Spirit Harvester

Chapter 3

After camping outside for a night the next morning felt a little too refreshing.

Officially a day has passed since that happened. But I feel more alive than ever.

Every single day, I used to wake up, depressed and unsure of the future.

I was so paranoid that I even locked my door from the inside.

Because, my trust in my parents was gone. I never trusted them as they tried to poison me before. So I got myself a job in the mines.

The pay was decent but was a little challenging. But then, it gave me an excuse.

I used to work overtime to earn a little extra. Then, I would go and eat outside. Most of the times, I would eat outside.

Even my parents were delighted to hear that. I gave up convincing them because they were plain terrified of me.

Then I got the idea of moving out. Finding a new home and living alone. But fate was not too kind to me.

I needed a guarantor. If I asked, my father would have become one, probably.

But the problem was that no one would let me rent their place. Because of that incident 7 years ago, my face became well known.

There was even a special article about me.

'A child who took self defense to the extreme' was its title. An interview was also published.

But to be honest, I just gave them my real thoughts and they published it like that.

But after reading that article, most people became terrified of me. Some called me monster and some an inhuman.

I became famous in a bad way. That poured cold water on my plans. So I had to live with my parents.

"Aahhhh." That is the first thing that comes out of my mouth.

While monologuing I didn't notice but wild animals are gathering.

The plains around here only has animals that can be domesticated. So it was not anything serious.

But since humanity is gone, they are the rulers of this planet.

So I should be on my way. I don't want to be attacked by animals.

That would be a really dumb way to die.

I hurriedly packed my belongings and left.

Currently I am walking to the capital. Which is still away. But I have all the time in the world.

No one is here to judge me. So I can do anything.

"Wait….." I say that out loud.

"What about those who attacked? They probably didn't attack us just because they were bored. So they should be back to check things. I have to stay vigilant." I say this to myself.

There's no one else around. So I have to do the talking to myself. A stand alone comedy show where one person does everything.

Talking and talking back, it is done by a single person. I can do that too.

Walking like that and monologuing, I had forgotten the about the animals.

Most of them are gone but a dog was still following me.

I stop and look back. A dog with golden fur. One of those common dog breeds. He is sitting on two legs and looking at me.

"I don't have anything to give you." I say to the dog.

But it just kept looking at me. With its tongue out, he was probably telling me something.

So I went near it and tried to touch it. Surprisingly, it didn't run away. It wasn't even wary of me.

"Seems like you are used to humans." I say.

Then I notice the collar around it's neck.

"So you are a domestic dog." I say to it.

It then started walking and looked at me.

"You want me to follow you?" I say and it just started walking again.

That dog took me inside the forest where I could see camping tools.

Nearby it was a bloody mess. Must have been a human.

"So your master died. You want me to bury him." I ask the dog to which he nods.

'A clever dog' is what I think of it.

I then dug a grave and buried the half burnt body. It had started rotting so the smell probably drove the animals out.

Imagine, a rotten burnt corpse. It would be horrible.

I even put a little stone on the grave as a gravestone.

While I was doing this, I hadn't noticed but the dog had a flower in its mouth.

"You even brought a flower. You must have loved your master." I say to it.

The dog went and put the flower down before the stone.

I prayed too. I mean, I am not too far gone that I would disrespect the dead.

I am done so I am about to leave. But the dog started to follow me again.

"Do you want to come with me?" I ask it.

I don't know if it understood or not but it nodded yes.

"Ok then. Come." I say to it.

It came near me and sniffed me. Maybe remembering my smell. Then it started walking by my side.

I was also thinking that traveling alone would be boring.

So having a dog really helps. Now I have another partner. Let's keep going forward, to the capital.

I can get some data and tools to work with and if I get into contact with 'THEM' then I have to prepare too.

It's still a long road ahead but my have achieved my peace. Albeit vaguely but it's still there.