Author's Note:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMpcLMpPVa
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGdRIv9lkh
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgpdUYb83n
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RGSJYwEJC
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbeMWg03WO
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5xL7xia1G
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYo0y8Z97Ph
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVw75IKFPPm
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesLJBJtBPn
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCKBFupLey
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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwYK417K03
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsjFubGEMN
The pot wiggled.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWAGHrqWfa
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjntBvyJLlx
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmONehoFm7I
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOanIu6Nb9
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuy4zUmNj9A
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpKXXri9ih
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnIxddZnPP
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIq2GcwNLwi
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrcz0TUXt1
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJPjwe90aI
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MeSXlfkdr
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ489ZzE9KZC
“Who’s Baker?”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10u3v2Bwjf
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsk7grDLFta
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fk7ay6uSD
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThTAm1jyhT
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ376oyT15Y8
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LGpBBlqvY
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMbe0Blnut
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7qOxjawzd
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaINWeoIVU
Zeph’s arms dropped.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxcM30sGCH
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6oPig0iyx
“Which way is Baker again?”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPA1KKU6MM
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmteppPoaZx
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtunfaIa5Y0
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhw5G3NO7hl
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IFF0Dkcex
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdwoqkno3G
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOcm02LPTA
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7zaFExU4u
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonqWPcgy41
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5yLpzZWKj
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkL7VU3hESx
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSe6sI7Gld
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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWJn5Re8Uc
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uv9N0L2bq
The pot wiggled.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBay2W1uS7G
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHFVz9gE0h
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVz1eOjJ9c
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvr6alXtjbj
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CcgaDKB2b
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqTe8df2jv
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4gnvmUXYP
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnRTSbzicL
“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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KkYWwLQXA
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jzYw2DhZu
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSd88KRZgyh
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoNgzzxyzU
“Who’s Baker?”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdkKVFKGDb
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEg9yKUMjF
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFdVL5LXpT
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Kae4ZggXy
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZN87tmCZa
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxArC6U106
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjW5RiOGY8O
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeopt28beI
“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.”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleOFeUw41V
Zeph’s arms dropped.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYlbxyZyjB
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlT1Y7ctas
“Which way is Baker again?”
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAxKuKIwEk
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvH7B5mQ2r
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9chkUPS9dr
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAsfzIIoxN
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYl9IMfP0R
and then Add to home screen.