cup full of well water from a bucket in the corner.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qKScBbrBQ
“Go ahead and grab my spare garment from the chest behind you.” He sprinkled water and bone dust on the soil around the mushroom and replaced the clay pot.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwR8okdaSi
It took a moment for Zeph to realize the man was talking to him now. He looked behind the chair and found a small wooden chest on the floor. He retrieved the only set of clothes inside.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhXfX3HgPt
While Zeph was busy getting dressed, the mushroom man skirted around him to his favorite and only chair. He spared a moment of still reprieve before bringing himself to use a small cloth to wipe the dubious shapes Zeph left behind in the dust with his naked rear.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOujpnZ6Mv
“Baker,” the old man began. He pinched out the rest as he sat, enduring the creak of his old bones, “hadn’t been so busy before late.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjStWHhbXWV
“Who’s Baker?”83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXrblmwwsS
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2hY0llU6z
“Aint a ‘who.’ Baker’s a town about 3 miles north from here,” he scratched some dirt free from his beard before continuing, pointing a weathered finger in various directions as he explained. “First, some dead Laudendales two nights back. Then a poor farmer’s family there on one side of town, same night. Wuddn’t but last night that the banker, Crock, and his wife on the other side turn up dead in the most heinous. Lotta dead folk. Lotta strangers.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1VjmfBrBu
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWSRCYABVx
“Trouble ain't something you bring along with you. I got a feeling trouble is sumin’ you gon find,” he took a visual inventory of the oversized clothes cascading over Zeph’s body. “Stranger.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqpqUUotoW
“I’m trying to find a lost boy. He’s the one in trouble. Is there anyone else new to town? It would have been last night, I think.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGu8XXOAjll
“Well, it wuddn’t no ‘last night’ but they say a stranger came from the forest. A boy, but he’s wanted by the sheriff.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NccntDbWY
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNk3ry3yqz
“Well, if’n you know the boy, you oughta get to town and state a case for ‘em. Though, he might get hanged ‘fore then.”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRB3h6nIPpk
Zeph’s arms dropped.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO64sN8gTJe
Without a word he sprinted out the door back into the savanna. The man looked down introspectively until the sound of footsteps came back to his door as quickly as they left. Zeph came bursting back through the door.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUngjg1wqM
“Which way is Baker again?”
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkilhtRFeCu
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDb7AZnAXjC
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EUaORPyyD
Zeph heard it but dismissed it for the crazed rambling of a dessert loner. If he found Dylan, he has no intention of staying here. Wherever here was. He doubted he would ever see that little shack ever again.
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBxpZE0kqH
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaijK66TEo
→ Request update
and then Add to home screen.