Their hands had holes in the palm's place. 'What are they..?'
-----------------------
Warning!
This story may trigger readers who suffer from anxiety, depression or PTSD. There are many mentions of domestic abuse, self harm, self loathing, suicidal thoughts and tendencies. If you are easily triggered or bothered by such content, proceed with caution.
~W. D. Girl
Your POV:
It felt like time had stopped for a brief moment. The creatures just stood there, their heads hanging low.
"We b-brought the f-flowers.."
The short yellow dinosaur creature said.
A voice of approval sounded not far in front of them. The two figures moved into the clearing, joining in on a sort of ritual a group was performing. I crept closer, wanting to observe every single action.
The group consisted of those two figures, along with two furry creatures, their features heavily leaning towards the appearance of a humanoid goat, a tall, blue scaled figure with a long red ponytail swaying in the wind, and lastly, another tall figure with pale skin. They were all crouching down around something, while seemingly mourning over it. Have they lost someone close to them?
I wanted to see who it was, so I lean from behind the tree, trying to peak over all of them. My balance was shortly gone, and I ended up falling face first into the opening where they were located. The sudden movement startled them because they stopped doing whatever that thing was and moved their attention to me. All eyes were on me. I felt my heart drop to the ground as I was frozen in place.
"Careful, it's another HUMAN."
"We can't trust it."
"I'll kill them with my own spears!"
"I'll take care of it Paps."
"Brother, wait!"
They didn't sound pleased with my presence, so I quickly fled back into the depths of the forested area. Scared out of my mind, I hid behind a big tree, hoping the creatures wouldn't be able to find me. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I took deep breaths and tried to calm down, as to not draw any attention to myself with my heavy breathing. Despite my tries to stay hidden, footsteps echoed throughout the vicinity of my hiding spot.
"Human? I'm sorry if my friends and I scared you. I mean you no harm... Please, show yourself."
Their voice was calming, laced with a hint of concern. I peeked around the trunk of the tree and saw the tall figure that I was following. Upon seeing its face I realized it wasn't just a sickly pale person... It was a skeleton. It was a MONSTER. That discovery made me cower further into hiding. An inhuman whimper escaped my lungs as fear began overwriting all other senses.
"Ah, there you are.."
The monster spotted me and made its way towards me. This was the moment my body had to decide between fight or flight. Time was running out, the monster was getting closer, yet my body did nothing as it was frozen in place. Instead of fighting or running away, I did what I was used to; cover my head and cower in fear.
"P-please don't hurt me.."
'Holy Mother of Irene, could I sound any more pathetic?'
"Hurt you..? Why would I do that? Don't worry human, I'm not going to do any of the sorts. Let's just... Talk?"
The monster sat down next to me but kept its distance. I appreciated their concern and respect... They made me feel safe. Eventually, I calmed down and let them see my face. I took another glance at the monster before me and figured out they were a skeleton. They had small cracks leading up and down from their eye sockets. It was fascinating, yet a little sad. They seemed so nice... Why would they have such alarming scars?
"You're a... Skeleton.."
I said in awe, unaware of how rude that question really was. The skeleton's cheekbones became dusted with a glint of orange, their hand rubbed the back of their neck.
"Heh, yea, I guess I am. And you're a human."
"Yea.."
A moment of silence passed before either of us spoke.
"So.. What were you doing back then? I mean.. Why were you spying on us?"
The skeleton said patiently awaiting my response. My fingers reached for my hair and twirled it around as I thought of the right words to describe my situation. I couldn't just say 'hey, I saw you with your friend, followed you and then creepily watched you from afar, just because I thought you were weird'. I took a moment to compose the right answer, but seeing the monster's face, I felt like he knew what I was going to say.
"You followed us?"
The skeleton said while raising their nonexistent brow.
My expression was blank while I tried to figure out how in the heck he heard my thoughts.
"S-sorry about that. Um... Sometimes I can hear other people's thoughts."
Pretending like that didn't happen, I began explaining how I came across them, what I thought of them and how things happened as they did. They seemed to take mental observations of my every action, which was kind of funny and strange, but alas, it was probably just because of their ability.
"And then I came here. Huh. That's understandable."
Another moment of silence.
"What were you guys even doing with the flowers?
I asked quickly, changing the theme of the conversation and hopefully breaking the building tension between us. Their expression turned from relaxed to depressed in mere moments. I regretted my question and was about to switch the topic again until I noticed fluorescent orange tears forming in the corners of the skeleton's eyesockets.
"S-sorry, that was too personal... You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.."
"No, no, it's okay. I need to get it off my ribcage."
The skeleton took a moment to recollect himself and began explaining what was going on.
"A really close friend of mine was shot... They passed away a few hours ago, and we wanted to give them a proper goodbye. They did so much for every single person they knew.. It was only fair we gave them something in return. That friend... Was like family, not only to me but to everyone around them. I guess it just cracked us on the inside when they left us."
The tears have returned to their eye sockets as they finished explaining their story. I felt sympathy for the monster. I personally didn't know the feeling of really losing someone to the grasp of death, but I could feel their pain. I looked at the skeleton and reached for their hand. I have it a reassuring squeeze, letting them know that they were not alone.
"I'm terribly sorry for your loss... If I can help in any way possible, I will do it. I was the one who interrupted the whole ceremony in the first place."
"Thank you, human... That is very nice of you.."
"No problem.. uh.."
"Papyrus"
"No problem, Papyrus. Now... Let's head back to your friends... I bet they're worried sick about you."
And with that, we headed back to the clearing with all the other monsters. I don't know why people feared them that much, they were really nice and kind. Heck, they were probably only terrified, since they came to the surface AND lost their family member. Once we were at the end go of the forested area I stopped in my tracks. Papyrus gave me a concerned look.
"You alright?"
"I don't think I should be here... What if they attack me?"
He frowned at my statement but gave me a reassuring smile. Slowly but surely, we made our way to the group. Another skeleton stepped in front of me while Papyrus joined the others. He was a few inches taller than me, which only made him more intimidating.
"Sorry, human, but we're in the middle of something. Wait here, we'll deal with you later."
He spat quite rudely. I nodded and removed myself from the scene, waiting for their ceremony to play out while observing from afar. The sun was already hidden behind the horizon and the moon was shining in all its glory. The stars were forming constellations I so adored. I loved it out here, where no city lights reach the sky to hide the stars and their mysterious faces.
I occupied myself by tracing the constellations I knew across the sky, quietly mumbling their names and stating random facts about each one to nobody in particular. A shuffling noise stopped me in my tracks and made me look around. Papyrus was next to me, laying down and looking at the stars.
"You like stargazing too?"
He asked almost amused. I nodded in his response, only to realize he didn't see me, since he was too occupied with his train of thoughts and the sight before him.
"Yea... It's amazing how small we actually are in the vast, unexplored world we exist in."
Papyrus chuckled at my response and turned his head so he was facing me.
"You know, I could tell you a few things about astronomy if you'd like."
I smiled at his offer. It would be lovely getting to learn new things about astronomy, but not today. It was getting really late, and my father would be very furious if he found out what I was doing outside this late. Papyrus seemed to notice my dilemma, so he offered me to meet him here tomorrow. I nodded in agreement and smiled.
"What's your name, by the way? I never got a chance to ask you."
He stated matter-of-factly. I hummed in agreement.
"My father calls me (r/n) [random name]..."
He looked confused for a moment but decided to shrug it off.
"(r/n), huh? I think it suits you."
"Thank you.."
I realized I was stalling for time and quickly sprung to my feet.
"In a hurry? Well... May I accompany you to your home?"
"Will it not be dangerous for you to be out in the open..? Since you're... You know.."
He chuckled and began walking towards the forested part of the park.
"I'll be okay. Now cm'on, I'm willing to bet your family misses you."
I hurried to his side and nodded as to not raise any suspicion. If only that were true.
A few minutes later we were already walking down the road to my house. I told him he could drop me off at the bus station since it was a minute away from my home.
"It was a pleasure to meet you (r/n). Will I be able to see you tomorrow for the astronomy lesson?"
I nodded and smiled, giving him a thumbs up.
"I'll see you at sunset where your group is, alright?"
"Until then, (r/n). Goodnight."
And with that, we parted ways. Just as I had told Papyrus, I was at my front door in a mere minute. I crossed my fingers and hoped my father was fast asleep. To my luck, he was, but on the couch in the living room, a beer bottle lazily in his hand. The sight made me cringe since I knew I would have to clean the mess before going to school.
As quietly as I could, I made my way to my room, got ready for bed and took a well-deserved rest.