Cliff

He wasn’t the first to leave the town. That much I knew. But still, it seemed really sudden to just leave with so little warning. Did something happen? Did he get a message from family that he needed to drop everything? Is that why he was so off yesterday?

I looked down at the baked goods. I guess this was sort of pointless. I mean, I could still have them and share them with others, but it was supposed to be for Forne. A polite smile back to Ethie and I turned back. She waved cheerfully to me even though she lost a neighbor. Were they very close? What about who lived in this house I was staying at?

Thinking back to when Eresil showed me the house, I didn’t ask about who lived there before. It didn’t really matter since I’d never meet them. But it made me wonder now. Did I want to know? Would it change anything? Why was I curious? Why did I care?

Back in the house, I stared at the kitchen. A few of the leftovers still remained out on the counter. My mind tried to fill in some blanks of who might have lived here before. I guess I’m used to homes being tied to family. Though someone had to move. It’s a perspective shift.

Sitting in a nearby chair, I didn’t really have much I could do. Asking was all that I had, but for what? Forne wasn’t returning and neither were they. Time was too short at this point now. Less than half a year remained until the end. Anyone gone was likely gone for the rest of time. Whether they realized it or not.

Sleep was a little difficult that night with my mind spinning constant thoughts. Why was it bothering me so much? It didn’t make any sense.

The next morning, I stood outside staring at the road. Frequent townspeople waved and greeted me as they always did. I pondered and bided my time. Until Ethie stepped out, then I waved to her. “Morning, Ethie! How are you doing?”

“Oh Eshikra! Announcement! It’s another wonderful day in Her beautiful embrace.”

I could only nod back to her like I was agreeing. If I spoke, I feared I’d let everything bottled up out like water from a broken dam. So long as my emotions didn’t come out, she wouldn’t know. Taking a few moments, I eventually approached her. “I was wondering, Ethie. Do you know who lived in this house before me? What were they like?”

“What Gourn and Calania?” So that was their names, not that really told me anything. I didn’t know anymore now than before. “They lived there for as long as I can remember. Married when I was a teenager. We all ate together on the weekends.”

“And they just left for family?”

“That’s right. I think it was Berent that they went.”

I nodded to her, listening to everything. Wait, what was that? “They went to Berent?”

“I believe they had family there.”

“Just like Forne.”

“Berent is the nearest village to us, they trade with us. You’ll find a lot of us have family there.”

“Yeah…” It didn’t matter how suspicious it sounded. I could only nod to her. I’d just sound like a crazy person if I accused her of lying. Especially if I didn’t even know why she did. It didn’t really make a lot of sense. The logical thing was that she was correct. They have close ties with Berent. But it just felt strange. This whole thing did.

Why?

Dammit.

I don’t need another mystery. I’m supposed to rest and forget my stress. Live for myself. Whatever that meant.

After some additional random trivia about the couple, we departed. Ethie went back to tending to her flowers before heading out. There was always someone to help. We never did seem to run out of work somewhere. Which I guess did help pay for my time in the town.

But I sat back at the door of the house with my mind already spiraling out of control. It was a problem seeing everything as something to solve. An answer to find and reason to understand. I hated the feeling I had. It was a poison on my mood. Everything soured and tasted terrible. I could only hang my head down.

I waited there at the front of the house like something would happen. Of course, nothing did and I had to give up the day. Sleep eventually took me. Morning didn’t reveal any new departures, but I didn’t expect it either. There might have been a few, but they weren’t constant. And I wouldn’t know who might be next.

What’s wrong with me? I’m already assuming there’s going to be another. Dammit. I need to stop this. Just relax. But what’s going on? It’s damn strange. I can’t shake the feeling anymore. Something is wrong.

My stupid curiosity wouldn’t let it go. I could only smile and nod to anyone once more. Why can I just be content at least? Is there something wrong with that? Maybe I should just leave. Is this really worth the trouble? But where do I go? This is the first time I felt welcomed to stay. There were no expectations, no wants. Just living. It was nice.

Was nice enough?

Apparently not, judging by the fact that I sat up with a chair pulled up to the front window of the house I stayed in. I just stared out it with the lights out and night fallen heavily over Thesil. There really was something wrong with me. I wasn’t even tired. Why did this bother me so much? I don’t even know these people.

“Mini-“ I sighed to myself, catching my words. “What am I doing? No one’s going to leave.” At least not tonight or maybe even in view. This was a dumb idea. I should just sleep. Nothing’s going to happen.

I leaned back in the chair away from the window considering my options. However, before I looked fully away, I caught sight of some movement outside. I pulled back to the window trying to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. “Is someone outside?” It was pretty dark out. Any light from the town center didn’t make it this far away. Only the twin moons light gave me any clue, and not much of one.

If it was someone, maybe they were just returning from drinking. Sitting in the chair, I weighed the possibilities. If I didn’t go after them and it was another strange missing person, then I’d have missed my chance. Yet they could just be someone out. People do walk late at night, sometimes. I did, when I was traveling.

Dammit, fine, I’ll just go. Grabbing my traveling jacket, I hurried outside to find what I saw. There was no one around, so it shouldn’t be hard to find if there was someone. They went in the direction to leave, at least the way I saw. So I needed to catch up before they were out of town. Should I have brought my pack if it was going to be a long walk? If it gets too long I’ll turn around. This isn’t worth getting lost without food and water.

Running, I made it nearly to the edge of the town before I saw two figures. That was a little more suspicious, but it still could have just been people walking town at night. Yet that doubt didn’t last long. The last chance that they had to turn down a corner towards the town came and went. They walked straight out of the town. And not with a cart or anything on their person. They weren’t going to see a family, no one leaves in the middle of the night to see family in another village without someone arriving delivering a message.

I sighed again and breathed in deeply. What am I getting myself involved in now?

The walk took me a short distance from Thesil to a rising bit of earth. I’d say I didn’t recognize it, but that’d be pretending I knew anything about the land around here. But I followed them up until they came to a stop at the highest point.

An uncomfortable feeling started to grow. I didn’t like what I was feeling. The figures looked out into the distance hugging each other tightly. No! “No! Stop!” I suddenly yelled not even realizing it myself until they turned.

In the moonlight, I saw Eresil and Yumie looking confused and deeply troubled. All of the happiness I remember them having drained away, painfully. Nothing but hollowness remained. What’s wrong with this town?!