Author's Note:84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJoOSivvxEq
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHlxCiA5dF
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIgLibAVcH
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc70yKOUKFD
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2svrrKHgp
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJyb7ut9iy
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9LronPcSg
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OruSeEPx4
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPb6IYg2Ff
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1T64CESEy
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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvWqH3b4dz
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmIgqLGdsB
The pot wiggled.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsGpfY2nlR
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKMs7f3mOC
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4qsMk8thE
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrp9O4KbuKe
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0QCqrY7Xz
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQS9QlqX57
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuXDzWYIy1
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguTmjeEZ2q
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBp6gUsaDJY
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAWTLUknRk
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLopNYLSfZ9
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡac3DNJCta9
“Who’s Baker?”84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiERJMNtup
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rHeJArOK1
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIJjO1RJEe
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7l6GGPvKyV
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOffJj72dI
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1okU53ur4
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8O1PlavsgV
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8i7Qjsj10t
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DsyWic2tz
Zeph’s arms dropped.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFLQp2Lt40
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k3PwQdUEp
“Which way is Baker again?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7sunELivu
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoqyJ4PGeS
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OTkrzL7NZ
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJ1F0rrJfm
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bZSUvWyOd
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHif9IyVuE2
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lVbVkEgJV
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPRp9b9AVA
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9HwXjs6TM
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlx5dInNgsi
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLVhcqGOTc
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNTlozYtMX
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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6yNYHdeKm
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNKKQi1ntc
The pot wiggled.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37I1eXqB3X
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtBlTEPkFc
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfu14KirT0
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJ5Df0grMl
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiwoDvV6cy
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkUyrSIDzP
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMMePzpATX
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEXevPSQ7Z
“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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNAyJQbMNv
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIK2kZ7zGf
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtlpxOiJWy
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99bNt4x27P
“Who’s Baker?”84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrnTfYSXEG
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIwqN8yn8E
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnctwMv9UFv
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZ7drOJ4YL
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8QrWjfWWk
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLf9rtFMQr
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfkw8SnBeq
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKre4gisaco
“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.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDFNqMxX19
Zeph’s arms dropped.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWY4O2Qe61
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgY4syzwdS
“Which way is Baker again?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZehUFjw95p
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡee3BXAzOR3
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgR1cEVRtun
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.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlWhKR5MWb
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECMfupZxRg
and then Add to home screen.