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Speaker 1: It's said our town was founded on an unspoken promise.

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It's the kind of place that looks wholesome from the outside.

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Meet fences, tidy lawns, church bells on Sundays, curfew that

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people actually obey. But underneath it all, it's a current,

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something old, something everyone feels but doesn't name. That's where

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the box comes in. In door Vale, when you turn eighteen,

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you get a box on your doorstep at sunrise, always

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the same hand carved word, smooth as bone, no latch

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or lock inside. Is your role, the word that tells

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you who you are. Now it's not symbolic. You don't

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get a say. Once the box names you, that's it.

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Everyone says it fits that the box or always nose.

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My cousin got caretaker. Now she runs the infirmary, even

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though she used to faint at the sight of blood.

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My friend Leo got stone layer, even though he couldn't

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hammer a nail straight, but now he restores gravestones like

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an artist. They say the box finds the path you

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were meant to take, that it doesn't make mistakes. I

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wanted to believe that, but as my eighteenth birthday crept closer,

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something in my gut twisted in apprehension, worried that I'd

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somehow be the only one it gets wrong, or sent

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on a path I would lead my life into misery,

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a fear I'm guessing a lot of people have. At

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dinner the night before, my parents acted like it was

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a graduation. My dad grilled steaks, my mom made that

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awful potato salad. She thinks I like they kept smiling

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too much. Afterward, I met up with some friends around

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the fire pit near the lake. Everyone made predictions, cracked jokes.

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They said I'd be a brewer since I always brought

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the best drinks, or maybe an archivist because I kept

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a dream journal when I was twelve. Then someone I

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don't remember who raised their cup and said, just hope

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it doesn't say shepherd. Everyone laughed, even the adults who

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were passing by smiled as if it were an inside joke. Yeah,

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someone else added with a grin, if you get shepherd,

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you have to go to the clearing. More laughed a

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little forced. I smiled too, but the jokes stuck in

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my teeth like a seed I couldn't swallow. We don't

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have sheep indoor val No one farms and as far

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as I know, there is no clearing, but everyone knew

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the joke played along like it had been passed down

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with the same as our lullabies and town ordinances, a

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tradition missed in my household. That night, lying in bed,

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I stared at the ceiling and tried not to think

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about it, about the word, about what it would mean

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if the box made its first mistake at home. I

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brought it up to my parents, but they brushed it off.

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The way they saw it, it was a legend at

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this point. It was a warning given in case Shepherd

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came up, but no one had gotten it in decades,

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so it was thought to be a relic of the past,

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a job no longer needed in the town. In bed,

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I kept thinking about it. I imagined opening the box

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to find something normal, manifesting market like my dad, maybe,

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or chef like my mom, something safe, something people would

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nod and smile at that would let me fade into

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the background. At midnight, I heard a soft thud on

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the porch. I waited five minutes before opening the front door.

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The wind smiled like damp earth. The street was empty

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and sitting neatly on the welcome mat with no signs

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of a deliveryman. No tracks in the frost. Was the box.

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It was hand carved, polished, smooth corners, slightly rounded, like

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it had been passed down for generations, exactly like it

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had been described, no hinges, lock or markings. I brought

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it into my room and placed it on the desk.

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Sat there for a while, just staring at it. I

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was alone. My parents knew it would be here, but

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opening your box as a special and private moment people

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knew to leave you in solace. It was nerve wracking.

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My hands didn't want to touch it. I thought back

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to the fire bit, to the laughter, to the way

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everyone had grinned when they said if you get Shepherd,

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you have to go to the clearing, like it was

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a game with a way to lose. I lifted the lid. Inside,

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on soft red velvet was a single folded piece of paper.

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I unfolded it. One word, Shepherd. Everything in me went still.

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It fell like all the air had been sucked out

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of the room, and I could feel my heart hammering

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in my chest. I read it again, just to be sure,

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same word, same tight, ink, printed, clean, centered. I closed

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the lid and hid the box beneath my bed this morning.

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I didn't say a word. My parents didn't ask, but

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my mom watched me too closely over breakfast, her fork

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barely moved, her eyes didn't leave my face. She must

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have thought I'd gotten something I hadn't expected, But deep

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down it felt so much worse. It was common to

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let someone process what they've perceived. It's sometimes a shock

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for the fact that it was always right gave parents

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a credence not to push. Nothing makes a situation worse

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than making someone defensive. I packed my back like a

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normal said I was going to school. I didn't. I

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cut through the edge of town, where the woods started

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creeping back in, past the old feed shed, past the

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berry thickets that no one picked from. People of this

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town never venture far. Hiking trails only circle near the

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edge of town. There's water close to fish. It drilled

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into everyone not to go far into the thickets, a

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warning that worked here. Part of me felt like it

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was delusional to finances out there, But nothing I saw

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while raised in this town matched the idea of a clearing,

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so it had to be out there. Eventually, the GPS

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in my phone froze, then shut off. Entirely. After hours

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of searching at the end of a forgotten trail, I

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found it, the place I was never meant to see.

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The trees opened into a clearing. Animal bones littered the

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grass in tangled spirals. I don't know what I expected

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to find in the clearing. What I didn't expect was

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a man. He stepped out from behind one of them

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the crooked trees, slow and deliberate, like someone long unused

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at being seen. His skin was dry and colorless, eyes

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yellow to the edges, thin, trembling hands held nothing, but

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still twitched like they were used to carrying weight. He

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looked surprised to see me. You lost, he grumbled, No,

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I don't think so, I stumbled back. This was true.

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Though I didn't know what I was looking for, I

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knew I was looking for something, and I could only

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guess that I'd found it. He paused at this, weighing

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what I'd meant, maybe even doing some threat assessment. He

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looked like he hadn't been around anyone in years. I

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could have stood there, trying to ramble in explanation, but

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instead I reached slowly into my pocket and pulled out

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my note. Once he saw what was neatly written in

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the center. He sighed and sat down on a stump,

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like standing took too much out of him. You weren't

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supposed to be chosen, he said, not yet. I asked

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him who he was. He gave me a look like

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I should have known. I'm the shepherd, he said, or was,

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or still am. Technically that didn't make sense. I never

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seen him before in my life, he explained. He has

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the role. It's not like any ordinary job in the town.

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Only one can have it. Most people assumed he left

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town after his box arrived, but he didn't leave. He'd

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been hiding, skirting the boundaries. He looked at me with

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a kind of grim curiosity. If you your box and

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I'm still breathing, he didn't finish the thought, But I

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got it. Whatever force governs the boxes, whatever makes them

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accurate infallible, it shouldn't have chosen me, not until he

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was dead, and yet it had. He didn't speak much

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after that, just led me through a twisting animal path

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behind the clearing, deeper into the woods than I thought

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they went. The trees here were old and gnawed like fists.

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The sky disappeared above us. Everything smelled like copper, and

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wet ash. We reached what looked like a collapsed shack

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tucked into a hollow. This disgusting place is where he lived.

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I tried to imagine calling that place home, but the

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idea sickened me. Inside, buried beneath the tarp and stacks

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of mold, darkened crates, was a journal. He set it

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on a stone, opened it to the first page. The

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pages were warped, some torn, some stuck together. The cover

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was stained with something reddish brown and long dried. I

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didn't ask what it was. Maps, names, drawings, instructions, a

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lineage of entries, different handwriting, dates, going back generations. This

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is the Shepherd's record, he said, your job now. He

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flipped to a marked section, a diagram of the town perimeter,

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covered in strange symbols and notations. Beneath it, a short,

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tight sentence scrawled in angry strokes, maintained the boundary. I

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asked him what that meant. He didn't answer directly. Instead,

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he turned the page showed me a list dozens of entries.

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It detailed a busy schedule. Every day there was an entry,

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sometimes two or three. The details were cryptic, only listing

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an amount of tasks completed nothing on what happened, but

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pressing inferensas proved fruitless. All that was stressed was the

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importance of the job. Was this it living alone and

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working every day, some thankless job in the middle of nowhere.

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I would have preferred to be a janitor. At least

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then I'd be able to see my friends have a

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social life. But if I ignored the role, the boundary

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would apparently fail. Whatever that meant. If I left, the

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would somehow suffer, and if he died, if anything happened

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to him, it would fall to me. No backup or replacement,

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a life of solitude, just me. He gave me some

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parting words for me to figure out. If you see one,

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come to me. I left dissatisfied with what I was hearing.

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My curiosity turned sour, making me want to see if

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I could somehow change my role. That night, I woke

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to a sound like leaves being raked across the porch.

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I got up and looked outside. There was something standing

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in the yard. My fingers stiffened against the sill. My

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tired eyes slowly adjusted, my mind desperate to me make

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the shape into a tree or a shadow, but it

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remained as It was upright, pale, with a huge grin.

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It stood there as still as a statue, watching, waiting.

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The longer I stared, the more I became aware of

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the fact that I was standing directly in front of

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a little window. If it hadn't noticed me yet, I

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was giving it every chance. I backed away from the window, slowly,

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trying not to make the floorboard speak. When I finally

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reached the bed, I eased myself under the covers and

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stayed perfectly still, my heart thooding so loud it felt audible.

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I lay there, staring at the ceiling, listening for any

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shift outside. By dawn, it was on no signs as

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something was rummaging in the yard. I ran back to

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the clearing. The old shepherd was already awake, waiting at

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the fire pit like he knew i'd come. I think

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I saw one, I said. He nodded slowly, then grabbed

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a canvas bundle from behind a tree. Inside rusted tools

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something like a branding iron and a long iron steak

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carved with cymbals I couldn't decipher. He seemed to be

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able to track it like a bloodhound. We found the

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things skulking near the edge of the woods. It was

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still in the shape of someone almost human, same size,

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same build, but its knees bent wrong, and its eyes

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were all pupil, no white. It smiled when it saw me,

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spoke in the voice of my childhood best friend, a

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girl who moved away years ago. Hey, it said, wanna play,

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she added with a smile. Her cadence was just like

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how she sounded many years ago, My blood friend called.

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The old Shepherd didn't hesitate. He charged, drove the steak

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straight through its gut. Its shrieked, curled backward like a

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snapping twig, but didn't die. I don't want to go

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home yet, it whined, twisting its neck toward me, Please

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just a bit longer. It laughed as the old Shepherd

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pinned it to the ground, an elation that didn't match

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what his body was going through. Despite what he was saying,

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its actions didn't match. Its hands clasped over the shepherd's

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pulling the steak further in like it was well coming death,

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thrashing death rows that looked painfully stronger than a hum

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in that size. It took two four minutes to stop moving,

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catching the shepherd a few times, causing a few nicks

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and bruises. We burned it. The smoke smelled like copper

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and roses, but even that acted strangely. Instead of billows

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and clouds pushed around by the wind, it rose like

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a thin pillar into the sky until it dissipated. I

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was done pretending this was normal, I demanded answers. Okay,

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what the hell is going on? I yelled. The sheep

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usually move as a flock, but sometimes a lamb gets astray.

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He retorted, like that somehow answered my question. Tears whirled

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in my eyes, overwhelm by taking in so much. No

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enough with being cryptic. This is insane. Why did she

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sound like my old friend? Am I connected to this?

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I jobbed? This seemed to catch his attention. He turned

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to me. You knew her, Yeah, we grew up together,

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played every other day until she moved away. I answered,

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moved away? Classic, he muttered, Just explain, I demanded, She's dead,

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died a while ago. By the sounds of it, I

236
00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:43,039
guess you were too young for your parents to tell

237
00:18:43,079 --> 00:18:48,640
you straight. But she didn't move on, he replied bluntly.

238
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,599
I was stunned, soaking in what he said. The body

239
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,359
was a shambling husk but it held what remained of

240
00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:02,599
my old best friend, something which we excited into smoke

241
00:19:03,039 --> 00:19:06,839
that moved on into some unknown after life. If what

242
00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:11,720
he was saying was to be believed. I just stared

243
00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:21,279
at the embers, at the reality of the situation. I

244
00:19:21,319 --> 00:19:25,079
didn't sleep after the whole ordeal I'd witnessed, not even

245
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,599
for a minute. Every time I closed my eyes, I

246
00:19:29,599 --> 00:19:33,119
saw the things. I had no way to process, nothing

247
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,200
earthly I could relate it to so I could comprehend

248
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,079
the gravity of what was going on. I kept telling

249
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,680
myself it didn't make sense that this was insanity creeping

250
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:48,319
in my mind snapping after opening the box, But deep

251
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:54,039
down I knew better. I remembered the creature's voice, the

252
00:19:54,079 --> 00:19:58,839
way it smiled, like it had teeth behind its teeth. Still,

253
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:07,079
I was resting, I'm not doing this, so I decided

254
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:13,519
to leave no packed bags, just a coat, my ID

255
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,839
and a lie to my mom about heading to the library.

256
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,400
I walked to the gas station on the highway where

257
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,920
the delivery truck stopped, found a guy loading his flatbed.

258
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,079
Asked for a ride to the next town. He barely

259
00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:34,880
looked at me, just said sure, hop in. We drove

260
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:39,519
in silence. Ten minutes out of town, the tree started

261
00:20:39,519 --> 00:20:42,920
the thin and I saw the county line sign her head.

262
00:20:44,079 --> 00:20:47,640
I actually smiled. I was going to make it out.

263
00:20:49,599 --> 00:20:53,160
Then the driver made a weird noise, a kind of sharp,

264
00:20:53,440 --> 00:21:00,000
choking hiccop. He leaned forward, fingers twitching, and the wheel hey.

265
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,920
He made a gurgling sound and slump sideways, foot pressing

266
00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,039
the gas hard. We veered onto the gravel, then off

267
00:21:09,039 --> 00:21:13,920
the shoulder completely. The truck slammed into a ditch, flinging

268
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:20,480
me into the dash. I blacked out. I woke up

269
00:21:20,519 --> 00:21:24,839
in the town clinic, same floral wallpaper, same scent of

270
00:21:24,839 --> 00:21:28,240
antiseptic and old paper, a place I'd been to a

271
00:21:28,279 --> 00:21:32,880
few times as a child. My head throbbed, my shoulder

272
00:21:33,039 --> 00:21:37,039
was bandaged. A nurse leaned over me, pressing a cold

273
00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:43,200
cloth to my cheek. You're lucky, she said, gently, only

274
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:48,400
a mild concussion. I tried to sit up. She placed

275
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,319
a hand on my arm to keep me still. You

276
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:57,640
don't get to leave, she whispered, You've already been written in.

277
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,160
And just like that, I knew that whatever path I

278
00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:12,200
was forced onto, I was locked in. After the crash,

279
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,839
and waking up in the clinic. I was sent home

280
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:19,039
the same evening, no follow ups. No one from town

281
00:22:19,079 --> 00:22:22,519
asked if I was okay, only if I was ready,

282
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:28,359
whatever that meant. I tried to pretend everything was fine,

283
00:22:28,839 --> 00:22:32,599
that I could still choose a normal life. But that

284
00:22:32,799 --> 00:22:41,200
night I heard something outside. A knock, slow, deliberate, repeating

285
00:22:41,319 --> 00:22:50,440
three times, then silence. I peeked through the curtain and froze.

286
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,319
No one was on the porch or the street, but

287
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:59,640
just at the tree line, black against the sky, a

288
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:09,279
figure was waving. The next day, he came limping up

289
00:23:09,319 --> 00:23:15,160
my driveway, the old shepherd, gaunt and twitching, cuts along

290
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:19,119
his face, shirt torn, like had gone through thorns or worse.

291
00:23:20,759 --> 00:23:25,440
You need to listen, he said. His voice was different, now,

292
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:31,599
no longer cryptic, no longer in control. He looked scared.

293
00:23:33,319 --> 00:23:36,880
I need your help. I found another one wondering the

294
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:41,640
tree line. Figured it'll be another easy catch, but it

295
00:23:41,759 --> 00:23:48,440
turned on me. It attacked. They've never done that before,

296
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,720
I demanded he explain all of it. I was sick

297
00:23:54,759 --> 00:23:58,359
of being left in the dark for so long. He

298
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,319
wiped blood from his cheek and slumped down on my

299
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:07,640
porch step. This job isn't easy, but if you were chosen.

300
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,480
I guess I have to accept you can handle it,

301
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:18,799
he resigned. Around the world, death is commonplace. People die,

302
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:25,559
move on and that's it. But here it's a bit thin.

303
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:31,000
The veil beyond is in always one way. Sometimes things

304
00:24:31,039 --> 00:24:37,720
slip back. I nodded, curious to what he meant. They

305
00:24:37,759 --> 00:24:41,559
wonder aimlessly, clinging on to relics of their past life,

306
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:47,759
old routines, nostalgic areas. But they can't stay here, they

307
00:24:47,799 --> 00:24:53,920
can't find peace. So we help them move on, shepherd

308
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:59,200
them to where they need to be. I was breathless

309
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,799
at this. Despite the absurdity of what he was saying,

310
00:25:03,799 --> 00:25:09,400
it kind of made sense. It's not easy. Sometimes you

311
00:25:09,519 --> 00:25:13,880
froze up the other day, recognize de friend thou will

312
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,920
happen a lot. People you love, people you grew up with,

313
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:25,000
will pass, and sometimes they'll linger behind. They will recognize

314
00:25:25,039 --> 00:25:28,480
you and greet you like an old friend. But the

315
00:25:28,599 --> 00:25:34,119
routine never changes. No matter how hard it is, you

316
00:25:34,279 --> 00:25:40,000
have to do what's necessary. This may my heart sink.

317
00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:44,640
A stranger I could maybe deal with, but some one

318
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:48,680
I know, a friend or a family member, would tear

319
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:53,559
me apart. It made sense why he chose to live alone.

320
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:58,079
Fewer connections meant fewer attachments able to despatch them with

321
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:04,599
more ease. Despite what they say, they don't fight back. Ever.

322
00:26:05,599 --> 00:26:08,759
You saw with a husk. Its mind wanted to wonder,

323
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:13,279
but his body knew it had to move on. All

324
00:26:13,279 --> 00:26:19,160
we do is guide them there. But I started, not

325
00:26:19,319 --> 00:26:24,119
knowing how to ask, looking at his banged up body. Yeah,

326
00:26:24,519 --> 00:26:29,799
I know, but I wasn't lying. They don't attack. I

327
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:37,480
think they just, for whatever reason, rejected me. He looked

328
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:42,519
at me directly, with sincerity in his eyes. I need

329
00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:45,279
you to finish my task. When I found near the

330
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:50,279
tree line. That's all just one time and I'll take

331
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:55,960
back over. I stared at him, weighing what he asked.

332
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,599
It still felt too much for me, but one off

333
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,880
I could maybe do, And seeing how banged up he was,

334
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,160
knowing that he'd try again if I didn't, I felt

335
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:17,279
like I had no choice but to say yes. I

336
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:20,799
set off for the woods. Before I left, the old

337
00:27:20,839 --> 00:27:25,359
shepherd pressed two objects into my hands, A short wooden steak,

338
00:27:25,519 --> 00:27:29,200
scorched black and edged with sigels I couldn't read, and

339
00:27:29,319 --> 00:27:33,400
a sealed satchel tied shot with waxed twine. He held

340
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:38,000
eye contact too long before letting go. Stay on the

341
00:27:38,039 --> 00:27:43,440
marked path. He said, don't speak first, don't run, and

342
00:27:43,559 --> 00:27:49,119
don't ever lie to it. He didn't elaborate, just turned

343
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,599
and left. I was left alone, facing the tree line,

344
00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:58,920
the sky behind me turning red. I stepped deep into

345
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,640
the forest, further than where the townsfolk walked. The trees

346
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:09,839
were close together, crooked. The air changed fast, damper smelled

347
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:14,279
like turned soil and copper. As I walked, I started

348
00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:19,680
noticing carvings, jagged spirals, and almond shapes like stretched eyes.

349
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:26,000
Some had shallow notches across them like lashes. Finally I

350
00:28:26,079 --> 00:28:30,319
reached a hollow, a sunken depression in the earth, maybe

351
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,519
thirty feet wide, with a stone basin at its center.

352
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,039
Next To it was an emaciated looking figure, a husk

353
00:28:39,119 --> 00:28:43,279
of a person, slapping his hand on the stone. When

354
00:28:43,319 --> 00:28:49,599
I got closer, I could hear him saying something, last

355
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:54,759
two balls of pairs, last two bowls. He was saying

356
00:28:54,839 --> 00:28:57,160
it like he was running a market stall. There was

357
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,000
about to close when I remembered Martin, who passed away

358
00:29:02,039 --> 00:29:05,640
a number of years ago. The old man was part

359
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,720
of my childhood. He used to give free fruit to

360
00:29:08,839 --> 00:29:12,880
kids to quote, make them grow up big and strong.

361
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,519
I approached slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements,

362
00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,480
but he carried on like it was still doing business.

363
00:29:23,039 --> 00:29:27,480
When his hollow sockets locked onto me, recognition spread across

364
00:29:27,519 --> 00:29:32,559
his face. Ah, dear boy, did you want an apple?

365
00:29:33,279 --> 00:29:37,400
They're fresh, he beamed, just like he used to when

366
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,200
he saw me as a kid. My eyes welled as

367
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,920
I slipped out the steak, heart beating in the highest gear.

368
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,880
My breathing picked up as I stopped in front of him,

369
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,960
Unsure if I should go through with a grim task

370
00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:55,920
I was given. I stared at the stake, willing it

371
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,559
to move on its own. The idea of driving it

372
00:29:59,599 --> 00:30:02,880
into some something that appeared living was beyond what I

373
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:08,240
felt capable of, let alone the familiarity of them. The

374
00:30:08,359 --> 00:30:12,200
seconds droned on in two minutes as he continued slapping

375
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:19,000
the rock like his old market stand. I can't do it,

376
00:30:19,519 --> 00:30:24,519
I muttered to myself, readying to leave. It wasn't causing trouble.

377
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,519
What was the harm in leaving it there until the

378
00:30:27,559 --> 00:30:32,160
shepherd got better, I thought to myself. But before I

379
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:36,599
could leave, the thing snuck up on me. Its hands

380
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,920
clasped over mine hard, gripping the steak I still held

381
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:47,759
pointed forward. Or would you prefer a banigna instead? He muttered,

382
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:55,079
but his voice didn't match his actions. He stepped towards

383
00:30:55,119 --> 00:30:58,880
me while pulling my arms in, driving the stake partly

384
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:03,720
into his chest. Shock froze me, but as soon as

385
00:31:03,759 --> 00:31:08,720
the adrenaline pumpt I followed through, pushing forward as hard

386
00:31:08,759 --> 00:31:13,440
as I could. The husk fell backward, pulling me with it,

387
00:31:13,839 --> 00:31:17,839
and I straddled it, keeping the stake's position true until

388
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:22,880
I could drive it deeper. One last time, it thrust

389
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:29,519
around before finally falling still. I rolled off it, breathing

390
00:31:29,599 --> 00:31:33,039
so hard I thought I would pass out, but compose

391
00:31:33,119 --> 00:31:38,000
myself before getting back up. I slowly unrouted the satchel

392
00:31:38,079 --> 00:31:42,920
to see what was inside and recognized the contents. It

393
00:31:43,079 --> 00:31:46,599
was what the shepherd used to start the fire to

394
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,720
honor mister Martin. I set it on the stone he

395
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:54,519
seemed to perceive as his market stall and lit it.

396
00:31:54,519 --> 00:31:57,440
It didn't take long to roar to life, and with

397
00:31:57,559 --> 00:32:00,839
some effort, heaved the husk on to it. Watching the

398
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:05,480
smoke pillar seep into the sky, I paused for a

399
00:32:05,519 --> 00:32:09,880
moment to silently remember mister Martin before cleaning up and

400
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,480
heading back home. I made my way back to town under

401
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:19,279
a sky that felt different, lower somehow, even the stars

402
00:32:19,319 --> 00:32:22,880
looked like they were watching me. People passed me on

403
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:28,720
the street, but something else caught my attention. The rooftops,

404
00:32:29,039 --> 00:32:34,720
the shadows between buildings, the gaps between street lights. In

405
00:32:34,839 --> 00:32:44,000
those spaces, I saw them figures, tall, narrow things just watching.

406
00:32:45,039 --> 00:32:48,680
Their eyes didn't glow, but I saw them anyway, like

407
00:32:48,759 --> 00:32:53,839
impressions burned into my vision. I didn't know what was happening.

408
00:32:54,359 --> 00:32:57,799
I wasn't ready for this. Why were there so many?

409
00:32:59,079 --> 00:33:02,920
I needed answer? So I went to the old shepherd's house.

410
00:33:04,279 --> 00:33:10,480
I knocked nothing. I waited and still nothing. But I

411
00:33:10,519 --> 00:33:14,960
couldn't walk away. My skin itched like something wanted me

412
00:33:15,079 --> 00:33:22,680
to understand. So I opened the door. The house was dim,

413
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:27,319
smelled of dust and cedar. I called out, but there

414
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,079
was no reply. I found him in the back room,

415
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:37,480
slumped in a worn armchair, peaceful pale. A single candle

416
00:33:37,519 --> 00:33:45,440
burned low beside him, almost out, he was gone. I

417
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,200
don't know how long I stood there. I don't know

418
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,920
what I said, or if I said anything at all.

419
00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:58,960
My stomach was hollow, not sad, just stripped, worried that

420
00:33:59,079 --> 00:34:02,680
all the answers die with him. But as I looked

421
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:06,160
around the markings and the walls, the dozens of stakes

422
00:34:06,279 --> 00:34:10,119
lying neatly by the door, and I saw the scattered journals,

423
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,840
flipped through some, and everything was in there what he

424
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,840
told me, and more, the scale of the task, the

425
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:23,280
targets that aim for, and the eyes seeing all those

426
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:30,360
who remain. And it clicked. He had seen the figures too,

427
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,679
saw them while I was naively worrying about the one

428
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,159
that I had seen. He knew the scope of the job.

429
00:34:38,039 --> 00:34:41,360
That's why he didn't take me in, not wanting to

430
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:48,719
burden me with this monumental task. And now he was gone,

431
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,960
I walked home without trying to hide any more. I

432
00:34:54,039 --> 00:34:57,360
met the town's eyes when they glanced up. I saw

433
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,199
the way the shadows shifted behind their curtains. I heard

434
00:35:01,199 --> 00:35:05,760
the slow rhythm of something breathing beneath the dirt. And

435
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:08,920
for the sake of this man who had thanklessly done

436
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,880
this job for decades, working so long that this role

437
00:35:13,039 --> 00:35:18,039
was only a rumor in my generation, I decided then

438
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:26,239
that I would be the new shepherd for this town,