Asking me in all sorts of ways, but repeatedly nonetheless, who I was or what reason177Please respect copyright.PENANAaiXdqddXhh
could I have to write such things. And after he untied the now even less threatening177Please respect copyright.PENANAQrWbKFZhzg
beast of burden, he helped me find my place on top of its generous back.177Please respect copyright.PENANA9PEE6F3xB7
He then went around it, patting its massive head as he passed quite comfortably in177Please respect copyright.PENANAtDnJo2BF5X
front of it; and then he too took his place to my left.177Please respect copyright.PENANA1fk80604wM
Now, with the both of us sitting side by side and ready to go, he smiled at me177Please respect copyright.PENANAqWhXCXRRjb
through the corner of his mouth before shouting for our advance. But the one he177Please respect copyright.PENANAYXTRk3Bg25
called ´Gorliochi´ merely let out a howl of sorts... “Quit your blubbering.” He then177Please respect copyright.PENANAnl0IXp7F88
began to pull those reins on the big beast’s neck repeatedly until finally, the beast177Please respect copyright.PENANAFzpsW65ZFz
began to move... “There we go. By the way, you pay no heed to these misbehaviours,177Please respect copyright.PENANA1wAVs3scQO
alright? Ol’ Gorli here likes to act a bit lazy these days.”177Please respect copyright.PENANArQyL5GsLoD
“I have never seen such a creature.”177Please respect copyright.PENANAgpDRYMFgWV
“Yeah,” He let out a sad and drawn-out confirmation, “There are not many like him177Please respect copyright.PENANAavw02v6hry
around anymore. Frankly, I would be surprised if we ever encounter another one of his177Please respect copyright.PENANAw1MIywdI5H
kind.” He looked at me and then threw half a smile through the right corner of his177Please respect copyright.PENANATN6o2NMneR
mouth; “Now, why don’t you start by telling me what made you write such a thing?177Please respect copyright.PENANAeWQejXygy0
And more importantly: what is your real connection to that old fool? You know, he177Please respect copyright.PENANAYniUMOscTg
and I; we have been friends for the longest time girl, and I even spoke to him just177Please respect copyright.PENANAvWlbqTDK1d
recently.” He threw a quick look my way, obviously trying to fish for any kind of177Please respect copyright.PENANAaSQTDdDgcK
reaction; “And he has never mentioned a single word about any plans for an adoption.”177Please respect copyright.PENANAtSgNJPxPGr
“I am not that used to talking...” I warned, “what I mean is: I have not done it with177Please respect copyright.PENANA9fDmLyH0Q6
that many people yet so, I might - how you say - run off at the mouth.”177Please respect copyright.PENANAJxOh9MNvq8
“Oh? Well then,” he explained through another crooked smile; one that revealed177Please respect copyright.PENANAmEiPtMPL9P
how few teeth he still had left, and also how big his gums were, “You can be at ease177Please respect copyright.PENANAy4BLrYOiCS
since I am not that used to listening myself. “Besides,” he continued, “We still have177Please respect copyright.PENANAoiPsnSk6BO
ways to go, and nothing to do for the whole way but talk to each other. You just go177Please respect copyright.PENANA8KfYAl8SHX
on for as much as you like without a worry. I am sure no word will feel unwarranted.”177Please respect copyright.PENANA8R4STSaXqh
“Alright,” I replied nervously, but also thankfully. “I guess it would be better if I just177Please respect copyright.PENANAZt4z82zeiR
went back to the beginning; to the very first time I opened my eyes...”177Please respect copyright.PENANAKAoz8AkRZv
“...” He threw me a look of disbelief, but after that initial scepticism, not once did177Please respect copyright.PENANAR5lYxB4LHL
he dare to interrupt me again. Not until I was done with that longest of replies, and177Please respect copyright.PENANA3j9Cpdxokt
by then, we would already be making ourselves comfortable inside his most peculiar177Please respect copyright.PENANAgcG2DBFusP
household...177Please respect copyright.PENANAbL0IsEpiBa
“...I slowly opened my eyes, like I had done so many times before, but still, they177Please respect copyright.PENANAzp7SEF6WGx
could not trespass that pitch-black. It seemed that yet again I was to be frustrated by177Please respect copyright.PENANAjcexQwrLsi
blindness, and darkness was to remain as my only company. How long had it been177Please respect copyright.PENANAg5yxsV6810
since I first regained consciousness? How much time had already been stolen from177Please respect copyright.PENANAa25R5Rz2gf
me? To seemingly punish me even further; I was to endure it all while strapped to a177Please respect copyright.PENANAOJy65FZM6W
bed and surrounded by all sorts of sounds and smells that only increased my curiosity,177Please respect copyright.PENANAkw1YECYc5s
only fuelled my already immeasurable desire to see - what a sentence. Another kind of177Please respect copyright.PENANAkdmbTxdaPd
darkness then swept over me as the shadows of frustration and anger began curving all177Please respect copyright.PENANAW0gowA7USJ
around my mind, slowly turning into large black circles of depression.177Please respect copyright.PENANA0LG6JxfEeX
And then my body began telling what I could not: my fists clenched involuntarily177Please respect copyright.PENANAciLBVJxlfO
as my tiny arms trembled, my entire strapped body began to twitch and turn177Please respect copyright.PENANAvQ1syvdjOe
whichever way, and shortly after my teeth too were showing eagerness in joining177Please respect copyright.PENANAf06Nf3VFNA
that demonstration. I wanted to shout, to scream, to expel all that I was feeling, but177Please respect copyright.PENANACQZvaK12Pg
before my mouth could make its first echo, I began noticing that this time it would177Please respect copyright.PENANAKLRYr8Lsjg
be different. The darkness that had always been there in front of me, no matter how177Please respect copyright.PENANAl18l7iIc5u
much my eyes would widen, began to dissipate and those feelings with it; slowly, they177Please respect copyright.PENANA0GfttdkTrf
all faded until other doings began to take over.177Please respect copyright.PENANA4UQ60BvmaF
I began moving my head as much as those restraints would allow, and as soon as177Please respect copyright.PENANAxnfPVVOv9S
most of that blurriness left me, I found myself laying down in a poorly lit room.177Please respect copyright.PENANAHYXxHWFR6s
All sorts of machinery scattered about, there were also other beds like the one I was177Please respect copyright.PENANAJlec9m6pX1
laying on, most of them empty but a few with others like me. I knew right away they177Please respect copyright.PENANAJJVpCaBokx
were like me.177Please respect copyright.PENANAXFml45w3CP