Asking me in all sorts of ways, but repeatedly nonetheless, who I was or what reason124Please respect copyright.PENANAtc8Rht3dap
could I have to write such things. And after he untied the now even less threatening124Please respect copyright.PENANASt9rZEGZL6
beast of burden, he helped me find my place on top of its generous back.124Please respect copyright.PENANArGck8OLJ4x
He then went around it, patting its massive head as he passed quite comfortably in124Please respect copyright.PENANABM0sOSSFTt
front of it; and then he too took his place to my left.124Please respect copyright.PENANAv1cRHmPW6K
Now, with the both of us sitting side by side and ready to go, he smiled at me124Please respect copyright.PENANAzMmsTd4n58
through the corner of his mouth before shouting for our advance. But the one he124Please respect copyright.PENANA8Nl8u0Qr8R
called ´Gorliochi´ merely let out a howl of sorts... “Quit your blubbering.” He then124Please respect copyright.PENANAEbC4iNNVct
began to pull those reins on the big beast’s neck repeatedly until finally, the beast124Please respect copyright.PENANAzVTRle40R6
began to move... “There we go. By the way, you pay no heed to these misbehaviours,124Please respect copyright.PENANAByuDTAemRd
alright? Ol’ Gorli here likes to act a bit lazy these days.”124Please respect copyright.PENANAseRTMfZHA4
“I have never seen such a creature.”124Please respect copyright.PENANAWYHefzGYQP
“Yeah,” He let out a sad and drawn-out confirmation, “There are not many like him124Please respect copyright.PENANAjBPbbeney2
around anymore. Frankly, I would be surprised if we ever encounter another one of his124Please respect copyright.PENANA70GlwYtvGt
kind.” He looked at me and then threw half a smile through the right corner of his124Please respect copyright.PENANAQH5U9Mrtkn
mouth; “Now, why don’t you start by telling me what made you write such a thing?124Please respect copyright.PENANA33AWcGwYyl
And more importantly: what is your real connection to that old fool? You know, he124Please respect copyright.PENANAqE2zCtAZNO
and I; we have been friends for the longest time girl, and I even spoke to him just124Please respect copyright.PENANAILN0VlKzfI
recently.” He threw a quick look my way, obviously trying to fish for any kind of124Please respect copyright.PENANAA8MDGgNcPj
reaction; “And he has never mentioned a single word about any plans for an adoption.”124Please respect copyright.PENANAQ0Vd2CSpWi
“I am not that used to talking...” I warned, “what I mean is: I have not done it with124Please respect copyright.PENANARAIy4jc36X
that many people yet so, I might - how you say - run off at the mouth.”124Please respect copyright.PENANAdgBS64QABb
“Oh? Well then,” he explained through another crooked smile; one that revealed124Please respect copyright.PENANAEhX4dh6dGt
how few teeth he still had left, and also how big his gums were, “You can be at ease124Please respect copyright.PENANA5jgIH7mL6h
since I am not that used to listening myself. “Besides,” he continued, “We still have124Please respect copyright.PENANAeNB6lwEraw
ways to go, and nothing to do for the whole way but talk to each other. You just go124Please respect copyright.PENANASHjs7CMZpj
on for as much as you like without a worry. I am sure no word will feel unwarranted.”124Please respect copyright.PENANAE8G4g0CHz5
“Alright,” I replied nervously, but also thankfully. “I guess it would be better if I just124Please respect copyright.PENANAqHCcUuCn9P
went back to the beginning; to the very first time I opened my eyes...”124Please respect copyright.PENANA3FM09FK0tX
“...” He threw me a look of disbelief, but after that initial scepticism, not once did124Please respect copyright.PENANAAwTbXHxCMG
he dare to interrupt me again. Not until I was done with that longest of replies, and124Please respect copyright.PENANAtQraOEzkoc
by then, we would already be making ourselves comfortable inside his most peculiar124Please respect copyright.PENANA7KVAHVSkMt
household...124Please respect copyright.PENANACl8RUghHVe
“...I slowly opened my eyes, like I had done so many times before, but still, they124Please respect copyright.PENANAIwx4hzsmQe
could not trespass that pitch-black. It seemed that yet again I was to be frustrated by124Please respect copyright.PENANA87GupKswg4
blindness, and darkness was to remain as my only company. How long had it been124Please respect copyright.PENANALDMDvoIlcq
since I first regained consciousness? How much time had already been stolen from124Please respect copyright.PENANA19BeLlxuhk
me? To seemingly punish me even further; I was to endure it all while strapped to a124Please respect copyright.PENANAXwKX6m6CCz
bed and surrounded by all sorts of sounds and smells that only increased my curiosity,124Please respect copyright.PENANAbKp8ZwRKZR
only fuelled my already immeasurable desire to see - what a sentence. Another kind of124Please respect copyright.PENANAhXbQDI715z
darkness then swept over me as the shadows of frustration and anger began curving all124Please respect copyright.PENANA1WFXnAstCf
around my mind, slowly turning into large black circles of depression.124Please respect copyright.PENANAGBHr0hJnNL
And then my body began telling what I could not: my fists clenched involuntarily124Please respect copyright.PENANAkBb2CcBc0O
as my tiny arms trembled, my entire strapped body began to twitch and turn124Please respect copyright.PENANALQkHnStPEf
whichever way, and shortly after my teeth too were showing eagerness in joining124Please respect copyright.PENANAC39Ww6PnU5
that demonstration. I wanted to shout, to scream, to expel all that I was feeling, but124Please respect copyright.PENANAtKqryHeSUs
before my mouth could make its first echo, I began noticing that this time it would124Please respect copyright.PENANAuAQNTtE2kh
be different. The darkness that had always been there in front of me, no matter how124Please respect copyright.PENANAAivkS8r5Jr
much my eyes would widen, began to dissipate and those feelings with it; slowly, they124Please respect copyright.PENANA5YlM4EcPHM
all faded until other doings began to take over.124Please respect copyright.PENANAF2C7tG3Fmn
I began moving my head as much as those restraints would allow, and as soon as124Please respect copyright.PENANA2MJAhWg6s9
most of that blurriness left me, I found myself laying down in a poorly lit room.124Please respect copyright.PENANAGGLG0sHIFE
All sorts of machinery scattered about, there were also other beds like the one I was124Please respect copyright.PENANAx2XJPwCnQ4
laying on, most of them empty but a few with others like me. I knew right away they124Please respect copyright.PENANAb2vlmPA6dh
were like me.124Please respect copyright.PENANAkNTXBtpwsE