Lost Change

Chapter 58

I flew back to my den first. It had been over a month since I had last seen it. I was curious how it had managed. And I still had the watch there - it might feel good to have that last symbol of humanity. Might help me to sort everything out.

I nudged away the bits of leaves that covered the entrance... and recoiled as the smell hit me. Yuck!

The fruits I had stashed in the burrow had definitely rotted in my absence. It smelled unbelievably foul now. It was probably infested by bugs too, nasty things drawn by the scent of decomposing food. It would be easier to just make a new burrow than to try and salvage this one. But I had to get the watch I had left behind, and the leash that had belonged to Susie. They were the only things I had left.

I steeled myself against the smell and slunk through the tunnels. I felt bugs crawling out of my way as I went. The ground was damp... which... didn't make any sense. It wasn't the den I had dug with Susie, but I had still lived in it for months. It had stayed dry against the occasional rains that had come through without any trouble; it shouldn't have been bothered by simple rain.

Though... I was much closer to the river now. And there had been that larger storm not long ago, where it had rained for days. Could the river have flooded? That might explain the humidity. But if water had gotten inside my den, then... Oh, no...

I hurried through the rest of the den and tried not to gag at the stench. I found the watch where I had left it and fumbled for the buttons on the side. I squinted at the tiny face in the darkness and squeezed the button, willing the simple green light to come on and show me the time, just one more time, just like it always had.

The face stayed dark. The watch had been destroyed by the rain. The last relic I had of human existence was destroyed. Irrevocably, permanently, gone.

I crawled back out of the tunnels, clutching a ruined watch that no longer kept time and a simple leash for a dog that was no longer alive. The only things I had left of what I used to be.

I slumped down to the dirt and cried.

"Ivy?" I stared at the sky as the sun set, watching the sky grow slowly darker.

"Hi Nate... how are you doing?" Ivy's voice sounded sad. Guilty. Like she had failed at something she knew she needed to succeed at. "Minna told us you're back in the forest. Do you need anything?"

I closed my eyes. Still worried about me. Still trying to help me. "No... I mean... I have everything I need; there's plenty of food for me, and I just finished digging out a new den." I had spent most of the day working on it - it hadn't really needed that much time, I just... didn't want it to be done. After I had hollowed the first chamber out to stash the watch and leash in, I had simply dragged my feet on the rest. "I was wondering though... I mean... if you're not busy, would you mind if we talked for a bit?"

"Oh, sure. Anything specific on your mind?"

I'm lonely, I miss Minna, I can't believe I left, I hate that all three of those are even things at all, and I don't know what to do about any of them.

"Not really. How was your day?" I stretched out on the sturdy branch and listened to the evening birds chirping out in the forest.

Ivy hesitated. The mindspeech had held a sour note that gave away that I did have things on my mind... but thankfully, the other dragonet didn't press it. "It was good, actually. I killed a sicora! It was hiding in the vents of a cargo ship; we had to chase it through three rooms before Trenil's guards managed to corner it."