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“I gotta turn in the essay tomorrow man,” Billy sighed.
Audible steps. Cars honking, people shouting.
“Come get your corn steaks!”
“We GOT cheese!”
“When’s the deadline again?” I shuffled through the crowd in front, basically shoving people away with the signature phrase, “Excuse me.” Sometimes, I wondered why I even bothered to take this darn market road. But I easily got an answer from my subconscious...because you won’t see them around here.
There were too many people on earth, way too many. Hospitals and markets were like lampposts, attracting people like bugs.
I was perhaps one of them though I didn’t want to be so.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” he sighed again. Large dude, larger than me.
“25 hours, not bad.”
“Not bad? Wait, did you even start yet?”
“Maybe tomorrow,” I shrugged.
“Dude!” He chuckled, almost running into an old lady.
I grabbed his bulky hand and pulled him towards me. Which was a bad idea because he almost pulled me back and we ‘almost’ fell to the floor. Almost because a guy barricaded himself between the lady and us and yeah. Shit.
When your friend is a literal truck of a dude, and you’re five eight, and not even half his weight, you would stop to think hey, maybe pulling him would be a bad idea and not pull him. But sometimes my genius brain amazed me with how dumb it was and shit happened.
Luckily this wasn’t one of those times. Yet.
“I’m telling ya dude, you need to eat more,” Billy shook his head, and thanked the guy. The lady grumbled a bit screaming ‘Don’t ya have eyes!’ and stuff but we ignored her. Not worth our time.
“And be fat? No thanks!”
“You fat phobic sun of a gun,” he laughed and his belly moved for a second.
Yeah, no. It wasn’t that I was afraid of being fat. But rather I was afraid of actually not giving a fuck about being fat. There was a difference.
Anyway, we somehow got past the market and were finally back on the quiet street. Of course, there were lots of people around and quite a few stores still shouting their stuff but at least I didn’t have to shove past a crowd. Saturdays were always like this. Busy as hell.
Crawling like bugs.
“No seriously though, start early,” Billy said.
“Because you want to copy?”
“No, I want inspiration.”
“Oh please,” I chuckled. “I kind of want to but it’s so stupid. I mean, who writes about Religion of all things. Why even bother?”
“Because it’s an important part of our life?”
“How? It’s just indoctrination. Besides, everyone knows what it is and what it does or rather has been doing.”
“And where did you get the idea that it’s all false? Did you come up with it, on your own?”
“Yeah... no.” My teeth clenched together, refusing to let go. He had me there. While some ideas were truly of my own, there were quite a few arguments I’d borrowed from philosophers and maybe... youtubers. “But I can safely say, there’re no gods.”
“Sure, sure. I can’t prove god’s existence, but you can’t disprove them.”
I kind of wanted to argue, but at the same time, with how exhausted I was from afternoon classes, I didn’t bother. “Yeah, pretty much.”
Billy was fat. Not the massive kind of fat, but he was fat and lazy, and often had a rather weird attitude towards those adult figurines. But he was also the most real guy I’d seen. He didn’t mince words and he didn’t really care about anyone’s view of him.
One of the many reasons why we were still friends.
We’d walked so far that the density of people was starting to decrease quite exponentially. One minute there were ten guys around, the next minute, two.
CHUUU!!!
“Right on time,” Billy said.
“Yeah, half an hour late as usual,” I shrugged.
The train was still a minute away but we’d arrived at the station. Technically a station but there was nothing in sight. Nothing other than just a train track and the suspicious (definitely not poop) stench.
“Welp, it’s been nice knowing ya,” I leaned forward for a handshake. “Billy goat.”
We acted like we were parting or something. Neither of us were going to get on the train though and it wasn’t going to stop here either. Cause yeah... it wasn’t really a station. Heh!
“Likewise,” he smiled, came closer and- shoved me. “Asshole.”
Instead of shaking my hands, or hugging me like usual... Billy shoved me.
The world slowed as my heart raced. I was falling, arms flailing for something, anything to grab onto. Yet, I watched everything in slow motion. I watched Billy as he just stood there, without any emotion whatsoever. The dude didn’t even smile.
CHUUUUUU!!!
“Why?”
The word leaked as metal grinded against metal and slammed into me...
WHAM!
Zzz... everything buzzed my vision failed and I was dragged away. Pain pain pain. The tracks pushed against my shoulders and...I couldn’t really feel anything below, but everything above just burned. Or stung? I wasn’t sure. It was all going away... slipping away. Slowly... slipping away.
Well... at least I won’t have to finish that essay.
***
Death.
Rather simple concept. You get popped into existence, so one day you would get popped out of it. But it wasn’t really that simple. Where were you before being born? What happened after death? You would get judged by an almighty god and be sent to maybe hell or heaven? Or maybe if God didn’t exist, you’d get shoved into earth’s asshole and spend years waiting to be devoured by some plant roots and turn into fruits or flowers or whatever?
That was assuming the fact that maybe some almighty god existed or maybe he didn’t. But what if neither happened.
What if... instead of being judged or being literal tree food, what if...
“Anga sensa ru?” A rather tall lady stood before me, as grass stretched up to her legs. It was too blinding to stare up but not looking at those tight leggings and that moderate chest was a major waste.
How do you even have that kind of pretty skin? And on her thighs no less!
She was what, ten feet tall?
She slouched down, face coming closer. Big eyes, pretty flawless skin... just how much damn foundation had she used?
And so frigging tall... I hadn’t even seen men that tall.
No wait... I was just short. Short as in... Holy fuck... I took a look at my arms and they were tiny. Tiny as fuck. Like, I was a rather thin dude, too thin perhaps. But not this thin. They looked like twigs. Fucking twigs!
And the lady? White one-piece dress with a silver necklace and tight navy leggings; but parts of her thighs were exposed in an oval manner; weird design maybe? She had red hair, and long ears. No, not long as in large. But long as in pointy and double slitted. Aka, she wasn’t human. And her buddies pointing those fancy bow and arrows at me were proof enough. Buddies who weren’t there even a minute ago.
Asia? They didn’t seem Asian though. Which meant...
Yes... the third option. I wasn’t being judged by a god and neither had I randomly become tree food. But rather... I was in another world.
“Unga suncha lala!~” one of them screamed, threatening to let lose some arrows and fuck me over.
I did not understand them one fucking bit. And yet, I understood them all too well.
Fuck.
***
There were plenty of things I didn’t understand. But two things, I did.
One, this was another world. I came to the conclusion after I saw those fancy long eared dudes with bows and arrows. At first, I thought they were maybe in costumes, for movies or dramas or stuff like that. But no, those things were real. And the grass and world around me was somewhat different. I couldn’t put a finger on it but something about the air, something about this world was different.
And two, I was a baby. Not necessarily a newborn, cause I could at the very least move my arms around a bit but I was still a baby regardless. Probably not even six months old. The only sounds I could make were squeaks and laughs.
Which did bring me back to my original problem though. What I was doing in a random field full of grass with these guys? Were one of them my parents? Didn’t seem likely, considering how much they were screaming at each other and trying to argue and stuff. The men were hellbent on killing me.
The woman seemed to be awfully in my favor, trying to shield me from those guys and stuff. While the guys were screaming nonstop.
But why?
So, she’s my mother and probably had an affair and now just got caught and stuff? Seemed likely. I was just pulling the scenario out of my ass though, cause I didn’t know if it was like that or not. Did I have long ears? Did all the humans here also have long ears? I had no idea.
Still, if she’s that good looking, maybe I’m...hmm....
Regardless, I watched them carefully. Why? Cause they were pretty much ignoring me and just arguing. Kind of annoying. But it did give me enough time to think.
I was dead. No, murdered. Murdered by my own friend no less. I knew the dude for over four years. I met him at a Halloween carnival dressed as count Dracula. Dude had dressed as a werewolf, ready to kill. Kill with that overweight belly of his. He wasn’t large like typical large guys. He just had a wide ass stomach. Meanwhile his parents were on the skinnier side, particularly his mother who for better or worse was the most beautiful woman in our neighborhood.
Wait, was it because of that?
But it wasn’t my fault his mother came on to me. Apparently that woman had a thing for skinny young boys and I just happened to see her touch herself at the wrong frigging moment. I was staying over at Billy’s place and had to pee late at night cause well... shit bladder. The bathroom door was open and when I pulled the handle, there was someone in there, in the darkness. I turned on the lights by instincts, and there she was, half naked, panties on the floor... touching herself, breathing heavy. Her eyes fell on mine and she grinned, licking her lips. “I’m kind of in a bind.” Clear, soft. “Would you help me out?” She parted her lips, not the ones above. I could hear her panting; I could see the pink flesh. I could feel her warm...that blush.
Normally, adult movie stars would lock the bathroom door and give into the temptation and have some fun. But no, I was different. And Billy was my friend. I slammed the door shut and ran back to his room and did not fucking speak a word of it.
Of course, holding my bladder meant I couldn’t sleep. And not only that, I had a literal boner.
Sirgh.
But wait, that was three years ago. I never really went back to her place. Billy asked me for sleep overs dozens of times but I always declined. I never accepted, ever. And I actively stayed away from his mother. Besides, that woman didn’t try to force me or come after me either. That was just a one-time thing and probably just a bad call from her end.
Surely that couldn’t have been a thing, right?
The ground beneath me moved away. No, I was being moved. Someone had picked me up. The long-eared redhead. “Sala un zan!” She yelled back. She firmly gripped me, yet, something was tender about that embrace. And warm.
“Aran Ni!” the guys were still yelling and stuff but they laid down their weapons.
The woman stared at me, and smiled. Not the fake kind. Her mouth widened, her eyes drew closer and honestly... mesmerizing. She was so gorgeous.
I tried reaching and barely touched her face. So warm. So... So you’re my new mother...
The warmth settled in. But at the same time... memories came back. Strong memories... memories that made me wince.
***
Some days passed by. And I was brought to a hut of sorts. Just me and the woman. I didn’t notice any home appliances, and I didn’t see any lightbulbs either. Just typical lamps and wood and more wood.
A cheapo hut in the woods by a pond. Tall trees with some foliage but our hut was barricaded by a thick wooden wall. The pond was actually inside the wall. Maybe a meter and a half in diameter. I didn’t see many birds or animals but the few I did, appeared different from the ones I remembered. Smaller, or larger or maybe with extra appendages. And then there were random stuff I’d never seen like a lizard with the head of a rooster.
Again, confirming my theory that I was indeed in another world. And we were poor as fuck. I slept for hours and hours, every day. And had no real control on my bladder but could hold it for a few minutes while I cried, so mother would help me take a piss.
But hey, all was fine as long as I got to suck those succulent tits!
But no. I didn’t get to. Instead, the woman put a frigging feeder on my mouth and cradled me like I was some sort of cat. Maybe she wasn’t my mother? Or maybe this world just didn’t have the concept of suckling? If the latter was true than holy shit, there was no god.
What kind of sick monster would create a world where babies couldn’t suck their mother’s tits? Argh....
“Wona wro?” She stared at me, cocking her head to the side. She often spoke to me.
I was picking up a word or two. Obviously, I couldn’t understand her but I did seem to recognize the language a bit more. And sometimes, I could tell the woman was fairly worried when she stared at me with those big puffy eyes.
I faked a laugh and tried wiggling my feet, doing baby things. What were baby things? I had no idea; never witnessed a baby doing baby things. I was just winging it cause I had nothing better to do.
She giggled. Apparently, it worked. She spoke different things, did weird stuff like making faces and singing and bunch of other stuff. Her voice was soothing and comforting but she was tone deaf and her singing was the absolute worst.
Yet, I still laughed, pretending. This was a new life, the least I could do was pretend to have fun.
She didn’t leave the house for long. She sometimes fished near the pond, holding me with one hand and holding the fishing pole with the other.
As for my food? She would milk a white goat, that would randomly show up whenever I cried and that was that. The woman hardly left my side. Not even when she showered. And although she was too gorgeous and my ideal type... I didn’t really feel anything towards her. Probably because I was lacking the necessary hormones but also because... I kind of always wanted a mother.
And that’s how the first four months passed by; I started understanding the words some more. I thought life for now would be peaceful and remain typical... it wasn’t. We had a visitor.
