*Author's Note*

Sorry for the long wait between this chapter and the last. Just hadn't formulated how I wanted the story to progress, but thankfully I had a flash of insight today to continue it. Furthermore, I'll be switching from third person to first person in narration. To bring the story more focused onto the main character as it gets going. I was actually wanting to do it in first person in the beginning but I wasn't confident to pull it off, but I feel like I shouldn't put it off since it is something I want to do.

It's eating at me my choice of name for the story. I wanted something to indicate a new beginning, but wanted to be edgy heh heh. With that, Cradle was chosen since it was rather unusual, and it fits perfectly for what I have in mind.

Also, please comment on my writing, since this is my first fiction and I'd really appreciate feedback. ~ Saj

Cradle

    Leaving the Murl home I meandered through the village on my way back to the Chief's home. My eyes wandered around, eyeing the gradual darkening occurring due to the time of day. One week has passed since I've arrived here. I have no memory before when Lia found me in the small grove between the nearby hills. To the surprise of others, I do not feel a need to search for my past, with instead a desire for my future of which I cannot explain. A desire to make memories.

 'Ah, but I still feel I'm unsure concerning that, as though with what I have done so far is missing something. The Chief mentioned it was my lack of emotional development due to the reset of my mind.'

This subject is confusing for me, even though the things the Chief and his wife teach me I learn with ease, it is this that I can't seem to comprehend. If one thing is for certain, however, is that when Lia gave me a name, I knew what I was feeling. I was happy. My first experience with this intriguing and yet complex thing called emotion. If only it were so easy to grasp the other's that the Chief describes to me. The genre's of emotion are few and yet their range is incredibly varying, I am told, for the weight of difference can be that of a pond and an ocean. Albeit having seen neither, I understand the comparison thanks to the books provided by the Chief.

Perhaps I should focus solely on happy then, for now. Hmmm, I am happy when I spend time with Lia. I can't explain but simply being in her presence elicits the feeling of being happy. I am also happy learning new things. .

Putting my hand to my chin as I've seen the Chief do as he thinks, though it doesn't seem to do anything. I can't find myself reaching any conclusions with merely this single emotion. 'Like being colorblind, unable to see the vibrant colors of the world',the Chief once said. The Chief's background also intrigues me, as their seems to be more structure in his behavior compared to the average villager of Graud, but that can be looked into later.

Back to the pressing issue, emotion!

Since focusing solely on happy isn't getting me any ideas, maybe thinking about the others? Sadness, anger, fear, excitement, love, these I haven't a clue on, despite their numerous descriptions in books and the stories told by the Chief and Milton. Milton's in particular have a lot of fear and excitement in them. I wonder how 'exciting' relates to the tales of blood and violence that he recounts....

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I think I'll start with sadness, since it is the opposite of happy. It is described as a feeling of pain of which is not physical and yet more excruciating than anything one can feel on their body, to which the absence of joy in a person causes a person to become hollow and unfeeling. Least, that's the Chief talking about sadness in it's most raw form. He get's rather poetic when he's drunk. Thinking on it, his wife cuts him off soon as he starts, warning me that any further and he starts to think himself a renowned philosopher. In reality, he's as philosophical as a educated, inebriated man can be. I don't know any other person though who drinks, as I haven't met a drunken man yet, the villagers are too busy with farming to indulge in the luxury of muddling their mind, as well as a lack of alcohol in the first place. The only reason the Chief drinks is due, to his account, a 'habit' from his past. Milton jokes it's because he gets depressed realizing he's an old bastard.

Ah! I've gotten off track. I can't wrap my head around this, and ended up on another subject. Still, n the end, I think I will only understand these emotions when I feel them, as like when I felt happiness. I don't know what events will bring out these from me, however, I'm sure that I will feel them in time. 

Still in thought, I return home just as the sun starts to be half way submerged beneath the horizon.

"Welcome back Elliot, did the Murl's enjoy my pie?"

Greeted by Mrs. Laurette, I recall Mr. Murl nearly dying to that pie, the look of fear he showed towards the dish he was just before devouring voraciously. I smiled without knowing why at the memory.

"Yes ma'm, they invited me to eat it with them and we enjoyed it together."

"That's good. That husband of mine should be back here soon, he went to investigate strange tracks found around the village. The description of the tracks sound like just some roers."

I nod my head towards her, the image of a fowl the size of a slightly small dog appearing in my mind. I rather enjoy the books on animals, the extensive variety of things and how they've evolved to survive offers me endless things to learn I feel.

With that thought, I head over to a trunk which is surrounded by its siblings, each filled with books, each trunk it's own collection of a subject; Math, History, Biology, Chemistry, even magic although those books are kept in a much smaller and yet more sturdy lock box the size of a dog a little on the smaller side. 

I peruse the Biology trunk, searching for < Bini's Big Book On Birds > . Finding it, I settle snugly with the book into a chair the Chief had made for me (I assisted in the process, learning quite a bit on the creation of furniture), due to my habit of becoming engrossed in books. With this, I retire for the night, forgetting my thoughts on emotion and focusing on my book.