You're Not A Monster (TomTord)

Chapter 13

The next morning, Tord woke to find himself cuddling up to the warm fluffy body of the monster who was sleeping soundly beside him. He smiled, grateful for the creature. Slowly lifting his real hand, he gently petted its soft head, right between its two purple horns. The creature made a sound in the back of its throat, similar to that of a cat purring. Tord's smile grew larger, and he giggled softly. He had to admit, the thing was pretty cute, although equally as terrifying. Tord sat up, causing it to stir. It opened its eye and stared tirely at him.

“Morning,” he said.

The monster let out a quiet snort, before closing it eye, and falling back to sleep. Tord laughed, and tried to stand, but the pain in his thigh was still very much there. He let out a small gasp, and sat back down. The monster looked over at him, clear worry and confusion shown in its black void-like eye.

“It’s okay, just still a little sore, that's all. I'm fine,” Tord reassured, managing a small smile.

It stared at him for awhile, before slowly getting to its feet, and began examining his thigh. Once it realized he wasn't bleeding or anything, and that nothing was wrong, the creature turned around, and walked away. It crawled over to a pile of food, and grabbed a can, and a whole store bought chicken, bringing them back over to Tord. It dropped the can into his lap, and the chicken in front of it, then stared at Tord expectantly. He stared down at the can of beef soup in his lap, then reached into his hoodie pocket, pulling out a red lighter. He started to slowly cook his soup under the small flame, before turning back towards the creature.

“Is there any wood around here I could use to build a bigger fire?” He asked.

It nodded, walking off in another direction for some wood. It came back a few minutes latter with a ton of wood planks in its mouth. It then dropped the wood a couple feet away from Tord, and he started to place them in a neat pile. Then he used his lighter to set it on fire. He smiled at the creature.

“Look!” He exclaimed. “Man made fire!”

The monster let out something sounding almost like a laugh and gave him a lopsided dog smile, its tongue hanging slightly out of it mouth. Tord giggled, and placed his can a small bit into the fire. After a few seconds, he pulled it out and opened it. It smelled amazing, however, he placed it back into the fire for a few more seconds, not wanting to take any chances. After he was sure his soup was thoroughly cooked, he turned to look at the monster and the chicken it still hadn't touched.

“Do you want me to cook that?” Tord asked.

The monster gave a curt nod, and nudged the chicken towards him. He ripped of the plastic wrap, and carefully tore off the leg of the chicken and cooked the meat around it to almost perfection, then took all the meat off the bone, and reached his hand out towards the monster. It sniffed his hand, before carefully taking the cooked meat and placing it into its mouth without biting his fingers. It licked his hand, leaving not even the tiniest bit of meat left. Tord chuckled, grabbed the other leg, and started to cook it as well. Once he was sure it was done, he again picked the meat off the bone and feed the beast. Tord took a bite of his soup, and smiled at the warm feeling that it gave him. He looked over at his new friend, smiling even more as it struggled to lick all traces of the meat from its lips.

“I should give you a name,” Tord said out loud.

The monster lifted its head, now very interested. Tord though for a minute before he realized the perfect name.

“Tom.”

The creature stared at him with his eye wide, full of shock.

“That was my friend’s name,” Tord explained. “And you kind of remind me of him. He had black, uh, eyes too.”

Tord's eyes started to get watery, and a few tears fell down his pale face. He hadn't even realized he had started crying. He quickly wiped the tears away with the sleeve of his hoodie, and stared up at the creature before him sadly.

“I miss him.”