When Angela finished her story, she wiped tears from her red eyes. She couldn’t keep it together by the end, and her words fell apart. Taking a minute to recollect herself, she sniffled and cleared her tears, then crossed her arm and tried her best to force a scowl back on.

“That’s it; I’ll be on my way now,” she snapped as soon as she thought she heard Helmet inhale to speak.

“If that is what you want.”

“It is,” she replied softly, while holding her arms close to her chest. She didn’t look as the older man descended from the machine and returned to the small lantern-lit area. Before Helmet was sure to be able to explain, the machine groaned as Angela moved it to the cliff side edge. She leaped across the river and dug the metal hands and feet into the rock face on the opposite side. The group must have watched and listened in shock as the stones crumbled under the machine's weight as it climbed to a ledge. Within several minutes, the yellow giant was swallowed by the rocky terrain.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Angela avoided looking back, but she couldn’t help using thermal imaging to see the warm human-shaped glows slowly shrink and vanish behind her as she was freed from their sight.

She finally had peace and quiet, save for the pounding of metal feet and her stony heart. Angela took a deep breath, wiping her dry and itchy eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut. Rubbing only made the burning sensation worse.

She continued to trudge on until she was certain she could no longer smell the soup—though she was sure it was in her head, she still thought the scent lingered long after.

When exhaustion, though she wasn’t sure why she felt it so suddenly, finally overtook her, Angela positioned the machine’s chest close to a rocky surface. As the metal hands slid over the hole, it cut any remaining light off, and she drifted to sleep.