The Shepherd and the Salesman

Bringing Him Home

Ili was walking home after work, his mind feeling empty per usual as he lit himself a cigarette, the warm smoke from the end warming the frigid air. He sighed as he placed it in his mouth, puffing smoke out.

Boring. Boring. Boring...

That's all things ever were. Nothing interesting ever happened after the lighteners came and brought everyone from Cyber City to Castle Town. It was just the regular old darkeners doing their thing, Ili knew none of them and had no relations to them. He was mostly just a loner.

As his boots crunched against the snow lining the street, he paused, hearing a commotion in a nearby alleyway.

He looked up, turning and staring into the darkness. All that was there was trash cans and a forest green dumpster with the lid closed. The commotion was coming from within the dumpster.

Simply just the sound of an animal, it seemed, but it piqued Ili's curiosity. He raised his eyebrow and sauntered over, pausing in front of the dumpster and staring down at the closed lid.

He contemplated opening it and whether that was safe. He shrugged, bored and curious, and opened the dumpster.

... Someone was in there asleep.

Ili, startled, went to close the dumpster, but paused, and looked back down into the dumpster. He recognized the man within.

His short stature, pale skin, and slick, black hair made him instantly recognizable. Spamton, one of Ili's old friends from the 90s. The two were close but were separated after Ili was fired.

Ili felt a pang of guilt seeing him in such a condition, but the feeling only got worse as he noticed he was shivering from the cold.

"...Hey... uh... are you okay?" Ili asked awkwardly, trying to see if Spamton would respond.
...
There was no response.
Ili knew he probably shouldn't wake the man, but considering his condition, apparent scrawniness, and the temperature, he may not wake up at all.

Ili sat, conflicted. Does he wake him up and offer help? Or leave him be?
He sat, knowing he couldn't leave his old best friend behind like this.

Then, after a long moment, he decided to try and wake his old friend up.

He reached down and gently nudged Spamton, trying to wake him up.
"Hey, dude, are you alright?" He asked.
...
There was no response yet again, and Ili began feeling slightly worried. He looked over the man, he wasn't dead, luckily, Ili could see him breathing. Yet he paused, deeply worried.

He knew what he was about to do was dangerous. But frankly... he didn't care.
Being a bored, immortal being, he figured this was at least worth a shot.

He leaned down and gently lifted Spamton up out of the dumpster from amongst the trash, holding him within both arms. He was noticeably shivering, and his skin was cold to the touch.

Ili felt a brick's worth of guilt within his stomach. He silently took his own coat off and wrapped it around Spamton.

"C'mon buddy, let's..." he paused.

"... Let's head home."