Quoted By:
You were about to ask why it was better to stay silent when she interrupted you. It was getting dark, and she was expecting someone. You looked out the window: the grey sky was indeed darkening its shade, making everything outside lose its colours while the invisible sun (if there was something like it in this eternally overcast realm) retreated behind the western horizon.
Looking back at Vera, you saw she was struggling to ask for something. The trouble didn’t seem to come from the difficulty of the signs (which you had experienced quite a lot in the past few hours), but rather from the unease that was now clearly showing in her eyes. She had a small request.
It appeared you had regained quite the bit of strength in your time in this stable. Lifting her was rather easy; below her clothes Vera appeared to mostly consist of skin and bones. Were these people eating enough? She did not seem to be too comfortable in this arrangement, trying her best to make as little body contact with you as possible. You wondered what was wrong with your torso.
The familiar wind hit your face again.
Slowly walking out of the stable the leftover daylight shone on a scene not too different from the one you had left behind. The house was however no longer the blazing inferno it had one been; all that remained was a slightly smouldering burnt-out shell of those little brown stones. Some parts of the wall had collapsed; you considered it a miracle any of the little brown stones were still piled up in their peculiar order.
To your shock and surprise, Vera began shouting. Her cry was rather short, consisting of the repetition of “Tom”. Along with her repeated cry, Vera was scanning the area for any sign of life. Was she telling someone to come out of hiding?
The longer no response came, the shriller her voice became. She was now breathing heavily, frantically looking around her between every scream. You could feel her tensing up again in your arms. She directed you to the remains of the house. Still occasionally shouting, she began inspecting the black and charred remains. You wondered if she had lost something in that fire.
