My long nails wrapped around the old wooden boards of the train tracks buried amongst layers of grey gravel. The steel beams running either side were boiled under the sun slowly cooking them and my own body. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPBkFRoSSm
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The sky was clear, as it had been for a week now, with not a grey cloud in the sky. It was the perfect temperature too. The air was cool but not cold enough to freeze me or hot enough to choke me. It was pleasant to idle in on my wander to the house in the distance. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUuBcdySOm
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I kept my eyes locked on the tracks running as far as the eye could see through overgrown fields of grass that rippled like water in the breeze. My pace turned to excited running and my heart gripped at my chest when I saw a flash of orange and blue emerge from the house in the distance. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPSEKA9jC6
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I bounded over the river and paused on the other side where people were moving across the empty road to the shops lined either side. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6nn6JmZSN
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I was in clear sight of them now. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CyTGTgwXg
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"Soup!" the tiny voice blew on the breeze to catch my attention again. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZld3I0B0R
It was so faint, but it was the sound I was waiting for. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDkQzbno53
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A portly man approached the tracks as quick as his waddling body allowed, placing distance between us so he could squint in the direction of the house. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGxsnzwYxP
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He was the news agency owner here. His balding head with a halo of grey hair and leathery skin once roughed by laborious work in his youth was easily distinguishable. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RJGEv6yiZ
His corner-shop was only a few meters from the tracks so he could have the time to waddle out each afternoon I made my appearance to make himself known. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohPtto8stH
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I used to call him Bartleby. He preferred Bartie.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrvh6VTagB
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"MISSY!" Bartie cupped his hands around his mouth before pointing them to me "you've got to stop feeding the beast!" 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVpl7NbwS5
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I snickered at his concern and walked past Bartie before he cleared his throat to halt me. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYI9OBGXLzH
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"You be good to her, Soup, you hear?" he scowled and waved a finger to me "I'll know if you do anything to her!" 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcOqx7FSUo
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He had no reason to worry so much. It was the same empty threat he had been giving me for three months straight now. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4qNSs5eYF
I just shook off Bartie's concern and raced for the woman waving for me to come. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZBwZgnZ6I
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I was smitten with her. She was so kind and had this wonderful light voice that was rougher around the edges. She had the most adorable freckles painted on her face and a lovely round body that she liked to swamp in knitted jumpers or flowing dresses she made. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pQOApaXk9
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When her features began to form on the figure bobbing closer into focus, I grinned wildly and pushed myself to sprint for her laughing face bent down to search for me through the sea of grass. I swam through it to break through to her open gate held back for me. Her scooter was heaved back into its stand here too. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7tgpgirLh
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZl0AYzcW4Z
Missy stood on the wooden stairs to her porch hugging the front half of her little wooden home. It was a very cost place made entirely of old wood painted in a muted green. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbCSXw6g7f
It had herbs growing in the windows glimpsing into her sewing room in the left where she had spools of fabric hung on the wall next to her machine and dotted cloth mannequins. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRLRgvm3aN
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Her right window had parts of her kitchen on show. I had peered into it a few times when I had been too eager to wait, watching her cook on her gas oven nestled within stone countertops while she shooed me away with a smile. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cXX2Obvg8
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Missy had the window wide open to waft out the smell of the food she had been cooking. The rich beef spiralled around the earthy tones of stock and tangy herbs freshly plucked from her windows. I could smell the carrots and buttery pumpkin I knew were harvested from her garden nestled out the back. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKQr1r7esu
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That's how we had met. I had been raiding her gardens at night before she caught me and chased me off. After a few nights of futile attempts to stop me, and several vegetables left discarded in my escape, she started offering me her leftovers before it became proper meals. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQh520eSSw
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She didn't know what to call me, so she called me Soup. It was her favourite thing to feed me, and the easiest on her budget made selling homemade dresses. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNA1Kbj7N7
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"Soup!" Missy cooed down to me waiting at the bottom of her stairs "I missed you! I'll grab your food. I think you'll like it today." 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKDbPiSgul
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I liked how her voice rose excitedly when she saw me. It sounded like she was greeting a lifelong pet dear to her heart. I didn’t mind that; I was just glad she loved me so dearly to put this much effort into caring for me. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83fZApATRv
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"Beef soup with my own vegetables and the local meat. I cooked it with teriyaki before putting it in" Missy exclaimed as she returned carrying two stone bowls and carefully placing one down on the grass for me. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Y8htNvAXu
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My mouth was watering when I saw the mixture of colours beside me. Steam spiralled from the fresh meal Missy set down so she could fan out her checkered blue and white dress to sit on the stairs. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhdbHXnr5C
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She cradled her soup in her lap while I blew onto mine to try and cool it enough to scoff it down. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXo6VMvq4c
My stomach was begging for the hot meal that little birds and discarded rubbish along the roads could never satisfy. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlreoM3UmMQ
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"Thank you" I grinned to her and wrapped my hands around the hot bowl so I could lift myself onto my legs and drink it down. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoSGE0ruK0
Soup spilled down my chest to burn trails down my skin before I could swipe then up. The chunks of beef were chewy and wedged between my teeth. The bitter teriyaki coated all its layers to bring out the meaty flavour. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0Gig9zMEx
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It was the cheap meat again. I don't think Missy could afford anything like the ones that fell from the bone or had soft marbles of fat throughout rather than thick coats. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZorHKjyPGN
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She grinned and watched me try to keep my balance as I felt the meal burn a new hole in my stomach that growled for more. My legs trembled, not used to being so relied upon when I had all four of my limbs to power me effortlessly now. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7O2Q2mkf6
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I placed the bowl beside her and lowered myself back down. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRocuvEipd
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"More please" I pointed.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwoYwGOZZO
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She couldn't understand me but smiled like she had. All she heard were the same noises I did whenever I spoke in this form. It was just a mixture of growls and low snaps that I preferred to keep quiet, so I didn't scare her. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbolUIyUSMa
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Missy liked it when I talked to her, and I liked it when I made Missy happy. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiArSxBAIR
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"You're hungry today" she mused "did I not feed you enough yesterday?" 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZznsq2bpK
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I just smiled and watched her retreat back inside, leaving her bowl on the stairs. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7v8b5hPPw
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Missy was the type of person I would grow old with as a human. I often let my mind wander to what we could be if I hid behind my skin again as a human and tried to form a relationship with her in this home built for two. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQ6z6Kjq7f
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRqNloXmSU
Despite having a sunny personality and being loved in town, Missy liked her quiet life. She didn't want her heart to be broken or taken advantage of. She was worried she was too poor to ever please a man or mother children. She hated that she was too scared to reach out and form those connections. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFrVDo6o0e
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She liked me because I was an animal to her. I had no commitments other than one hot meal a day. I wasn't going to make her sad or upset her simple lifestyle with big ambitions. I didn't drain her trickling budget or offer anything outside the trinkets of lost belongings or junk I presented her with. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUQSauNwoc
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I didn't want to ruin that. I kept in this form and didn't dare to try and act on my daydreams of being accepted into her life as her partner with open arms. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqodfJuOTYm
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I ate my soup and accepted her new name for me that spread through the town. It was simple and the way things were. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jTc1MueSe
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"Here we go!" Missy returned from the house along with two slices of crusty sourdough she had pushed into the bowl "buttered it for you too, you greedy guts. I'm surprised you didn't eat mine." 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62Ub412jkQ
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I was lucky to have her. She was too kind to be so afraid of life itself. Missy deserved more than it was handing her.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncOVDm5jKh
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I took the filled bowl to drop one of the slices of bread into her own before shovelling this one down greedily. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAr8VDrL04
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I could feel the warmth of it leaking down my front from the inside and bubble in my gut gurgling from so much liquid drowning it at once. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRbyAuwFUi
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I snapped down the tough meat, licked the bowl, then headed back for the wall of grass awaiting me. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGMs5YvEMm
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"See you tomorrow?" Missy called out with a worried frown. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl61Yq5YKUf
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Of course, she would. I would never leave her wondering where I had gone. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYe31V3z8DT
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I nodded and disappeared into the grass to follow the train tracks back to the East. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90bvWrWCGk
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I stared up at the moon nestled in amongst the glittering stars from my grassy ledge curved over several meters from the tracks behind me. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkel6OnUtG
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The field surrounding me was dancing with wildflowers that stirred at the touch of glowing fireflies blinking through the air like showers of floating embers. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PFFqf04QU
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They flitted like fire in the cool air and amongst the flowers. The fireflies reached for the stars themselves and I watched them ascend to the dusted void above. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Vdj5wVQNl
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yt69RLvgO
It was so peaceful here with only the moonlight basking over the land. There was no artificial glow of streetlights or the sound of cars screeching on tar. The only sound piercing through the silence was the scraping of metal as the train thundered by on its nightly route to distant towns. Each lit window slashed over the grass below, reminding me of the loud and bright reality amongst the dark serenity until it was gone again. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVjDcHMVRZ
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One day I might go visit those places. For now, I had my reason to stay here. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXkdrEDfMa
I wonder if she just stopped to stare at the beauty of the moon too. Maybe she sewed in her room while wondering about things beyond her reach like I did? 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpLDKOrjaD
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I smiled at the moon and laid back, so I didn't have to take my eyes from it. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEXHBb6Zv6
The soft grass would be my bed tonight. Usually, I roamed for food or trash on the roadside for several kilometres to try and salvage something until sleep sapped my energy and I collapsed wherever I was. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49GRmwkaNR
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The moonlit field of fireflies would be nice tonight. I could wait until Missy gifted me with her wonderful food tomorrow. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7ysEh5L5u
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I curled up with my hands wrapped around me, pretending they were hers cradling me and breathing warmth into me. 200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwCaMCB0uj
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToPMbfsGCJ
One day...
Penana
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