Untitled Tale

Discovery

As the summer ends, the winter draws nearer each day. After the fall harvest, our only sources of food come from the livestock. A few days ago we found Mary, the dry-run cow, dead in the snow, body heat still dispersing. There are no tears to be shed for the cow, but because she was special, my mother begins to paint a headstone, and we save the bones to be buried in early spring at the first snowmelt.

     We have a few visitors, mostly travelers or merchants. We made a nice trade, giving up a live pig for many fur coats to keep us warm for the times to come.

***

     “What are you doing here? Stealing is illegal you know.” She just looked at me. Then I saw it. The tail. The ears. It’s resemblance to the monster wolves that were anything but normal brought back painful flashes. What is she? Does it speak? “Um” she seemed to be searching for words to speak, “Hello, I come from there.” she points in the general direction of the neighboring farm, “ It’s very bad there. Very mean wild dogs, not fun,” then she placed her hand to her chest, “fighting wild dogs hurts, please, food?" It dawned on me that she had no clothes on, behind the short corn crops I hadn’t noticed, I wonder if she is aware of that fact. “What’s your name? And how old are you? After we cover that, I’ll help you.”

     “I do not have a thing which I am called by, though I do want one. The scary man says that I am exactly sixteen two weeks ago. There was more food fed to me that day, though I do not know why.”

“My name is Dylan,” I smile to myself, “I am exactly seventeen and two weeks.”

“No!” she hides in the corn crops so that I can hardly see her, “The one, that man, he follows the bald scary man around, he forces me to watch the learning video! I do not wish to go back!” 

“Keep hidden” I say.

     The man is George Georne. He owns the neighboring farm. So the rumors are true, he’s dipped himself into illegal scientific research. If it’s not that, then there’s not much else to explain this. “Have you seen a red haired girl around here? I believe she’s unclothed.” he says. I raise my eyebrows at him, “Why are you looking for a naked redhead? Did you happen to pay for her to come over to your house?” His face reddened. I was implying that he was breaking the law. The strict laws had cause to say that what I was implying he did, would place him and the girl punishable by death. He just walked away, knowing that any further provocation could become dangerous, especially with the way I could manipulate words.