Author's Note:53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJ0DCTCqYe
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.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5tXDhTQRo
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTCbTvgjRS
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebczZDH2Ks
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkjNVwN5bI
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUZ8wriXDa
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdkT9krcOE
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBeYtJhyMJ
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1R47yZRAuk
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4x2TREqgu
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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5Ve8dQAYy
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXbRQidxPa
The pot wiggled.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPy37jHm2sT
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNFEac3rIv
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtzSwtQspc
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLP2zFNeoZ
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniijQVneCR
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaudmT1yxh9
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCERFrqxYW
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡls0ItDfgZV
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7L4uCvut6
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bxYZcWBIs
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMZXfMi3yP
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDT3Ozz0td
“Who’s Baker?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GHujUalFK
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6brZ0zQGnh
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g40iyHgLu
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OuFVQl7tC
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HC0AEX98a
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYp2QW8lCj
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRb2LZHt0i
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1Cg2zBYZf
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIxsit0c8P
Zeph’s arms dropped.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgElo4tqK6T
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkF1D8eH8K
“Which way is Baker again?”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iKwMo8WRV
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJzQ16BBpq
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mFVjxrI6u
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsFNdqABo3
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfdGrllGwJ
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnnuLu5mB9y
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtk6LFQSmDX
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSzd3fVaaX
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9urm4bZwPS
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJk9KvhFh56
Zeph interrupted the clamor of dinner preparation. “Uuuh, do you have any clothes by any chance?”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2OiNLW4gE
The man didn't face him to reply, apparently addressing the kitchenware.“Nothing for nothing.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZOcSrFe1A
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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWuCbbSOAe
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwerCkXPgU
The pot wiggled.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALN4vHCv9y
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVk9KqYhFj4
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeveskKXkWt
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iexaqgVi7
“Well, I guess I don't.” He spoke again. There was a long pause as the man intently listened to the toadstool.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlLmQxK4kQ
Zeph slapped both knees. “Welp, I guess I should be going.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXo0usgeXDl
He started to roll forward in his chair when the man continued raising an insistent hand for Zeph to stay put.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73vSsS6Su8
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTktncQlem1
“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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDdgTlxzUD
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDGz0FWys7
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4oN41M5OQ
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHoE4UNa7m
“Who’s Baker?”53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Z6u9ewznn
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMlBwIOWsi
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCWkKOE4uR
Zeph caught a stare from the man as he pulled the ragged shirt over his head. “I don’t want trouble.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbBFerViBX
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CUI81b7KE
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKH3TEPAR9
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDJPPcS6Hm
“It has to be a mistake! Dylan is a good boy!”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANg0yvUKFA
“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.”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwpwpb9IZq
Zeph’s arms dropped.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQb10wHnWwG
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ml5MtapXA
“Which way is Baker again?”
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblPejHzn3P
Mushroom man simply pointed and Zeph left once again.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY483HApxt
“See you tomorrow,” he shouted after him and the mushroom pot jiggled in agreement.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeaXreFyXj
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.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXep6nVXhf
Instead, he sprinted toward Baker, a middle of nowhere two to save Dylan from whatever horrible misunderstanding led to him being a wanted boy.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RBSA8BDsf
and then Add to home screen.