Asking me in all sorts of ways, but repeatedly nonetheless, who I was or what reason98Please respect copyright.PENANA8kSCfKdvwo
could I have to write such things. And after he untied the now even less threatening98Please respect copyright.PENANA4QzlsPHFSm
beast of burden, he helped me find my place on top of its generous back.98Please respect copyright.PENANA5x0gFdBKXL
He then went around it, patting its massive head as he passed quite comfortably in98Please respect copyright.PENANAS7FbRnRuiS
front of it; and then he too took his place to my left.98Please respect copyright.PENANAJ5uuQU3Inh
Now, with the both of us sitting side by side and ready to go, he smiled at me98Please respect copyright.PENANAYVrxGCN39X
through the corner of his mouth before shouting for our advance. But the one he98Please respect copyright.PENANAEYUvoSeFSe
called ´Gorliochi´ merely let out a howl of sorts... “Quit your blubbering.” He then98Please respect copyright.PENANAuUi5U6lGjY
began to pull those reins on the big beast’s neck repeatedly until finally, the beast98Please respect copyright.PENANAwBAFW9SS8F
began to move... “There we go. By the way, you pay no heed to these misbehaviours,98Please respect copyright.PENANAmXYRETnJOm
alright? Ol’ Gorli here likes to act a bit lazy these days.”98Please respect copyright.PENANA67TNlo5Ijm
“I have never seen such a creature.”98Please respect copyright.PENANAryu3hJsY2O
“Yeah,” He let out a sad and drawn-out confirmation, “There are not many like him98Please respect copyright.PENANAbmZAmozRta
around anymore. Frankly, I would be surprised if we ever encounter another one of his98Please respect copyright.PENANAcBVNiA7N1s
kind.” He looked at me and then threw half a smile through the right corner of his98Please respect copyright.PENANAGWwUY6qtNR
mouth; “Now, why don’t you start by telling me what made you write such a thing?98Please respect copyright.PENANAnLH1BmAMm4
And more importantly: what is your real connection to that old fool? You know, he98Please respect copyright.PENANAoa8HncCT9V
and I; we have been friends for the longest time girl, and I even spoke to him just98Please respect copyright.PENANAphAR5gWAve
recently.” He threw a quick look my way, obviously trying to fish for any kind of98Please respect copyright.PENANAaHAucMmOHP
reaction; “And he has never mentioned a single word about any plans for an adoption.”98Please respect copyright.PENANAupX4kIVIb2
“I am not that used to talking...” I warned, “what I mean is: I have not done it with98Please respect copyright.PENANAZ3HBumjJZc
that many people yet so, I might - how you say - run off at the mouth.”98Please respect copyright.PENANAP9tpuWrHP2
“Oh? Well then,” he explained through another crooked smile; one that revealed98Please respect copyright.PENANAFHAbtTA9Pr
how few teeth he still had left, and also how big his gums were, “You can be at ease98Please respect copyright.PENANA1I3hH4hfdC
since I am not that used to listening myself. “Besides,” he continued, “We still have98Please respect copyright.PENANATF8fFaZJWI
ways to go, and nothing to do for the whole way but talk to each other. You just go98Please respect copyright.PENANA3zH8xMNN0y
on for as much as you like without a worry. I am sure no word will feel unwarranted.”98Please respect copyright.PENANAGqfeCNFYDH
“Alright,” I replied nervously, but also thankfully. “I guess it would be better if I just98Please respect copyright.PENANARgdsQ8DTks
went back to the beginning; to the very first time I opened my eyes...”98Please respect copyright.PENANAtaXRjZUOpN
“...” He threw me a look of disbelief, but after that initial scepticism, not once did98Please respect copyright.PENANAaZWyq5e16C
he dare to interrupt me again. Not until I was done with that longest of replies, and98Please respect copyright.PENANAUu1WjMFwIx
by then, we would already be making ourselves comfortable inside his most peculiar98Please respect copyright.PENANA7gp8NarteJ
household...98Please respect copyright.PENANAIIq5V1Ntns
“...I slowly opened my eyes, like I had done so many times before, but still, they98Please respect copyright.PENANAhMeR0GOCpB
could not trespass that pitch-black. It seemed that yet again I was to be frustrated by98Please respect copyright.PENANAZtWAWO04bx
blindness, and darkness was to remain as my only company. How long had it been98Please respect copyright.PENANAltxnzDI7qk
since I first regained consciousness? How much time had already been stolen from98Please respect copyright.PENANA9BAM4cCmx1
me? To seemingly punish me even further; I was to endure it all while strapped to a98Please respect copyright.PENANAwSC8Phqyri
bed and surrounded by all sorts of sounds and smells that only increased my curiosity,98Please respect copyright.PENANAOWM6LrXM4H
only fuelled my already immeasurable desire to see - what a sentence. Another kind of98Please respect copyright.PENANAySqz77jZH3
darkness then swept over me as the shadows of frustration and anger began curving all98Please respect copyright.PENANAf9MnnuRLZS
around my mind, slowly turning into large black circles of depression.98Please respect copyright.PENANAWgDUK6T1ts
And then my body began telling what I could not: my fists clenched involuntarily98Please respect copyright.PENANAO310vPlH0J
as my tiny arms trembled, my entire strapped body began to twitch and turn98Please respect copyright.PENANAcYuPyx9V0o
whichever way, and shortly after my teeth too were showing eagerness in joining98Please respect copyright.PENANA4lCoQr8j8X
that demonstration. I wanted to shout, to scream, to expel all that I was feeling, but98Please respect copyright.PENANAyc1wwuWje2
before my mouth could make its first echo, I began noticing that this time it would98Please respect copyright.PENANAZKUR1Y7Htx
be different. The darkness that had always been there in front of me, no matter how98Please respect copyright.PENANAvecuzw5ZLq
much my eyes would widen, began to dissipate and those feelings with it; slowly, they98Please respect copyright.PENANA7cToffuZ9W
all faded until other doings began to take over.98Please respect copyright.PENANAAZBhewJHbA
I began moving my head as much as those restraints would allow, and as soon as98Please respect copyright.PENANACnKPAQxIGB
most of that blurriness left me, I found myself laying down in a poorly lit room.98Please respect copyright.PENANAFbRwNih4T8
All sorts of machinery scattered about, there were also other beds like the one I was98Please respect copyright.PENANASegfaRm0Oc
laying on, most of them empty but a few with others like me. I knew right away they98Please respect copyright.PENANARQxPP0Y4a4
were like me.98Please respect copyright.PENANA8vdKAVaBVV