Preview: Cthulhu

 Happy Friday, monsterfuckers! This week I'm at the Rochester Erotic Arts Festival presenting on integrating role-playing into your kinky lives! If you're there, stop by to say hello! I'd love to see you! But, it is friday! And so we bring you a preview of one of the stories from our upcoming anthology... Cthulhu.

Darkness. There was naught but endless darkness in every direction. I felt weightless and lost within the inky blackness that surrounded me. Slowly I became aware that I was on a slope, that beneath me there was teh same smooth strange stone the city was built on, and that the scent of blood and ozone filled the air.

My lantern slowly sprung to life, bringing light back into the world. In my arms the great book of spells rested, throbbing against me with each passing moment. I shivered at the immensity of the cavern before me. Something massive and beyond comprehension dwelled here in the darkest parts of the city.

It took mere moments for me to acclimatize, draconic eyes nearly instantly allowing me to see in the dark. And though normally I would see magic, now I saw nothing but shadows where magic had once been. Whatever was here was older than magic. 

The walk down was steep and I half slid my way into the bowls of R’lyeh. The chanting had long since gone, but it still pounded in my mind, pushing against my free will to be released. As I hit the bottom of the incline, a great and expansive nothing waited for me, a precipice into the great unknown. 

It stared back at me just as I stared into it, a knowing void that held everything the world would never know. I felt small and infinitely unimportant in the vastness of what was held within the dark. It didn’t notice me, nor should it. Instead, it stirred in its half slumber, twitching and writhing against the blood that slowly trickled in from the world above. 

I opened the book, laying it upon a stone pillar I knew was the altar of Cthulhu. The book knew more than I, and moved its pages to where it wanted me to read. My eyes scanned the page, mind taking in the ancient language that had become so painfully familiar to me. Here the book knew what should happen next, what was to come, and what would unfold before its spell.

My throat tightened and heart raced as I knew what lay before me. Slowly I glanced back up at the darkness, its own apprehension evident in the profound tension in the air, and began to speak. 

“Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.”

Around me, the world erupted into movement. From within the void, the creature moved forward, hulking and massive. Tentacles curled in the air from its rotund head, a thick rubbery skin that gleamed an unearthly green and olive covering each writhing appendage. From its back rose two massive wings, draconic and demonic in nature, with great clawed hands that splayed out before it, symbols of ancient power weaved into its very fabric.

I shuddered before its greatness and closed the book of power, tucking it beneath my arm. “Cthulhu,” I said aloud, formality in my voice as I walked to the edge of the precipice.  

“I beseech you. I come looking for a being dear to me. Your priests have invoked you upon it and I ask you to release it. In exchange…” I held the book aloft. “I offer you control of your own destiny.”

In an instant tentacles surrounded me, pulling me upward from the rock below. There wasn’t time to cry out or speak. The book flew away from my hands, disappearing into the darkness. One slimy tentacle, leaving a trail of ooze behind it, slid over my throat and up my face, invading my mouth before I could make a sound. It pushed inward and down, invading without thought for breathing or my body, craving to find within me.

Its touch invoked a thousand years of power and sent my mind reeling. Tentacles wrapped around my arms, peeling away the layers of clothing as petals of a flower until I was naked and nothing more than a toy at its whims. One encircled my throat, anchoring me amongst the writhing masses of its appendages, and holding me so that I could do nothing but be within its grasp.

Slithering lengths moved up my legs, wiggling over my stomach and breasts, gripping and sucking as it went. If there had been space in my throat to moan, I would have. Yet I knew it felt the pleasure that began to emanate from my body. I shuddered in its grip, skin growing warm despite the cool air that nipped at every exposed bit of flesh. 

One great length pushed between my thighs, rubbing against my inner leg before pulsing upwards. My body tensed as it toyed with my opening, playing with the sensitive bits of flesh and exploring the beginning of my entrance. Another slid along my backside, moving to the puckered opening that rested there, and began to test the entrance that awaited it. 

The creature paused, stepping forward to let me see its true immensity. It didn’t speak because it didn’t have to. Pulsing invasive tentacles pushed inward, expanding me to take its multiple girths. I cried out, a muffled sound swallowed by the throbbing length deep in my throat. Every part of me was filled and rapidly, tentacles sliding upward and inward, exploring every crevice within...

Jekyll & Hyde

 

The door hung open, half covered in shadows and filled with the promise of danger. Chemical scents filled the air along with a heavy musk that promised unwashed man. Candles flickered inside where the shadows danced in response. Something heavy shifted within, sliding from the half lit window into the darkness of the room.

I pushed the door closed behind me as I walked inside. The lock was broken and the door didn’t fit into its frame. Gouge marks sat on the inside panel made by powerful claws. I fingered them briefly, raising my brows at the thought of what could have made them in so quiet a neighborhood. Through the window, I could see the nearby homes, unending in the urban center. 

The wooden and brick homes made the mortals here feel safe and simultaneously terrified. They were anonymous, unimportant in a world of hundreds of people in close quarters. A sense of propriety kept them safe and alienated them from each other. How many had called out for help and been met with silence? 

For days the city guard had been hunting him, pulling clues together and running in circles in an attempt to understand what was happening. A man gone wild. A creature gone human. Their guesses were filled with wild tales and their deepest fears. Humanity feared their corruption nearly as much as they feared the great unknown.

I stepped inside the home and let my eyes roam over the shelves and tables covered with various chemicals and tools. Some were spilled, and other beakers were broken. Once carefully ordered books were scattered around the space, haphazardly discarded and knocked over. Claw marks dug into one of the tables, matching the marks on the door.

A single window stood open. The cool air from inside gently blew through the curtains. They were a fine gauze, expensive, with great slashes in them that was somehow beautiful in the low light. Behind them, something shifted in the dark, hulking form hidden in the shadows. I felt eyes on me but couldn’t see them.

“You’ve caused quite the stir,” I said softly, standing on the other side of the window.

The thing in the shadows growled low. 

I tilted my head and leaned against the wall, arms folded, eyes looking out the window. “They say you murdered a poor girl just for getting in your way, and have caused absolute scandals.”

“That wasn’t me,” he finally said.

“Wasn’t it?”

The man took a step forward. He was tall and broad, gentlemanly in his way. A broad back and muscled shoulders sat beneath a torn shirt and suit. Blood was on his hands and a look between misery and anger rested on his face. I flicked my eyes up to his, meeting the quiet rage that rested there before looking back out to the muddy streets.

“No,” he said resolutely to my question. “I…” 

Below guards gathered, closing in around him. He stepped behind me, glancing down below. “They’ve come for you.”

“Not me,” he murmured, a sense of worry finally touching the neutral tone.

“You know it’s you, though, don’t you?” I tilted my head to glance behind me where he stood, nearly touching my back.

“What do you know about it?”

I turned, head tilted to look up at him. He had grown since last I had laid eyes on him, years ago when he was a demure gentleman, something dangerous lurking beneath his skin. “I know better than to try to pull the darkness out of me through magic.”

“It’s alchemy,” he replied evenly, eyes staring into my own.

“Yes. Alchemy. Can’t say I’d do that either.”

“You don’t know what it’s like.” The man turned from me, jaw tensing. His hands curled into fists. “You should go.” His voice was different, deeper, and darker.

“You don’t scare me.”

“I may not, but he should.”

“I’m not a helpless girl. And he isn’t any different than you.”

“I would never–those poor people.” The gentleman staggered away, moving to one of the tables laden with chemicals and scrawled notes. 

“But you did. You just happen to have a scapegoat for your guilt. And rather than face who you are entirely, you tried to deny who you are and subsequently destroyed lives.” I followed him, standing at his back. The muscles were thick and ropey beneath the suit, pressing against it seems and wanting to break out, so much bigger than they had been just moments before.

“Is that what you think? That it isn’t… him… it’s just me? Beneath it all?”

I moved a hand, nearly touching his back but kept my hand an inch from his body. “We are never just one or the other. You know that. We are not wholly good or wholly terrible. We must live with both of ourselves and learn to nurture both or else… well, we can get a little lost.”

“None would care for me with that beast within me.”

“You’d be surprised. A person who has a profound understanding of themselves is often one of the most beloved. There’s a confidence in knowing yourself.”

A barking laugh came from his lips, a sound that didn’t belong to the man but to the thing that he had created within him. “Is that what you think? That we’ll just become the closest of friends and suddenly whole? That’s adorable, girl.”

He turned, looking down at me, a grin on his lips that was twisted and dark. The man was bigger again, claws tipped on his broad hands. 

“I thought there was a serum?”

The smile deepened. “Not anymore. Now I just pop out whenever I get the… urge.” His eyes looked over me as any predator would and it sent a chill down my spine.

“So you can’t control yourself is what you’re telling me?”

He scoffed, stepping back and waving me off. “Shove it up your ass, girl. You’re here. In my home. And I could get very desperate soon.”

“You don’t frighten me, Hyde. Your unwillingness to see yourself wholly and take ownership of who you truly are irritates me, though. So I guess that can be your win.” I folded my arms and sighed.

“I don’t need him.”

“You do, my love. You need each other. He needs to acknowledge your dark hungers and you need to learn to be kind and thoughtful. Together… you’re a full person.”

The man sighed and walked back to me, face softer for but a moment. “If I let him have any control, he’ll hurt people. He’ll hurt you.”

I shifted, closing the distance between us. “Do you want to hurt me?”

He hesitated, glancing down. “No.”

“Is that true?”

Jekyll swallowed. “I shouldn’t want to.”

I finally touched his cheek. He froze, body standing perfectly still with his eyes fixed on me. “It’s okay. It’s okay to want that. That doesn’t make you a monster.”

“What does it make me then?” 

“It’s just another part of you. It doesn’t change all the good you’ve done. You have needs. We all do.”

He gave a laugh and pushed my hands away. “And what are yours then?”

I shrugged. “Maybe I want to get a little hurt. Maybe I want to feel a beast inside me.”

His brows knit together. “That’s what you want?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

Hands touched my shoulders and trailed down my arms, somewhere between human hands and the clawed paws of Hyde. “Tell me that’s what you want.” His voice was husky and filled with need.

“I want you to hurt me.”

A chill moved through him and the hair on the back of my neck. Before I could blind, the man pushed hard, sending me back against the wall in one rough motion. I grunted, hitting the wood with a hollow thud. He was on top of me before I could find my balance, hand around my throat, teeth bared.

The hand pushed down, forcing me to lower myself to my knees before him. Fingers slid upward to my cheek, caressing the flesh. Claws gently raked over my jaw. His hand moved back and came back with lightning speed, hitting the side of my face with a loud smack. I grunted, head turning with the force of him. 

He made a grunting sound of delight, somewhere between surprise and the feeling of sudden satisfaction. I turned back to him, cheek stinging. A thumb brushed over my lips as he stared down at me. “Is that what you want?”

I nodded, looking up at him. “Yes.”

He struck again, the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoing throughout his home. My cry followed closely behind. Another slap hit the opposite cheek. A thrill moved through me and I whimpered, lost between shock and the pleasure of pain spreading through my face.

“Open your mouth.”

It was a gruff instruction. I obeyed, opening my mouth, only to feel it suddenly filled with his thick and eager length. A hand wound into my hair, holding me in place as he began to thrust forward, forcing himself into my mouth and throat with each rough stroke. Saliva dribbled down my chin and dripped onto the floor as he dominated my mouth, claiming it for his own. 

I gagged as he shoved himself deeper, holding himself there until my throat tightened. He pulled out and slapped my cheek again. The fingers in my hair tightened and pulled upward, dragging me across the apartment to the table of chemicals. With one angry arm, he pushed everything off sending glass containers to the ground below. 

My face was pushed down on the wood as his hand slid over my hip through the fabric of the dress. “Is this what you want?” he snarled again, claws tracing my thigh through the cloth.

I nodded against the hand holding me down. 

The man snarled, hand moving back and then landing with a deep thud on the flesh of my behind. I gasped, body tensing beneath the sudden pain. My hands gripped the edge of the table, holding to it as an anchor in the burning of my flesh. He groaned and then struck again, and again… and again.

The thudding sounds of his hands hitting me filled each moment. I cried out at each strike, the pain building as waves rolled through my body. He pulled the skirt upward, revealing the bare flesh beneath. Warm fingers played over the exposed flesh, marveling at the red tones that covered the skin.

He slid his powerful digits between my legs, caressing the lips of my entrance. “Hmm,” he groaned. “You’re slick, girl. You must like this, hm?”

Jekyll brought his fingers to my lips, smearing my wetness across my face. “See this? See how much you’re excited? Do you want me inside you, girl? Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” I groaned, keenly aware of the hunger within me that was screaming to be used by him. 

He had barely heard my answer before he shifted and pushed himself deep inside. A grunt came from his lips as he pushed me against the table, slamming within. I cried out, pleasure ripping through my body with his invasion. A moment passed as he gave a soft groan of delight, letting himself feel how tight and eager I was.

Then he began to move, thrusting with supernatural power and speed. The table shuddered and jerked with each thrust, my nails digging into its wooden flesh. Wet smacking sounds and the cries of our animalistic pleasure filled the air. The creature grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back against him each time he pounded forward.

Teeth bit into my back, sending new pain through my body. I writhed beneath him, filled with his lust and anger, consumed by the rising pressure within me that threatened to swallow me. Our bodies moved roughly together, his groans becoming faster and shorter as his hunger swallowed him too.

He cried out, thrusting upward and holding himself within me as he twitched and tightened within, spilling thick seed. The pressure within me broke, swallowing my mind and body with its explosion. My cries mixed with his deep grunting. 

We crumpled to the floor, me half on top of him. He was sprawled beneath me, panting softly in the cool air. I shifted, laying across his chest. 

Jekyll reached up, caressing the hair back from my face. “You’re quite the creature.”

I shifted, straddling him. “You’re not bad yourself.” His hands gripped my thighs, rocking me gently atop his softening member.

“Now what?”

I smirked, leaning forward just enough that I could lean down, nearly promising a kiss. His head lifted to meet me before I moved my hand sharply slapping him. His eyes widened before a slow knowing grin spread across his lips. 

Mi-GO

 

The body sat on the bed. It was inanimate and lifeless, the color drained from its face. A strange pink fungus grew around it and within it, pulsing life through the body that sat, head open, brainless. The eyes sat open, the spark gone out of them, staring at the ceiling above. Now and then the body twitched, a finger jumped, and the eyelids fluttered. 

I stood beside the bed, head tilted, eyes concentrating on the ever-growing fungus that held the body as though in a cradle. They had said the owner of the body had been speaking to the darkness for weeks, a strange vibrating voice speaking back from the shadows. I knelt to look at the small blooming fungus, its strange spores drifted in the air and clung to the body, slowly coating it in a rosy blanket.

“He isn’t dead.”

The voice was strange, coming out of the darkness behind me. It had a strange buzzing rasp to it with small clicks and cracks that echoed between the words. I didn’t turn my head. If it wanted me to see it, it would have stepped from the shadows.

“You removed his brain. Humans struggle to survive without those.”

“We will keep the body sustained.”

The clicking drew closer. Within the shadows something moved, large and hulking. I felt it more than I saw it. The air around it felt dense and I realized as it drew nearer the smell of ozone and musk grew stronger. It was the same smell that stirred from the fungus on the body. 

“Where is the brain?” I asked, voice low. Mortals were nosy and the last thing I needed was for them to discover that the man was lying there without organs. 

“It is traveling. To our home.”

“Yet you remain.”

I felt the creature approach my back. Gooseflesh rose on my arms and the hairs on my neck stood up. Something faintly wandered across my back and shoulders, not touching yet feeling like it was. It sent a chill through my body. I sucked in a breath to steady myself, eyes still watching the undead body.

My lips pursed. “Why are you still here?”

“We seek connection, always. We learn. We grow. We adapt. We change.”

“You thought someone would come looking for him?”

The creature paused, thinking about what I had said. Its strange buzzing voice broke the silence after a time. “No. He was… a friend.”

A smile touched my lips. “You grew attached.”

“I have never been attached to any human. He was unique.”

“Did he ever see you?”

“Only briefly. Before the procedure. He was shaken.”

I felt the darkness close around us. Though the creature could not manipulate the shadows, it felt fear just as much as mortals did. I took in a breath and turned to face it. It stepped back, hiding within the darkness of the abandoned home, refusing to let me see what it was. No eyes looked back at me in the dark, nothing glinted in the faint light from outside… it lived in pitch.

“Are you afraid of me?” I asked, staring into the darkness.

“You will be afraid of me. You will scream,” its words buzzed in the air. “Others will come and see the vessel.”

“I promise I won’t scream.”

The vibrating creature pondered, falling silent before the clicking restarted and from the shadows it stepped. It was large, with spiny attachments and multiple legs and arms of chitinous fiber. Yet it was soft and spongy, made up of the same rosy fungus that hugged the body. From its back sprouted great fibrous wings that seemed to move in and out of time and space. There were no eyes to be found, nor face. 

My eyes took it in yet not a sound left me. There was no way the creature could generate an expression, and so I stared at the faceless being until my brain began to gather what it was. 

“See,” I finally said, eyes naturally scanning the torso for eyes to look into, but finding nothing. “No screams.”

Sound vibrated out of it, buzzing and strange. “You are not afraid.”

I nodded. “Much like you, I am a creature of curiosity. I want to understand you.”

“You wish to travel to Yugoth?”

“No, not at all. I would know you.”

The creature seemed to shudder, claws and legs twitching in contemplation. We stood in the quiet listening to my breathing and its gentle clacking. Long spiny arms reached out, hesitating but an inch from my face and arms. 

I edged forward enough to close the distance and felt the soft yet hard fungal appendages caress my skin. They explored slowly and methodically. At first they gently stroked my face, learning the curve of my lips and the flutter of my eyes over the roundness of my cheek down to the bump of my chin. The long tendrils pulled on one shoulder, tugging me forward, whilst pushing on the other to force me back. It resulted in me slowly turning until my back was to the creature.

It pressed up against me as soon as I wasn’t facing it. Legs encircled me from every direction. I reached up to hold onto them, letting myself relax in the creature’s embrace. It supported me while the claw like appendages moved over my body, fungus resting on the clothing and the skin with every touch. It was curious and eager, growing in the speed of its exploration with each breath I exhaled.

One long claw hooked beneath my shirt and the fabric tore in an instant. The claws hadn’t looked so fiercely sharp but as they wandered my skin I felt the razor edge along each dangerous ridge. Clothing fell to the floor with each decisive snip until I was naked in the being’s presence.

Fungus spread from the mi-go to my skin, growing rapidly over my shoulder and collar bone. I could feel the tendrils of the living being sink into my skin, rooting within my being. My breathing became our breathing, linking us together through the creature’s amorphous body. I sucked in a breath, welcoming the fungus within.

Long tendrils of crustacean legs began to move over my spine and downward, caressing the flesh of my hips. They dipped lower, sliding between my thighs and beginning to push open my center. I gave a low and soft moan. The creature chittered, buzzing with excitement that vibrated through each of its appendages and through my body.

The legs pushed deeper, exploring my depths in slow deliberate strokes. A wet stickiness was pulled from the creature’s body and to my own. Its legs worked quickly, pulling the fibrous slime upward and pushing into my entrance. My moans turned to soft cries of pleasure with each thrust inward. The slime slid inward, coating my thighs and insides. 

With each passing moment the creature stretched my entrance further, moving slowly and methodically until both of its long and thick legs could reach inward to push more of its seed within me. Claws closed around my body, holding me still while the many legs worked, the stretching and burning sending chills of delight through my body.

The fungus pushed inside, uniting me to the creature so that I could feel its own pleasure at releasing its emission to place within. I clung to it, crying out as two and then three spindly legs pushed inside and upward, burrowing as deep as it could until it broke through the thin wall between my canal and my womb. Pain and pleasure mixed within, the bulky chitinous legs stretching me ever wider until the house was filled with the buzzing and clicking sounds of my mate and the writhing cries coming from my throat. My body trembled beneath the exploration and impregnation, feeling like it was collapsing in on itself and yet elated beyond new heights.

Time and space stretched around us as the creature gave one flap of its enormous wings. We floated, suspended by its powers, bodies writhing together while it slid inside over and over again. My muscles shuddered and stretched as wave after wave of release began to flood through me, sending an eternal cry of hunger into the void.

The mi-go pushed into my mind and buzzed against my skin, the legs inserting the last of its unnatural seed. It vibrated with my cries, pulling me against its soft and shelled body as I trembled, clinging to it for support. A single claw caressed my body, gentle and protective, as we floated in nothing.

I opened my eyes to the brainless body on the bed before me. My hands grasped the edge of the bed, wetness leaking out of my opening in slow dollops. The thing was gone, vanished into the world it had carried me to. I gasped then coughed out the last of the fungus that had spread within me, a strange buzzing in my body that emanated from my abdomen outward. 

Knowledge of the worlds beyond began to seep into my mind and I knew then what my lover was, the fear and curiosity it held, and the thing that sat within me, a child of time and space and now, humanity.

Squonk

 

The sounds of spring filled the air. Birds sang to each other, building nests and finding partners. Bugs hummed and chirped while frogs croaked. Bunnies and squirrels skittered across the ground and trees, joining the world in the celebration of new life. Leaves were sliding from buds as flowers let loose their first blossoms, painting the air with the soft scents of their perfumes.

On the ground, water sat in small barely noticeable puddles. Every few feet the puddles glimmered in the sunlight, leaving a strange path forward into the woods. The sun gave the world a sense of newness, yellow light bouncing off of the bright green leaves. Here and there butterflies trembled awake and danced in the air.

I paused at the first puddle, looking down at the water. It hadn’t rained for days. There was no reason for these strange little water deposits to be sitting on the earth. Leaning down, I touched the tiny puddle and brought my fingers to my nose. It smelled of nothing but the earth it sat upon. Grimacing, I touched my tongue to the fluid. 

It was salty. Not quite like the sea but still carrying hints of salt that normal water wouldn’t. My brows furrowed and I stood up, glancing ahead at the path of puddles before me. There had been no local complaints. Just random stories and jeers and laughter. Humans that made fun of the estranged creature that lived within their woods.

Hunts had happened, driving it away from the odd farm or road. Yet the thing had simply fled, leaving behind the world of mortals to stay within the lush woods. In mocking tales, they teased the creature’s existence, calling it every word they had for ugly. My heart broke at their words and before I knew it, I had left the tavern to wander in the woods.

My feet carried me forward, following the long trail of puddles into the woods. The creature left a difficult path, choosing to dart between trees and shrubs rather than walk straight through. It was small enough that it could be hunted. And no doubt, from what I heard, it had been.

Through the woods it wound until I found myself in a dense section of apple trees. The water puddles didn’t grow in size but began to disappear. As I entered, I heard the strange combination of grunting and a wailing sound of sobbing. 

“Hello?” I asked, voice tentative.

The sobbing stopped briefly, silence touching the trees. An apple fell and thudded to the ground before rolling beneath the foliage. Leaves rustled on a nearby bush. I turned and walked towards it as the sound of sniffing came from its trembling branches.

“I won’t hurt you.” 

A loud wail touched the woods. Birds stopped chirping. We all paused, holding our breath, somehow afraid of the sound while also feeling the instinct to stop and listen. I moved my hand to the bush and pushed aside some of the branches, trying to see the creature within.

He was louder than he was certainly large. Small, like a pet pig, the creature was sitting on his hips, wrinkled loose skin stacked along its back. Warts and cauliflower growths rose from each bit of skin and a strange odor came from the beast’s marred body. Folded ears flopped on each side of its head, waggling with each sob that the beast took.

I grimaced. “Hello… You’re alright…”

He turned, large round eyes teaming with tears towards me. They were red from so much weeping. My heart gave a pang of sorrow for them, thinking of all the cruel things the villagers had said. 

“I’m so sorry,” I said softly. “For how cruel they’ve been to you. You don’t deserve that.”

The great watery eyes stared at me unblinking. I reached out, moving slowly, giving the squonk time to move away. When he didn’t move, I touched the rough bumpy skin of his cheek. 

“But they all say it.” His voice was high pitched and filled with the sadness of loneliness. It pulled at my heartstrings.

My thumb wiped away a large tear that rolled down his cheek. “Of course they do. There will always be people who are cruel because they are incapable of realizing kindness will make their lives better. It has nothing to do with you, my love. That is all about them. Don’t let their cruel natures define you.”

The squonk shifted, standing up on its short legs covered in rolls of flesh. I moved my hand and sat down on the forest floor, patting my lap softly. The pig-like creature moved forward, snout snuffling along the ground, dragging snot with his movement. He trudged towards me and paused right before my leg, tilting his head upward so that the rolls of skin fell back off of his eyes and looked at me.

“Why?”

My brows furrowed. “Why what?” 

“Why are you being nice?”

I swallowed back my own sadness at the question and touched the rolls on his neck, fingers gently playing over the marred skin. “Because I would love to have you as a friend. And I can’t be friends with you if I’m mean.”

The squonk shrugged. “You could be.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be. Friends aren’t mean to one another. Not even in jokes.”

He shifted and plopped down, moving to rest his head on my lap. My hand moved over his neck and back, gently petting the warty skin. Bits of hair stuck out of the flesh here and there. “You really want to be my friend?”

“I do.”

“What do friends do?”

“Well, they talk to each other. About life, or struggles, or how they’re feeling. They’re kind to each other and support each other. Sometimes they just sit around, being quiet, and just being together.”

“So…” his eyes glanced up at me. I couldn’t see his eyes, just the brows moving. “This is being friends?”

I nodded, patting his head and rubbing the ear closest to me. “Sometimes, it’s like this.”

We sat in silence, listening to the birds that had resumed their chirping as the sobbing had stopped. The little creature in my lap gave a sniffle and then inhaled a long deep breath. He held it and then let it out in a prolonged sigh, somewhere between relief and the sadness of perspective, remembering what had been just a moment ago.

Eventually, his little body began to relax, flopping onto his side and showing his warty belly to me. I sat with him, petting the bumpy skin wherever he showed it to me. His eyes moved, glancing around the woods, suddenly seeing the birds and butterflies flitting around. His nose twitched, smelling the flowers for the first time. 

Time moved around us, the sun flowed over the sky and twilight began to settle in. He shifted, lifting his head to look at the moon threatening the horizon. “Will you need to leave soon?” 

Tears swelled in his eyes, insecurity rising in his voice. I caressed his head again, gentle but firm in my meaning.

“I do usually sleep at night. But I can camp here tonight, if you want.”

His ears and eyes perked up. “You’d stay?”

I nodded. “Of course. If you like it here. But tomorrow I’ll need to go.”

“Where?” He turned, looking at me.

“Wherever I need to go. I help people generally.” 

A tear slid down his plump cheek and splashed onto the ground. I felt the threat of his wailing touch his throat. 

“But, you could always come with me, if you wanted.”

The little pig stood up, ears perked, eyebrows pulled up as high as he could, little tail wiggling behind him. “Really?”

“Yes. We can travel together.”

“Like friends?”

I smiled. “Yes.”

He leaned over, pressing his body against me. He was warm and gentle, cuddling against my side and hip. I wrapped an arm around his body, holding him against me. He breathed, slow and steadily, the tears falling away to give way to the gentle relaxed body I had seen just moments before. We sat quietly, letting him think about everything we had just discussed. 

“I’m grateful you’re my friend,” he finally said, voice small and relaxed.

“Me too, my love. Me too.”