Chapter three: Eyes open

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After getting to know my mistress a little better, I had a little more confidence to explore my new surroundings. Gazing at the forest outside, I longed to see the garden up close, to have a fresh breath of oxygen and to step on the soft, green grass. I felt that I deserved this little treat. I carefully opened the door, taking very slow steps to avoid getting zapped if the range was too short...

At first I just stood in front of the house, sunbathing in the late afternoon sun. I took a few more steps, walking around the house in a circle, staying close to its walls. Off of the side of the house, I found a swing hung from a tree branch with a bench next to it.

I’ve seen it from the living room's giant windows before but now, over the sun's reflection, I couldn't see inside the house. I couldn’t tell whether or not my mistress was still there. I presumed she was. She could probably see me outside exploring just fine. I didn't get a zap though, so she must have been okay with it. At least, I hoped she was ok with it. I didn’t exactly ask for permission to go outside, after all.

My train of thought was broken when one of the windows slid to the side, opening up. It was only then that I realized it was actually a sliding door.

"What are you doing there?" The mare with a gold mane asked. She didn’t sound angry or upset, but instead rather curious.

"Excuse me mistress, I just wanted some fresh air, I-I'll be right back inside.” I said as I started back towards the house.

"It's okay…” She stopped me with a gentle gesture of her hoof. “Stay there all you want. …Just don't get dirty again, okay?"

"I promise I won't." I clumsily sat onto the bench and closed my eyes towards the sun, absorbing its rays.

However, I couldn’t get comfortable, feeling the mare’s eyes on me. It only lasted a few minutes while I was planning to move somewhere else when I heard her call out to me:

"Hey Schizo."

I opened my eyes, turning to face her. "Yes mistress?"

She pulled up to the threshold of the sliding glass. "Help me outside. I want to sit there as well."

"Right away." I rushed through the opened doors to her mobility chair. But the wheels were too small to cross over those two little steps into the garden or to ride through the unkempt grass. ...Definitely indoor use only.

"Just lift me up, I don't want to switch to my big rig. The belts take forever." My mistress nudged me when she saw how clueless I was.

I had no idea what she meant by the “big rig” either but I did what she asked me to and picked her into my arms, carrying her outside.

...The mare smelled like a freshly cut citrus fruit from up close.

I gently sat her on the bench, sitting myself on the side so that we both had enough personal space.

"It’s way better to actually be here, than to just watch it through the window..." She exhaled, squinting her eyes at the sun, "Schizo?"

"Yes mistress?"

As if partly lost in her thoughts, she wouldn’t look at me as she asked after a short pause: "Who gave you such a horrible name? Was it your mother or..."

"No, it was the gryphon traders. My parents called me ‘Anon’. They both died when I was 12."

On hearing my reply, my mistress frowned at the grass underneath her. "Sorry to hear that. ... My father is still alive till now but my mother died. I was 33."

I couldn't help but to glance at her face in disbelief. I wanted to ask her: "How old are you really?" I didn't, though. Not only would it have been rude, but I felt I was in no position to ask questions, especially something so personal as that.

She, on the other hand, had no problem asking: "...So how old are you, Anon?" The mare finally glanced directly at me.

When I heard her use my human name, something clicked inside me. Nobody ever called me that in such a long time. I wanted to thank her but instead I just put on a goofy smile, "I think I’m 19 years old… But the last few months were pretty blurry so I might be 20 already…"

"20? …How long do humans live?" She asked with a raised brow.

"About 80 years."

The other brow rose to meet the first one in astonishment. "So you're young."

"Could say that. In our society, I reached maturity just two years ago..."

Hearing that made her softly chuckle. "I wouldn't have guessed that at all. I thought you were older. At least as old as me."

I just awkwardly smiled in silence, not sure what to say. “...”

"Go ahead, ask me." The mare glanced at me with her big eyes.

She knew exactly what was going through my mind, so I finally let it out. "...Mrs. Scribble, how old are you?"

"Thirty six. Our average life expectancy might be ten or even twenty years longer than yours, but life never really follows statistics...."

"You're 36?" I somewhat blurted in disbelief.

She merely nodded.

"...I wouldn't have guessed that either. You look very young."

"It isn’t that uncommon for our kind," chuckled Mrs. Scribble "The very first signs of age usually start to show in our 50's or even 60’s... Though, I probably won’t live that long."

“...”

I stayed silent, unsure what to say, if anything. The faint smile stayed on the mare’s face a while longer, before she exhaled. "We'll see... And why did the gryphons nickname you "Schizo"?"

I exhaled slowly, considering how to answer her question, what details are important, what she really wants to hear and also how she might think of me afterwards. "Mistress, that's a long story. I wouldn't want to bother or waste your time with it."

"Do I look bothered? I've got all the time I could possibly want. So much of it, it's almost boring me to death as of late. Tell me that story, at least I'll pass some time until my husband returns."

I wanted to ask her more about her husband: Where did he go or what was his job that he was almost always gone to, but I started with my own story instead.

I told her in short about everything from when my parents died, up to gryphons catching me and later giving me the name I hated so much.

Mrs. Scribble was silent most of the time, only occasionally asking questions about humans and our dead culture. I was really happy that I got to speak with someone who didn’t think I was actually retarded. It almost felt like she cared.

I wasn’t sure but I wanted to think so.

When I was done, she gently scratched her chin with a little smirk. "...It seems that trains are a menace to both of us."

I looked at her quizzically, "I’m sorry..?"

”It was a train that ran over my legs. It was by accident of course, I tripped and fell in front of it. It’s a… curious coincidence that we met.”

...An image of the white mare, staring at her severed limbs, separated from her body by a steel beam blinked in front of me in my head; crushed stumps of shattered bone and fur matted with blood while being serenaded with the roaring sound of thousands of tons of machinery as it grinded its way down the track. I shivered.

"...They let me out of the hospital a month ago... But sometimes I wish they didn’t save me back then. If only it severed me in half instead of just taking my legs.” She smiled with almost freezing calm, contrasting with what was coming out of her mouth.

I hesitated a little but I still said what came first on my mind. "...I too often wished I was in the car with my parents that night."

"...Is that so?" Her expression slightly shifted, suddenly curious.

Seeing that reminded me of the potency of my own words. "...Yes." It’s one thing to think something off and on, all the time, but it’s not until the words come out of your mouth that it becomes real.

"And do you still?" She inquired.

The next thing I said, I had never said before: "No, I think I might have accepted what happened by now." ...Words I needed to hear myself say more than I ever thought.

The mare took a moment to process what I had said, after which she smiled once more, but this time a way more sincerely than before "Thanks Anon..." It seemed like they were words that she needed to hear as well.

The next second, before I could fully take in the bright moment, I heard a movement from inside the house.

"...Papyrus is back." Mrs. Scribble announced softly. "I should apologize to him. Will you help me back inside?"

"Of course mistress," I said as I got up to my feet, positioning myself to lift.

"That's a good boy."

I brought her back into the house and seated her into the chair with the tiny wheels which she left by the garden door. It was only now that I noticed there was a tiny joystick for controlling it while riding around. There was no electricity on it though, so it was probably magically operated as quite a bit of the pony tech in this world was.

"You're dismissed for now Anon. But do come for dinner later, I'm sure we can find something for you too," She said with a smile and a dismissive hoof.

"Thank you mistress." I bowed like I did a few times before and went back into the garden. The bowing thing came so naturally that I stopped questioning it. Before I closed the door, my mistress was already scooting away on her chair to another room.

I spent the next half hour on the swing that was hanging down from the tree branch. It never mattered to me how childish it seemed to some but I always loved those. Plus, since there wasn't anything else to do, it was a good way to pass some time while enjoying the fresh air which was so precious to me. Overall, I felt pretty good; Both about myself and the situation right now. At the very least I felt a lot better than I did upon arrival.

My new mistress might not be so bad after all and life here would probably be much more enjoyable than in Goldbeak's cage.

“No more conflicts, no more problems,” I thought.

Boy was I wrong about that, but who could have known back then?

...Before the sun set, I heard a master’s voice. "Schizo! Food! I am not saying it twice!"

I rushed to wherever it was coming from and found Mr. Scribble inside the dining room.

Surprisingly, he was smiling "I heard you were a good influence. Didn't expect at all to solve this for me so fast. Here you go." He levitated a bowl with the leftovers from their dinner into my hands. It was some kind of fried vegetable mix with seasoning, seeds and noodles.

"Thank you master." I bowed again "Would uh… w-would it be possible I get a spoon as well?"

His eyebrow raised a little in response, I didn’t know what it meant.

"I-I just wouldn't want to stain anything in the house.” I tried to explain. “...My hands would get dirty if I ate with those."

"Hmm, sure, of course. Here. And off you go." I got what I asked for.

I happily rushed back into the garden. The food was still warm, my first hot meal after who knows how long.

I rarely ate anything even back when I was free. It’s pretty hard to eat while on hard drugs, but now I was enjoying myself; an actual meal! Not sure if it was the contrast of all this or if it was so incredibly delicious, but I could swear I’ve never had anything this good before. It almost made me shed a tear.

I took my time, eating slowly, making sure to enjoy every bite as much as possible. There was just about enough of it for my shrunken stomach to feel satisfied, but not heavy. Nonetheless, I still spent some time just laying on the bench and enjoying the feeling. I stayed like that until I got called inside again.

I went inside and found Mr. Papyrus out in a hallway. "Schizo, you'll be sleeping here, outside the bedroom so that you'll be close if Lemon might need you."

He also gave me a few pillows to make myself a sort of nest there. I didn't ask for a blanket though, I was used to sleeping without one for such a long time and the pillows already felt like a luxury. Even so, Mrs. Scribble was kind enough to give me one from the couch.

I was really grateful and wanted to ask her if she might need help getting into the bed, but I quickly understood that she liked doing the things she can do by herself, without help. I figured it was so that she wouldn’t feel incapable. Plus, she would surely tell me if she needed anything, at least I hoped so.

"Thank you mistress." I just smiled instead "Good night."

"Good night Anon." She nodded before scooting with her chair into the bedroom, soon to be followed by her husband.

As the door closed after Mr. Papyrus, the hallway enveloped in darkness. Not a scary kind of darkness though, rather a relaxing one. I stretched out over my improvised bed, enjoying the relative freedom of not sleeping in a tight cage and I smiled.

At first I thought I might even fall asleep this way but after a few minutes, I realized that I can’t. Eventually, I ended up curling into the usual ball that I'd sleep in back at Goldbeak's.

A habit is like a straightjacket, especially when it represents what's going on inside one's head. I couldn’t deny that mine was still a mess. It wasn’t a time bomb waiting to explode anymore though, so that was still an improvement for me.

I fell asleep shortly after changing position.

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Author's Note

Now with a map!