Fyglia

IV ~ The Rabbit Finds Trouble

        Setting the hot stew gingerly upon the table, I collected silver from an elderly man who looked so bony he could break. He acknowledged me with a quick glance and a smile that looked quite gaunt. Tonight, the pub was dealing with its usual customers – haggard men and women all who were middle-aged or older, looking for a way to get rid of their sorrows. I was a bit baffled by it. How could humans, who were on the brink of a very fine line between life and death spend all they had on liquids?

       I had soon learned that I had found myself in a very penniless land. The humans had sunken faces that seemed to plead for some kind of nourishment and swollen eyes that seemed never able to catch a peaceful slumber.

       At first, I thought, "Are these the humans I was so afraid of?" But soon I dismissed the idea; the souls of the men that I had stolen didn't have eyes like these humans. They weren't helpless. And they hadn't looked as forlorn as the humans in Annwnn. So I asked Mrs. Abell, "Are there other people outside of this land?"

       She had given me a strange look, as if she didn't believe in my ignorance and chuckled a bit. "Of course there are dear! I would hope the people of Annwnn aren't the only people in the world. Then all hope would be lost!"

        Afterwards, I learned that Annwnn wasn't a land exactly. It was bit of land, yes. But specifically, it was a town. Without raising suspicion, I managed to ask Mrs. Abell's husband, Mr. Ulric, vague questions about humankind. Only then I realized I spent the entire two-hundred years of my life living benighted and isolated from the Truest's greatest creation – the world.

         In spite of this, I still wanted to return to Godwich. It pained me so much to be separated from the only place I had known so well. It was so uncomfortable to be in such a foreign place, with foreign creatures and foreign things.

        And so, my nervousness got the best of me tonight.

        I was so anxious that I tripped and what I was carrying all came crashing down. Sprawled out on the ground like a fool, I just sat there as something wet dripped from my hair. In the midst of my clumsiness, the cup of ale I was carrying had been thrown into the air, dropped and rolled to the other side of the room.

       The haggard patrons looked up slowly from their drinks towards the ruckus.

      "Oh dear," Already Mrs. Abell was by my side, giving me a firm clasp around my arm and pulling me up.

        "I'm so sorry." I apologized quietly as she collected the fallen items, letting my head hang down in shame.

        "Don't apologize, just go get yourself cleaned up, aye?" She gave me a small smile and went off into the kitchen.

        "What happened this time?" Ascot asked me as I wiped a rag against my forehead. Even though we had only just met two days ago, Ascot treated me as if he'd known me forever.

          I just shrugged as I did all the time, not saying a word. I was particularly awkward around human men. After all, it was not that long ago when I was planting kisses against their lips. And eating their pneumas.

           I could tell his gray stare wasn't leaving me. "You've got to talk to me sometime."

           My brows slightly furrowed. Why won't he leave me alone?

           "I promise I won't bite."

            I'm afraid it won't be you doing the biting.

           I dipped the rag in the bucket of water and wiped my arm. "I just spilled something." I said, though it came out as a whisper.