
Asking me in all sorts of ways, but repeatedly nonetheless, who I was or what reason428Please respect copyright.PENANAKfbPVvNHUW
could I have to write such things. And after he untied the now even less threatening428Please respect copyright.PENANA2nT7if6QFQ
beast of burden, he helped me find my place on top of its generous back.428Please respect copyright.PENANAN1d88I3nrt
He then went around it, patting its massive head as he passed quite comfortably in428Please respect copyright.PENANAFWZCUMyd8X
front of it; and then he too took his place to my left.428Please respect copyright.PENANAk5WosmzLUA
Now, with the both of us sitting side by side and ready to go, he smiled at me428Please respect copyright.PENANAQXr0NmLyTG
through the corner of his mouth before shouting for our advance. But the one he428Please respect copyright.PENANAoRm06bNs13
called ´Gorliochi´ merely let out a howl of sorts... “Quit your blubbering.” He then428Please respect copyright.PENANATDw2FNObL5
began to pull those reins on the big beast’s neck repeatedly until finally, the beast428Please respect copyright.PENANAdlG5JczPe6
began to move... “There we go. By the way, you pay no heed to these misbehaviours,428Please respect copyright.PENANAq0mGsPiSSV
alright? Ol’ Gorli here likes to act a bit lazy these days.”428Please respect copyright.PENANAUw3sUSmCAx
“I have never seen such a creature.”428Please respect copyright.PENANACMyNx0pv95
“Yeah,” He let out a sad and drawn-out confirmation, “There are not many like him428Please respect copyright.PENANAY0Zbjz3Eq6
around anymore. Frankly, I would be surprised if we ever encounter another one of his428Please respect copyright.PENANAh8YSoeEdpi
kind.” He looked at me and then threw half a smile through the right corner of his428Please respect copyright.PENANAtDzs4Gm18K
mouth; “Now, why don’t you start by telling me what made you write such a thing?428Please respect copyright.PENANASKJTPNF2ZZ
And more importantly: what is your real connection to that old fool? You know, he428Please respect copyright.PENANAlt2Gnp8KmS
and I; we have been friends for the longest time girl, and I even spoke to him just428Please respect copyright.PENANA7DbVWvSdka
recently.” He threw a quick look my way, obviously trying to fish for any kind of428Please respect copyright.PENANA1WXvQNtUb9
reaction; “And he has never mentioned a single word about any plans for an adoption.”428Please respect copyright.PENANAnICcNghNi8
“I am not that used to talking...” I warned, “what I mean is: I have not done it with428Please respect copyright.PENANAjBAJKDZiks
that many people yet so, I might - how you say - run off at the mouth.”428Please respect copyright.PENANAg3ulDhbLEc
“Oh? Well then,” he explained through another crooked smile; one that revealed428Please respect copyright.PENANAWOQKWmVbFS
how few teeth he still had left, and also how big his gums were, “You can be at ease428Please respect copyright.PENANALqRfh87W4W
since I am not that used to listening myself. “Besides,” he continued, “We still have428Please respect copyright.PENANAIiYFrud0Dn
ways to go, and nothing to do for the whole way but talk to each other. You just go428Please respect copyright.PENANAW49SispdbD
on for as much as you like without a worry. I am sure no word will feel unwarranted.”428Please respect copyright.PENANAC2Cn5vPb5W
“Alright,” I replied nervously, but also thankfully. “I guess it would be better if I just428Please respect copyright.PENANAoAcSyLG6tz
went back to the beginning; to the very first time I opened my eyes...”428Please respect copyright.PENANABtDnbom1gT
“...” He threw me a look of disbelief, but after that initial scepticism, not once did428Please respect copyright.PENANAAJ7p7rdp2I
he dare to interrupt me again. Not until I was done with that longest of replies, and428Please respect copyright.PENANA4eXX3Xq82D
by then, we would already be making ourselves comfortable inside his most peculiar428Please respect copyright.PENANAk19IPfojTH
household...428Please respect copyright.PENANAbTEwJfKIt1
“...I slowly opened my eyes, like I had done so many times before, but still, they428Please respect copyright.PENANA4i3EzCLN9V
could not trespass that pitch-black. It seemed that yet again I was to be frustrated by428Please respect copyright.PENANAUMXYmKA5cs
blindness, and darkness was to remain as my only company. How long had it been428Please respect copyright.PENANA9RJs3yQqxO
since I first regained consciousness? How much time had already been stolen from428Please respect copyright.PENANAqV7cAeBQKn
me? To seemingly punish me even further; I was to endure it all while strapped to a428Please respect copyright.PENANAITP5deMrHs
bed and surrounded by all sorts of sounds and smells that only increased my curiosity,428Please respect copyright.PENANATf46FZ8w5g
only fuelled my already immeasurable desire to see - what a sentence. Another kind of428Please respect copyright.PENANAxw2IJ98nr2
darkness then swept over me as the shadows of frustration and anger began curving all428Please respect copyright.PENANA174ToXbogj
around my mind, slowly turning into large black circles of depression.428Please respect copyright.PENANAyBg6kmTQg7
And then my body began telling what I could not: my fists clenched involuntarily428Please respect copyright.PENANA44QZDODIW4
as my tiny arms trembled, my entire strapped body began to twitch and turn428Please respect copyright.PENANAsa6gdCgDzR
whichever way, and shortly after my teeth too were showing eagerness in joining428Please respect copyright.PENANAROdgxSetRp
that demonstration. I wanted to shout, to scream, to expel all that I was feeling, but428Please respect copyright.PENANAkBFXnJmawn
before my mouth could make its first echo, I began noticing that this time it would428Please respect copyright.PENANASaitHgbgDt
be different. The darkness that had always been there in front of me, no matter how428Please respect copyright.PENANA5XByrBwhYX
much my eyes would widen, began to dissipate and those feelings with it; slowly, they428Please respect copyright.PENANAggfhOAlCDi
all faded until other doings began to take over.428Please respect copyright.PENANAWukmz5fqxa
I began moving my head as much as those restraints would allow, and as soon as428Please respect copyright.PENANAGqqVIJCgeS
most of that blurriness left me, I found myself laying down in a poorly lit room.428Please respect copyright.PENANA16RfkPtYQP
All sorts of machinery scattered about, there were also other beds like the one I was428Please respect copyright.PENANAGPn9snzUtX
laying on, most of them empty but a few with others like me. I knew right away they428Please respect copyright.PENANA3mD125yvZw
were like me.428Please respect copyright.PENANA3rbdUHpUzs