I’ve been with many of these Tall Ones for years and still have not learned their language. At best, I’ve learned a few names and statements. It’s so hard. My mouth doesn’t move like theirs, and the words and ideas are so complex I can’t hold them in my mind for more than a few seconds. They eventually got tired of repeating everything time and time again, accepted my limitations, and we have settled into a happy routine.

We’re traveling in our home through the great dark. There is no light outside, but there are small lights here and there in little spots that make me think I should blink when I look at them. The lights change size often. For years we have moved from one of these lights to another. We stop at various places outside to take things out of our home and bring new things into our home. There is always a lot of excitement when this happens.

On one of these stops, TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers found me and saved me. I was very young then. I don’t remember much before she found me. But I remember being lost. I remember being hungry, and I remember her smell. She brought me back here where she lived with TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron and other Tall Ones who look like them. They have been together for a very long time. I know this because their scents are intermingled into everything in their rooms.

TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers is kind. She knows I can’t understand her very well and talks to me gently. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron is not unkind, but I can tell he doesn’t like me and thinks I’m mostly in the way. If it wasn’t that TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers liked me, I don’t think he would let me stay here. That’s ok. I only like him because he belongs to TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers, as well.

I wouldn’t say I liked TheOneWhoSmellsNew at first. She was tiny and simply appeared one day. She was very loud and not very helpful. She took much time from TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers, and for a time, I was forgotten. But at some point, TheOneWhoSmellsNew found me and, because she was not very helpful, had a lot of time to play with me. We became friends. She has talked to me for years, and I’ve spoken to her. I think she understands me as well as I understand her, which is not at all, but it’s been a thrill getting to know her.

My thoughts are interrupted by the buzzing noise that makes the Tall Ones anxious. I can hear voices shouting throughout our home. I recognize them all. Whenever the Tall Ones get worried, I like to find TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers and be near her, and my presence seems to calm her. She should be easy to find as always.

However, before I can get there, the loudest noise I’ve ever heard shakes our home. When the screeching and metal noises end, I hear new noises and more shouting from the Tall Ones. There is screaming and sounds of pain. I step up my search for TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers.

There are new smells everywhere as I move through the halls of our home. Some of these new scents smell like burnt sand; others smell like metal and sparks; others like … hmmm, some smell like the tall ones when they injure themselves. I focus on TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers and race to find her. As I round the corner at a run, I see one of the new smells standing over TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers. He has a large metal stick raised and is laughing at her. She looks so frightened. Without breaking my stride, I launch myself at the new smell. I know TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers says I should not bite, but for some reason, I don’t care and bite this one who smells like burnt sand harder than I have ever bitten anything in my life. There is a crunching and one of those new screams I’d heard earlier. The new smell topples over with my momentum. We wrestle on the floor like I used to with TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron, but I know this game is more serious. I hang on, grinding my teeth and savoring the crunch every time I pinch harder. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeBurntSand would scream more, but TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers is up beside us with his stick and, screaming, pushes it through him. He twitches a few times and is still. I let him go and look up at TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers. She is injured but seems ok. She bends down to touch me but freezes. She looks frightened again, and I can hear the thumping in her chest get faster. This must be serious. I look around and listen for more new smells but can’t find any around us. She stops me and places her hands on either side of my face. She looks me in the eyes and says only, “Sadie, find Sarah.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

TheOneWhoSmellsNew! I’d forgotten about her in my haste to find TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers. TheOneWhoSmellsNew wanders all over our home. Her scent is everywhere. I race back towards where we all sleep. I hear TheOneWhoSmellsNew scream in another part of our home as I’m running. The sound appears to be coming from where she goes with the other small Tall Ones every day. I push myself even faster, running past Tall Ones and other new smells as I race towards TheOneWhoSmellsNew.

I round the corner and see some Tall Ones lying on the floor. They aren’t moving. Two new smells are herding the small Tall Ones into a corner. I announce myself as I launch towards the smaller of the new smells. He spins towards me, which lines up his neck with my attack. My bite finds his neck, and my momentum carries me past him. His neck comes with me. I scramble to my feet and find myself between the new smell that smells like metal and sparks and the small Tall Ones. I shout at him to leave the small Tall Ones alone. TheOneWhoSmellsNew tries to move beside me, but I stay between her and the new smell. I shout at TheOneWhoSmellsLikeMetalAndSparks again and again.

He seems wary of me. He looks at his companion and back at me. He pulls a shiny stick from his belt like TheOneWhoSmellsLikeBurntSand tried to use against TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers. He lunges at me, and I dodge away from him. He’s large but much slower than the Tall Ones I usually play with. He lunges again, swinging his stick, and it misses, but I don’t. My teeth latch onto his arm, and I shake my body with all the fury I can muster. He swings me around into a wall. I feel a sharp pain in my leg, but I won’t let go. He slams me to the ground, but I won’t let go. He punches with his other three arms again and again, but I won’t let go. TheOneWhoSmellsNew is here. Thinking of her gives me strength, and with the greatest shake I can muster, I push away from the TheOneWhoSmellsLikeMetalAndSparks. There is a crunching and tearing sound, and his arm comes with me.

TheOneWhoSmellsLikeMetalAndSparks stares at me. I’m having trouble standing. I can hear TheOneWhoSmellsNew crying, and it makes me angry. I shout again and again. Then there is a loud noise that makes me flinch. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeMetalAndSparks, turns slowly and falls. As he does, I see TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron standing behind him with some other Tall Ones. TheOneWhoSmellsNew rushes over to him and then pulls him towards me. Somehow, I’m lying down. I don’t remember lying down. TheOneWhoSmellsNew is crying more now. I don’t know why or how to help her. I kiss her hand.

TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron seems upset; his face is flat, and his eyes are as hard as steel. I’m afraid I’ve done something wrong. He drops to his knees beside me, and a single drop of water runs from his eye. I’ve never seen him do this before. TheOneWhoSmellsNew does this when she is sad. Is TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron sad? I want to kiss his hand as well and let him know I’m sorry if I didn’t help enough, but I can’t lift my head, and the things I see and smell are getting farther away. I wish I could see TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers again.

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TheOneWhoSmellsNew and I are watching Tall Ones on her small device. She enjoys this. I still can’t understand anything the Tall Ones are saying. I wonder if I ever will, but I still enjoy being beside her. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers calls out, and I hear her say something I recognize, “Dinner!” TheOneWhoSmellsNew jumps up and races towards the other room. I’m still slower than her. Ever since the new smells were here, parts of my body don’t work the way they used to, particularly my back leg. It’s encased in something hard that tastes awful. I hobble after TheOneWhoSmellsNew and enter the room just as TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron and several other Tall Ones enter from the hall.

They stop when they see me. There is a new smell with them, but I don’t know it. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron walks over to me and kneels in front of me, talking to me gently. I don’t know what he’s saying, but he’s been like this recently. He talks to me now like TheOneWhoSmellsLikeFlowers, and his eyes are softer. He walks over to the table and unwraps something, talking to me all the time. I know this because he keeps saying, “Sadie,” repeatedly. While he’s busy, some of the other Tall Ones gather around me talking to me, but I don’t recognize their words. They all seem happy with me, though.

I like this better than how they usually treat me, as though I’m in the way. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron gets the bowl they put my food in, but instead of my usual dinner, he places something into the bowl that smells like…I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve ever smelled something this wonderful. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron is still talking. I recognize some words here and there because he keeps saying “Erika” and “Sarah.” He seems happy, so I’m glad for him. The other Tall Ones seem happy as well. He places the bowl in front of me, and the wonderous new smell is nearly overpowering. TheOneWhoSmellsLikeIron kneels down and scratches the side of my head. I still don’t understand what he’s saying, but when he points to my bowl, I think I’ll remember this word forever. He simply says, “Steak.”