Home -- it was an unfamiliar term to the blind wretch, something he always sought but had never been able to keep. It was common for him to become familiar with an territory, to learn nearly every tree and obstacle, only for him to be run out, or to be forced to flee from lack of food. No longer did the brute even begin to consider a place his permanent residence. To him, everything was temporary, doomed to eventually change and fade from his life -- every territory, every acquaintance, every find. Even on this winter afternoon, as he felt snow raining down upon him, he knew that the day would soon fade to night before he knew it.
It had been so long since he'd had a friend. One, two, three paw-steps would carry him alongside the lake's edge, his movements jerky and highly calculated as he took in his physical surroundings. To his right, was the lake. His perked ears caught the faint sound of rippling water as the air disturbed the lake's otherwise placid waters. His mind, too, ebbed like the water's surface, recalling a female that had not left his mind since they had first met nearly a year ago. Locus, her name was -- she was different -- and yet he would have never known had she not told him. If there was ever a beauty to his blindness, though he would argue vehemently that nothing good could ever come from such an affliction, it would be that he was ignorant to the physical deformities of others. She had been perfect to him; polite and thoughtful and oh, the warmth that emanated from her was something that seemed to never leave his mind. What an impression that meek girl had made on him, but just like that -- as a leaf on the wind -- she had left him.
It was no surprise he was bitter. Abandonment was something he was accustomed to by now, but the bitter sting of departure never hurt any less than expected. Part of him truly wished he could remain without the company of others for the rest of eternity, but he couldn't not deny the part of his soul that craved companionship, needing the presence of others as badly as food itself. And so he would be shaken from his pensive thoughts as the unfamiliar scent of a stranger reached his nostrils, and he would lift his head suddenly, squaring his shoulders instinctively. Though his frame was larger than average, it was hard for him to seem very threatening; his ribs protruded somewhat grotesquely from his pelt, his stomach oddly shrunken and distorted with obvious hunger. But still he would maintain his guarded stance as the scent grew stronger, intruding on the path he had mapped out for himself. Silent would reign supreme as he crept forth, his presence obvious and unassuming, as he struggled to figured out where the stranger lay. Inadvertently he would come closer to her, as he moved closer to where he knew the trees began to spring up from the ground, and he would shake his head to rid his fur of the snow that had begun to accumulate on his coat.
|
