Amanda’s Unusual Pet

In her town, she’s known to everyone for having such great fondness of any kind of animals — may they be venomous and dangerous. They’ve known her — a fearless lass, often to places they knew not whence she came with scary carnivorous animals with her. There’s one of the times she came with two large scorpions on her shoulders, which that day, made all the inhabitants rush inside their houses and close all their doors as she passed by. 

She has no parents anymore with her. She grew up in the jungle where all sorts of beautiful animals exist. Perhaps that’s the reason why her heart has the wide and big place for animals. 

And speaking of friends, she has none either, for they’ve long sworn to themselves not to get close to a weird lady like her, but that doesn’t make her feel sad anymore as all that she needed is given to her already. What’s there to be sad? She has long found a family.

“May I have a bread, please?” She requested one day as she put the money on the cashier table and waited. 

She received nothing, even a simple “okay” she thinks would be enough, but that didn’t happen.

“Thank you, ma’am.” She smiled as the cashier looked at her with some kind of disgust look.

She accepted that — well, she always does. That’s how her own life works, she thinks. Sometimes a thought comes up to her, that it is perhaps the reason why she’s treated this way — because she’s different in the ways of living. She lives not as normal as the way the other do — they hate animals and she can say that’s why animals do hate them too.

It’s afternoon, and all of a sudden, she was struck by the power of boredom. 

She lived alone and every time she brought an animal into her house, she would only return them back to where they used to live.

Whatever she did to just keep herself busy and ignore that feeling, she couldn’t. Something’s pushing and pulling her out of the house. She was all confused and irritated of this feeling, so she decided to go visit the jungle.

“Yoo hoo!” she called, her voice echoed the whole jungle. “I’m here. Are you guys gonna ignore me?” 

That’s the time she unknowingly plaster on a smile as she heard rustling sounds of dry grasses and there came five scorpions to her.

“Hey, are you guys all right? How are you doing? Have you eaten for lunch?”

They raised their pedipalps and made a soft noise, but they dropped them down when an ear-piercing loud roar came; the scorpions ran away back to hole in the tree.

“That’s all right. You need not to be afraid, my loves. I’ll take a look at it.” 

She carefully tread as so as not to trigger whatever animal that’s roar came from as it was said that most angry animals’ hearings are sensible and unpleasant noise will make them angry more.

She took a look secretly through the bushes and found left-foot-wounded wolf. 

“Oh, dear,” she muttered in shock and worry, she was supposed to be carefully walking to it, but the blood that scattered on the ground had her ran to it without her control and placed her hands gently to its foot. It roared so loud and it freaked her out.

“Easy, easy, my love, it’s all right, I’m here to help you.” It roared again and was trying to smack her.

He must’ve been hurt so badly that he couldn’t control his temper anymore. She thought.

She tried an attempt of taking steps but it’s looking at her. 

“I will not hurt you, I promise. I will help you lessen your wound’s pain.” she said in a worried tone and when she found it slightly softened, she began taking steps toward it. “Good boy.”

“Grrr . . .” 

“Shh . . . Don’t bite me, okay? This might hurt a bit, but it’s a lot more better than suffer this wound for too long.”

The wolf dropped itself too hard and it slightly shook the ground she was standing. 

“Where did you get this wound?” she asked as she ripped off part of her dress and made it as a tourniquet to stop the blood from gushing out. “Did you get into a fight?” 

A growl when she asked that. 

Before she wrapped it around its left foot, she first let it soak up the oil she has with her.

When its foot’s wrapped already, she gave him a pat on its head.

“Don’t get yourself into a fight next time, okay? Get well very soon.” then a kiss before she left him.

“See you tomorrow, my loves.” Her last words after going out of the jungle.

In the next day, she went visiting there again in hopes to see that wolf fine and getting better.

“Did you see it walking away this morning?” she asked the scorpion and it shook its head.

“I wonder where could that be . . .” Few seconds and she heard the sound she had just said she wanted to hear.

She turned behind and looked at wolf with the tourniquet she made herself tied around its foot.

It licked its shoulder and looked at her, who’s about to cry like a proud mother.

She ran to it and hugged it so tightly. “You’re all right. Thank goodness.”

After that amazing thing she did, she felt more inspired visiting there every day. Every time she went there feels like a celebration of a family. She even gave them names, the scorpions, snakes, frogs, and many more. And that special one, she named it Ashgray.

There’s one of those days, she met Raven — a fine-looking man who happened to wander in the jungle, in the moment where she was talking with the animals and his sudden appearance ruined eveything — everyone went back to their homes quickly. 

She was amazed by which he bravely stood in front of her with those who just ran-away animals and he’s gotten some guts to come closer to her.

It was she thought the perfect time to feel the feeling of being loved by someone who’s just like her — a human. “Sometimes we couldn’t just live forever like this — we still need love — a human’s love.” she would say.

She fell in love with Raven after the days of meeting and he told her he did so, too — not to mention, they became couple.

But ever since Raven came, Ashgray didn’t show up anymore.

They waited one afternoon, but after how many hours passed, there’s no Ashgray appeared; she began to worry.

“Amanda, he’ll be all right. He might have been finding anything new.” Raven would say that as she has already told him about Ashgray.

They celebrated as she didn’t want to disappoint everyone and after that, she went all around the jungle after Raven left.

“Ashgray, where are you? Ashgray!” It’s been getting dark and lots of mosquitos were taking bite on her skin.

Until it’s completely dark and she hasn’t had anything from home, she’s getting dizzy.

“Can you just watch me getting sick here after saving you?” she asked without anyone to answer her. She’s a complete fool for doing that. 

Her knees were trembling after all that walking. She doesn’t know where she was, but she thinks she’s quite afar from home already. 

She continued to walk, until her vision’s getting more blurry and her head’s aching angrily — she lost her balance. Every second, she was getting more and more weak due to the coldness, and because of having eaten nothing.

Staying there laying flat on the grassy and itchy ground and was being surrounded by mosquitos, her eyes were slowly getting closed and she — collapsed.

“Amanda, darling, what’s wrong with you? Are you all right? You’ve got many red spots on your skin.” She opened my eyes and almosy jumped out when she found myself on the bed.

“Who brought me here?” 

“What?” he asked with confused look.

“I was at the jungle last night, Raven, seriously, who brought me here? Was it you?” she asked in almost choking voice.

“What are you saying? You went there last night? Are you out of your mind, Amanda? Last night?”

She looked at him wide-eyed and her eyes were caught by something on the floor — a piece of her dress with blood — the dress she remembered she tied around Ashgray’s foot.

“I-I’m sorry, darling, but why did you go there? Was that because of that wolf again? Darling, it’s a wolf. Look at yourself,”

He pointed the spots on my shoulders and she stayed silent and still undeniably worrying about it.

“Let’s go. I’ll go with you find it.”

She didn’t refuse for that’s what she wants — she wants to know what has happened to Ashgray.

They wore large coats and brought four sandwiches with them and started off searching.

When it’s almost four in the afternoon, they rested under the tree.

After a good half an hour of resting, when they caught each other’s eyes, he pulled her up close to him and was about to kiss her when there came an angry roar and as her eyes were all closed now, she hasn’t seen how Raven got himself thrown and bumped his back into the tree and dropped a knife.

Ashgray.

An extreme look of shock came all over my face when Ashgray jumped onto him. 

“Ashgray!” 

It didn’t listen and that hurts her — how fast Ashgray changed. She could hardly recognize him anymore.

“Oh, no, please, stop it!”

She went to him and tried to make him calm but he was so angry that he almost bit her.

“I’ll kill you!” Raven shouted as she found him drawing out his cutlass. But before he could take step, Ashgray took the chance and hovered on top of him and smashed his face — her heart automatically shattered into pieces.

Raven . . .

She covered her eyes and cried with her knees touched the ground. 

She was at the verge of crying when she felt something rubbing her shoulder using its fur and when she looked up, it was Ashgray, bringing Raven’s bag.

She couldn’t seem to hate him even after what he did so she took the bag and went through rummaging it — it was all dusty tools and inside the tiniest pocket, her hand touch a paper.

She read it.

At the moment when she was done, she put her hand on her mouth and sobbed and looked around in hopes to see Ashgray, but he wasn’t there anymore.

She stood up to find him and he was staring out into space at the back of the tree. 

Just because of its sight, she couldn’t help but feel like her heart’s being pierced by millions of sharp needles. 

She rushed to him and hugged him, tighter than that first hug.

“Thank you, Ashgray, I didn’t know that, thank you. I’m sorry.” 

In the midst of hugging Ashgray, the letter that’s written on that paper came to echoe inside her mind.

“Kill her, and you’ll get paid the money you need for your family.”