Author's Note:30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7JrMDbGEG
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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1zvKS5Tyl
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCTH5039Uu
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfyzSvxZie
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sZ027CX2w
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObFvhbJ6o5
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6SBRkBibY
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3Ocp11Bhr
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF55PvO96hz
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWy319taMW
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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wnUVNS4Kw
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3hd8Tfkel
The pot wiggled.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJOS57ewaX
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3YX3633FY
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFM2ZVwvnL
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqZTtnTWit
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmIowU4CyH
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8qLLrmCU3
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawnQc03Jlb
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMx8276IaM
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlR6rutskT
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUvzgVO1Me
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxn2LpZT69P
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqwMttyGYn
“Who’s Baker?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxivK3uLNy
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmW1wCAZb2
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFP4tDnzyZf
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hMIFBLhS2
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYNNRzu863
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoTLNNXZVk
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBXolERCky
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bKiqvug5L
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJaaVa6mJ0
Zeph’s arms dropped.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTZy7Zogdn
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfe9KciIkW
“Which way is Baker again?”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrC6T4RKhe
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoY1eBd5Y3T
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfYCfRwaZM
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFeoWVT4n5
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsajD8ThmrZ
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxe7h3LIimr
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNea3xd59ZK
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwHAgVNjJw
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkPUFxKIih
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ664gSv1jgG
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoP3bAsSimZ
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GhuGQbC24
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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuheYQyh3a
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBVTPoJIFi
The pot wiggled.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJBw2eNXYM
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUk9PCqmrh
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbRcUw2WmD
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxnNWDQzg9
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdU8o6ueRl
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkTJm8kF3v
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOQyrr3RZN
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1C25AH1y6d
“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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDOFm70r2r
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQvIx9cjcj
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdEL0dymYf
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr64PewGcQs
“Who’s Baker?”30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZvgGFIFKQ
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3o8iYIY3xo
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bFgKmbQWR
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAcLzYSjyi
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1ugAgMwr7
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZs9DIGKF0o
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QIaZMHSGC
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QXtGXzWcB
“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.”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkCd9doJpQ
Zeph’s arms dropped.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Bn3KzXzpw
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGzeyAKOn6
“Which way is Baker again?”
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn42gT2g4pR
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwVmnk1SCX
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoH0w0MPIC
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.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnde95ZwCgO
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo76ObUbSns
and then Add to home screen.