Inkwhumptobertale 2024

Day Fourteen

A kind heart in a diabolical body - Left for Dead, Hunting Gear, Blackmail, "Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted." 

Trigger warnings: mentions of violence, implied violence, mistreatment, child abuse, child labor, manipulation..is that all?

This short takes place in the timeline from last year following Demon! If you haven't read that, I would highly recommend going to check it out, since this likely won't make sense if you haven't. The preceding parts in this timeline are located on days eleven, eighteen, and twenty of last year's Inkwhumptobertale. With that said, I hope you enjoy regardless!

Comments are welcome and appreciated! 

Please enjoy!

~~~~~

Dream didn't know whether he was the luckiest or unluckiest person alive. 

He'd been created so long ago, but he was forever stuck in a child's body, and he couldn't change that. It made him weak. It made him easy to control. The villagers from his home universe had taken advantage of his kind nature and weak body to force him into doing..pretty much anything they wished, from tending to their crops and animals to doing the brunt of construction work they needed around town. He had been created as a tool..probably. He certainly felt like a tool. He'd been around for centuries, and he'd done nothing but serve his superiors..but he'd hated every second of it. For as long as he could remember, he had felt that there was more to life than doing what others told him to do, but he didn't have a clue what. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he would go sit under that beautiful tree nearby the town and think about what he'd like to have done, if he'd had the choice; that place always felt special to him. He'd never seen apples those colors anywhere else, but they were absolutely forbidden to touch, and he knew better than to disobey those types of rules. 

The only time he could really dream was at night, under that tree. Daytime was for working, and he couldn't be caught slacking off, but once night came, he was free to do as he pleased, as long as he didn't try to run away. He often wondered if he had any family; the other children  in the village had parents and siblings, but he didn't..why was he different? He wished he had family; maybe then he could be like everyone else. No one else had to do all the work he did; they had free time, toys, and so much more! All the parents in the village taught their children about Dream, but Dream was never taught anything about any of them..he didn't even know their names. He was just there to do as he was told.

Nothing important had changed as the centuries had passed. New inventions had been made, and buildings became more sturdy. The process of cooking had been completely changed, and electricity had been in high demand..and Dream had been forced to learn so much of it. Over the years, he'd amassed too many skills and trades to count; he could design and build a house on his own. He often did; he had been told to so many times. Times had changed, but his role hadn't; he still did everything that was asked of him, like a good guardian would. Sometimes, visitors to the town would be surprised or shocked by his presence, but that had just informed Dream that other towns didn't have people like him; he really was alone. 

Then things had changed.

One day, when Dream had been working in the town's park keeping the greenery nice and neat, something magical had happened: a blue shiny oval had appeared in thin air, and two skeletons had walked out of it! Dream had stiffened at the sight, staring wide-eyed at the two skeletons. One of them had blue eyelights and blue clothes, and the other had crazy color-and-shape-changing eyelights and a long brown scarf, as well as a huge paintbrush! Dream's work supervisor (he hadn't been trusted to work alone, ever since his last escape attempt..two hundred years ago) stood up, too, before walking over to Dream.