Tomda 24) The green, green, lawn of home

Another morning, this one too damned early, with coyotes trying to get me to wake up.

I grumbled as I struggled to get out of bed. “I should stop giving you so much water if you need to pee that bad.” but they didn’t lead me to the back door they had gotten used to me letting them out of.

Nope. After I hastily got dressed and hooked up the slingshot on my arm, they led me to the front room where the blinds were all twisted up by three furry heads jumping up on the old couch to look out the front window with whines and crying as they looked over their shoulders at me.

“What fresh hell…”

I lifted a few slats to look out at the dimly lit lawn outside, only to see rabbits outside.

Several of them, as well as a lot of birds hopping around on the front lawn.

Which was more overgrown than I had expected, the fast growth in the spring always caught me by surprise after a long winter of helpfully dead plants, but this was ridiculous.

Not to mention all the wildlife, but…

I undid the door block on the front door and the deadbolt. Then I turned the doorknob and pulled the door open as quickly as I could before shoving the screen door open. "Get 'em! Sic 'em! Free meals you freeloaders. Get your bunny bites on."

...did that one’s eyes flash blue for a moment…

As happy coyotes scattered the wildlife, with one rabbit getting caught and swiftly killed with a quick snack of Wilyna's jaws I had to clutch at my chest as my breathing got out of control.

A slow surge of warmth from my hand to my chest quieted things down a bit.

"Square. What going on out there? With the rabbits? My lawn?"

[An excess of Life essence being channeled beyond a target's capacity to absorb it has enriched the surrounding area ]

I leaned back against the side of the door before shuffling back to let the screen door close in order to stop a happy mother coyote from carrying her dripping kill inside my house.

“No, you eat that outside… I’ll keep watch.”

She jerked her head at me and began tearing into the bunny on my front porch as Chubby tried to nip at it and Blue checked to see which way I was looking, and then turned her body around to watch in the other direction.

How smart have I made them?

The Square didn’t answer, for which I was grateful. I don’t really want to know.

What if I’ve made them people smart? With all the pain of worrying about all the tomorrows. Knowing that they only had a handful of years before they were old and feeble, and their bodies failed them.

To be seen as less than a wild animal in our eyes, and know it. Just a nuisance. Vermin.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

No. I don’t want to know how much of the burden of intelligence I had put on them.

"Are the animals around here turning into Spirit Beasts?'

[ Most unawakened living beings on this world will evolve into hostile monstrous beasts based on proximity to the Dungeons as this world goes further into the Primordial field ]

[ The more complex such beings are, the faster they will change, and the greater hostility they will have to the unaltered ]

[ Ordered essence such as Life essence blocks out Primordial essence and enhances living beings to physical greater health without awakening any attached spirits ]

I sighed, so no super smart bunnies which was good, but then, “No Beast Stones in the bunny for you Wylina, just some good meat for you and the kids.”

Would she bring a rabbit for me if I asked? I could look up how to skin it online. Besides she owes me, I did give her a Stone.

“All life, huh? Is that why the grass is going crazy?”

[ All life ]

I stepped back outside to take another look at the lawn as I pulled my hand away from my chest, cutting off the slow flow of warmth that I had taken to pushing into me at various spots to deal with every little ache and pain.

“Looks like I need to save that for new pains, and go back to dealing with the old ones with some combination of cold packs, the heating pad, or pills. At least until I can buy off the worst of it.”

Standing watch and looking down towards Hepline Street, I began to wonder if I could work this to my advantage. It had been a while since I had done much gardening.

Just keeping up with the yard work had become too much for me in the last few years.

“But right now I need to mow this mess down, and maybe scatter some sidewalk salt in the hard to reach spots to slow it down. After all, I can't let this place go to seed, that's one of the things that get you carried off somewhere to wait to die while they sell off your house to pay for it."

As Wylina chuffed at her pups to eat what was left of the rabbit while she took over keeping watch, a sleepy little naked green skinned girl shuffled out of her tree with a yawn and a stretch before looking up to smile at the rising sun.

Then she looked over at me and ran up to try to hug me or something.

I blocked her with my knee up against her bony chest. “No naked hugs Acey, just… Just wait here a moment. Keep an eye out for evil monkeys.”

Heading inside the house, I began to heave my old bones up the stairs to the two little bedrooms up there. Reflexively checking the ceiling for new leaks.

Nope, just the stains from the old ones from before I had beggared myself getting the roof redone. Even paying under the table to a guy who told me to tell anyone who asked that he was my cousin who was just helping out for free had still cost me a good chunk of my remaining life savings.

Still had the stains on the inside though. Fixing up the ceiling of two rooms no one used anymore just to make them look nice, what would be the point?

I started looking around for the boxes holding Reed's clothes from when he was a kid, which I had kept all these years. Like I was going to give those away to someone else, for free?

As I poked around I found myself considering some things I wished I didn’t have to worry about.

The girl was out there all alone each night. Well not her exactly, from what I understood, the girl was just what I was seeing of the tree that could step out and walk around. The apple tree’s ‘Blue eyes.’

But if Spirit Animals, and Plants, had a hankering for Beast Cores, did they… taste, and smell, good to the Dungeon Beasts?

Was she in danger out there, alone?

I leaned against the wall, my head and shoulders tilted forward as I pressed up against the lower part of the ceiling which sloped up toward the top of the room.

“Why do I care? I’m not supposed to have anyone left to have to care about.”

“What did you do to me? Where is all this coming from?”

I opened my eyes.

No gray square.

No answers for the guy who didn’t want to hear them.

“Looks like that hadn’t changed.”

Why was I thinking about…? I winced.

“Show me the damned numbers”

[ Harold Wallace Bright ]

[ Hermit 2 ]

[ Might 11 { 7 due to Conditions }]

[ Health 20 { 17 due to Conditions}]

[ Agility 10 {6 due to Conditions}]

[ Insight 11 { 9 due to Conditions}]

[ Grace 7 ]

“Insight went up. One point per level.”

“Remind me, you evil mother fucker. What does Insight do.”

[ Insight is the ability to process what you are able to sense and already know to gain new information ]

[ It also gives you a greater understanding of your motivations ]

I sat there for a moment, before screaming and beating my right fist repetitively up against the ceiling.

Somewhere down below, a questioning whine sounded from outside.