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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANArX2l9hyD0v
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAUe7yvtIli8
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAceNjdFX91N
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAv9UQhrxtIR
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I was in clear sight of them now. 71Please respect copyright.PENANANQ3Q21FzRm
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"Soup!" the tiny voice blew on the breeze to catch my attention again. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAC2OmtnlUTc
It was so faint, but it was the sound I was waiting for. 71Please respect copyright.PENANABY7CnoNnAr
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAJ6WgDOwmi1
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAWm0uhq8VDn
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANA34uZuq883C
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I used to call him Bartleby. He preferred Bartie.71Please respect copyright.PENANAP5R6KZRkhg
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"MISSY!" Bartie cupped his hands around his mouth before pointing them to me "you've got to stop feeding the beast!" 71Please respect copyright.PENANAbB6KoYgys8
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I snickered at his concern and walked past Bartie before he cleared his throat to halt me. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAtBhkH2T9H9
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"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!" 71Please respect copyright.PENANAoeQTljTbNp
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He had no reason to worry so much. It was the same empty threat he had been giving me for three months straight now. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAaOLs2O5Z7d
I just shook off Bartie's concern and raced for the woman waving for me to come. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAjxm86j6wqO
71Please respect copyright.PENANAGGO08hFYyG
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANA0IacZU70vQ
71Please respect copyright.PENANAINyrLmBlzg
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAF8PNB9IJaV
71Please respect copyright.PENANA3ORTCXltfC
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAmFZlRTEYVF
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAGyykGxA8b3
71Please respect copyright.PENANAd763W08Obh
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAte2R1cv2qh
71Please respect copyright.PENANAdNIjEgwD72
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAMiVyP90y4p
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAk00qEum7SV
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANALRrfy2ZLEC
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"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." 71Please respect copyright.PENANAlzICOiRFmR
71Please respect copyright.PENANAKVHfk5kSAI
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANASECsdPMYPg
71Please respect copyright.PENANAMVXmmZRvti
"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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAygRMEOO0rH
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANADDKxHbbc2e
71Please respect copyright.PENANAmwB75PmDTf
She cradled her soup in her lap while I blew onto mine to try and cool it enough to scoff it down. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAh6VOwlPFeK
My stomach was begging for the hot meal that little birds and discarded rubbish along the roads could never satisfy. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAeT6Rz0yNzt
71Please respect copyright.PENANAxhHostcZ0s
"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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANApP5OwmHhsO
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANARPHUPOm8Jk
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAeCBI2HCmVQ
71Please respect copyright.PENANAcx7H0drihf
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANASVzBIYWo7h
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I placed the bowl beside her and lowered myself back down. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAoo3vlcZEMD
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"More please" I pointed.71Please respect copyright.PENANA7FMVOlSUf5
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAK4vM8kuyVH
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Missy liked it when I talked to her, and I liked it when I made Missy happy. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAnjEHn5jCKu
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"You're hungry today" she mused "did I not feed you enough yesterday?" 71Please respect copyright.PENANAe0lj0S87Jl
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I just smiled and watched her retreat back inside, leaving her bowl on the stairs. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAiV31PdKH2E
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAn2idkAbow9
71Please respect copyright.PENANA6TnEvV0iwU
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANA7g8s4kKneJ
71Please respect copyright.PENANAHQk2Vc86Wz
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAjTM6HynfhI
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANA8kJQIYVOuI
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I ate my soup and accepted her new name for me that spread through the town. It was simple and the way things were. 71Please respect copyright.PENANA9QzKnAfoW9
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"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." 71Please respect copyright.PENANAFmupHzYFQF
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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.71Please respect copyright.PENANAPEndGrbV92
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANABlHPgLuW3C
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAxsP4iBmYYS
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I snapped down the tough meat, licked the bowl, then headed back for the wall of grass awaiting me. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAmymVl1L2Gy
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"See you tomorrow?" Missy called out with a worried frown. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAMEZDw9pWQP
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Of course, she would. I would never leave her wondering where I had gone. 71Please respect copyright.PENANADkctLJTaC6
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I nodded and disappeared into the grass to follow the train tracks back to the East. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAkNk9tglmxr
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAbkPcL4FcSJ
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANA20DiLLjreK
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAMsB0cNOwDW
71Please respect copyright.PENANADp4Rpv2nAx
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAiBUOxWBOCC
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One day I might go visit those places. For now, I had my reason to stay here. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAEg9tWDvbbl
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? 71Please respect copyright.PENANAzHm7fzkvR2
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I smiled at the moon and laid back, so I didn't have to take my eyes from it. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAljqyl2ZHfw
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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAJcjNdni2fc
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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. 71Please respect copyright.PENANAgOKFn8L4E1
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I curled up with my hands wrapped around me, pretending they were hers cradling me and breathing warmth into me. 71Please respect copyright.PENANA5ztTA4yGpF
71Please respect copyright.PENANAL4VUxyVBlt
One day...