Reality's Escape: a collection of short stories

Mother

He drank the rest of his soup, scrolling through the names in his memory: Corin, Mikah, Weller, Hiram, Radclyf... "I've never met someone by that name."

"Not yet. But I'll introduce you later. Right now, you need to rest." She approached him with a bowl of fresh green goop.

Shayne tilted his head away. "What is that?"

"A poultice made of goldenrod and aloe vera. It'll help heal the cuts, and bring some of the swelling down." She scooped out some of the paste and daubed it over his forehead and cheek.

He grimaced at the feel of the mush on his skin. Who was Jesus, and why had he paid this woman to take care of him?

*****

Shayne stayed with Lila for two weeks before she let him off his cot. Restlessness ate him up long before his stay was over, but the pain that shot up his leg every time he tried to escape was a rigorous preventative. He spent a third week learning how to walk again.

In the meantime, she filled him up with all types of cures and food and stories. The food he didn't mind; but after all the herbs he ingested, he was sure he'd never get sick again. And the stories... it turned out that Jesus was some kind of historical / mythological character whose forgiveness had inspired her toward good deeds. Shayne didn't mind the free care, but he was ready to get out of there.

*****

"Where are you going?" Lila entered the door with a fresh rabbit in one hand and a basket of greens in the other.

"Is it any of your business, Lila?" Shayne snapped. He continued struggling to pull his boot over his wrapped foot.

"I told you, you can call me Mothe—"

"Forget it. Listen, you've expressed your gratitude to Jesus. I'm cured. Now I'm going back to my..." He had never really thought of what they were to him.

"Your family?" She was fishing for details again.

"My group. They'll be waiting for me."

She took a knife and began to skin the rabbit. "The same group who beat you and left you to die?"

"I wouldn't have died." The boot finally slipped past the bulk of his ankle. It was tight, but it would do. "They were just teaching me a lesson, which I learned."

"With your ankle in the state it was, you wouldn't have been able to escape anything if it tried to attack you. With your arm, you wouldn't have been able to fight it off. And even if all predators stayed away, your cuts would have gotten infected and you would have died a slow, feverish death."

Shayne rolled his eyes and tugged on his other boot.

Lila put the pelt to the side, then slit the rabbit's belly and gently removed the innards. "Will they take you back?"

This was a thought he had been trying to keep from his mind, but he only had one option. He stood up. "I was always the fastest. They need me."

"You won't be the fastest for a while. And what if the beating wasn't enough, and they won't forgive you?"

He strode toward the door. "I'll make them."

"Good luck earning forgiveness." Lila dunked the empty carcass into a bucket of water. "It has to be given."

"Well, thanks for the luck. And I'd offer to come back with payment, but since Jesus already paid for me, I won't offend him."

"How considerate. Are you sure you won't stay for supper?"