FicWad

The girl comforted me. Smiled and held me until it was over. Calming words. She picked me up. Ran her fingers through my hair. It felt nice. Even when the world was awful. She kissed my nose and put me down.

We had to paint the roof. The girl said she'd do it. I could just rest. She had the paint already. Not from him. She wanted it. He hadn't left it here. She did it on her own. We weren't really lost without him.

She painted circles and she wrote signs. She made me certain that she's all mine. I only wanted for the whole world to see. But life grew sadder and they all hated me. Before this day I only wanted to die. The end was this great high but she took my fear away.

It was like with him. At least before he ignored us. But not quite. It wasn't totally the same feeling. But close. And still far. The girl's hands were warm. Much warmer than his. And her face too.

She finished up. The mark was glowing. Right on top of the lighthouse. Soon we'd be free. I got up. Looked at the painting. The girl's dad suddenly appeared. Hadn't heard him coming.

He looked at me. Talked. I didn't like his tone. Like I had done something wrong. But he was alive. That was good. The girl took my hand and her dad reached out for me. He couldn't touch us. Couldn't see us. We ran down the stairs. Away from the tower.

There were big buildings on the dock. We hid inside. From the monsters. They could smell us. Even in the darkness. Hiding in the warehouse was safer. Behind the boxes.

They were scratching the wall. Stupid things. They couldn't get in. They were stuck out there. I leaned against something. It was soft. The girl went somewhere. I couldn't see her.

Pitiful. And broken. The dog was in here too. Didn't know how it got here. But it was the same. All covered in blood. An eye was missing. Bone parts sticking out of the front leg. But it wasn't dead. It whimpered.

Tears. It was my fault. There was nothing right about it. I cried a little more. Held out my hand. It staggered. Moved closer. Licked my fingers with the tip of its tongue. It had forgiven me. More tears. I stroked its head. Just nicely.

The girl returned. I wanted to tell her. So overjoyed. But I couldn't smile. Her face was so concerned. She was worried. I didn't understand what it was. I couldn't see any danger.

Then she launched. Kicked the dog in the belly. Sending it flying into a crate. Crushing. The ribs. They were sticking out. More blood. More tears.

I cried harder. The girl too. She hugged me and cried because I cried. Because it was all so sad. She didn't know. She didn't know it was our friend. I squeezed her in my arms. Kissed her cheek. Looked into her eyes.

It wasn't dead. The dog kept staring at me. Sadness and pain. In its eyes. I got up. Even though I was weak. I got up and went over to it. Suffering. It wouldn't survive. There was nothing left to do.

I lifted my right foot. And stepped down on the dying. As hard as I could. More crushing. The ribcage wasn't round anymore. But it still whimpered. The dog. I stomped again. Then with both feet.

She helped out. I felt angry. More than ever. Not at her. Everyone else. Myself a little. Apparently. She felt the same. Minutes or hours. Bones and guts and blood and flesh.

It didn't look like a dog any longer. Scattered all over. Even the head. She had jumped on it. Lots of times. And now it was all over the floor and things. Except for us. We were clean like newly fallen snow. Real snow. Not the fake outside. True snow.

I felt a strange kind of joy. I had destroyed something. And someone was with me. Weird. I'd always been alone when I...

The girl took my hand and led the way. There was one last place.