4 Bad Luck (4)

When I finally calmed down, I thought seriously about the possibility that I was in hell. Since I woke up in this place, a lot of things are happening. One after another.

Perhaps, after killing that scum, I somehow died and went to hell to pay for this crime.

But if this is true, what should I do? Will I continue to suffer like this, no matter how much time passes, until I die? And after dying, repeat everything?

One thing is certain, however. I couldn't stop, no matter how hurt I was. I'm worried about my mom and Nicky at home. I need to know what happened after those events.

Making an effort, I got up from the ground, gritting my teeth as I felt the pain all over my body. I leaned on the less painful arm and got up with a lot of effort.

Where should I go now?

I looked around in silence, thinking about my options, and remembered something. I'm beside a river. Maybe if I follow the bank I'll find people. The water is less violent now, so I may find people bathing or fishing. Now it's night time, so it's practically impossible, but in a few hours it will be morning, a good time to fish.

More importantly, if I don't get away from the river, at least I'm not going to die of thirst.

Having decided my direction, I didn't think anymore and just followed the river. Along the way, I continued to be careful of everything around me. Although taking care didn't help me 100% of the time, I was able to take care of myself enough to not fall every twenty steps.

I walked for a few minutes, and since I woke up, my stomach has been snoring. I'm very hungry. I hope to meet people soon, I can't run out of energy.

The minutes passed, and my luck remained the same. Now and then I stumbled on the ground, or an animal scared me and knocked me over. Sometimes I would fall into the river and get wet.

I kept on my way along the banks of the river when I finally heard a sound that I could recognize anywhere: a human voice.

More specifically, it was a scream that sounded like a girl.

I followed the sound, it seemed to come from across the river just ahead. After a short walk, I found a little girl getting up from the ground with a wooden bucket on the banks of the river.

From the condition of her clothes, I think she was trying to fill the bucket with water and ended up stumbling and falling into the river.

She looked about twelve years old, had brown hair, with two pigtails on the back of her head. She wore a brown shirt with a long white skirt that reached to her knees.

What strange clothes, she looks like a villager.

My first thought was to approach and talk to her, but I knew I couldn't do that. What if she got scared? My current state isn't exactly presentable, I'm all messy. Dirty and full of bruises. Not to mention it's still night. How would a twelve-year-old girl react by seeing a man with an ugly face all dirty and bruised coming out of the forest at night to talk to her?

If she didn't get scared it would be strange.

After some thought, I decided to follow her, I need to know where she lives first. Rather than approaching a little girl, it's better to approach adults for help.

I took some space and watched the girl from a distance. After filling the bucket with water, she started to take it into the forest. It looked very heavy. I think her house isn't far.

After crossing the river, and walking for a few minutes, I saw her passing through a fence and realized that I must be in the countryside. It looked like a farm fence. After I saw her go, I approached and observed the place. Do they have a dog?

On farms, it's normal to have some dogs protecting the property. I didn't want to go in and be attacked by a dog, my luck wasn't good at all, so I didn't know what to do.

Looking around for a moment, I followed the fence. Maybe I will find a road nearby. At the very least, I will find the path the farmer who lives here uses to go to the road by car.

As I walked, I looked around and saw some cows and oxen far away. From time to time they made noises. Some noises were... very strange.

After a few minutes of walking, my vision was again drawn to the attractive blue moon in the sky. It was so beautiful that whenever I looked at it my breath was stolen.

"It's beautiful, don't you think?"

A voice interrupted my thoughts, and I turned my gaze to the source: an old man against the wooden fence. He was a bit bald, with only a few white hairs on the sides of his head.

With a slightly pinkish white skin, he had a big nose, gray eyes and a gentle smile on his lips. He was wearing a red plaid shirt, with blue overalls on top. In his hand, he held a pipe, and from time to time sucked and smoked softly.

He looked like a gentle farmer grandpa.

There was one thing, though, that surprised me a lot.

The words that came out of his mouth. Not the content, but...

"What is beautiful?"

"The moon. Weren't you admiring it?"

"Yes... Who are you?"

"My name is Joseph. And yours?"

The old man looked at me curiously, and when he noticed the state of my body, he was shocked.

"What happened to you, young man?"

I sighed and didn't answer.

"My name is Nicolas."

"Oh... More importantly, what happened to your body? You are all skinned... "

"It's a long story... Do you have a cell phone to borrow me?"

"Cellphone?"

Oh, true, there's no "cell phone" word in the Vorago language.

"A tool for communicating over long distances."

"Oh, a sound transmitter? I don't have one, it's very expensive, and not very useful for me. "

Sound transmitter? Something is bothering me, though.

"How do you know how to speak Vorago? My father said that no one else on earth knew how to speak Vorago."

"What do you mean? Of course it was my parents who taught me. "

I was deeply surprised now. My father told me on video that Vorago was an ancient language that he had reconstructed using his archaeological discoveries and that is why nobody today knows how to speak the language more.

Lucky me. Waking up in the middle of a forest, and the first person I talk to speaks Vorago. Did his parents also try to reconstruct the language?

"What other language do you know?"

"I'm just an old man who lives in the countryside, I never traveled, so I didn't have to learn another language either."

He doesn't even know English? How does he live then? Before I could reason about it, however, he continued the conversation.

"But boy, what happened to you?"

"I got lost in the forest and walked for a long time... I'm tired and hungry. Can you give me food and shelter for today? "

"Of course, no problem. Can you jump over the fence? "

I shook my head and smiled bitterly. My body was too sore for me to do something like that. The fence was only five feet high, but it was more than I could handle.

"Follow me."

The old man smiled kindly and started walking. A few minutes later, he opened the hatch for me and helped me walk towards the house. He realized that I could end up falling at any moment, which was true.

The house was not far from the hatch, just a three-minute walk. It was a big old wooden house. The roof was made of logs, with a small balcony at the front. Overall, it looked pretty rustic.

At the front door, the little girl I saw earlier was holding a candle while looking in our direction. When she saw us, she was surprised and went inside the house without saying anything.

The moon in the sky illuminated the outside, but when we entered the house, only darkness. There didn't seem to be any electricity here, I didn't even see lamps on the ceiling. This place must be far in the countryside, maybe in the middle of nowhere.

Joseph took me to a room and lit a candle. After introducing me to the room, he left and came back carrying some things in his hand.

"Boy, look at the state of your body..."

He sighed when he saw my body in the candlelight. Pushing me lightly to the bed, he helped me clean the wounds on my arms and legs with a wet cloth.

"How did you get lost in the forest?"

"I have no idea. I suddenly appeared in the middle of the forest. I wandered through the forest, and after hours, I found your house. "

As I spoke, he began to apply a strange, fruity ointment in my wounds.

"Where do you live?"

"Phoenix."

"Phoenix Town? It's quite far. How did you get here?"

"I don't know. Where am I?"

"Belem."

"You meant Bethlehem?"

"Your pronunciation is a little wrong, but yes."

How did I end up in Pennsylvania? That's weird.

"Clean the rest of your body, you're all dirty. I'm going to get some food and a blanket. "

After treating my wounds on my arms and legs, he handed me the towel and left the room. No bathtub here? Or shower? On second thought, that girl was taking water from the river using a bucket. Maybe there's no plumbing here.

I took off my shirt and shorts and dipped the cloth in the basin full of water. With the wet cloth, I passed over my body, wiping sweat, dirt and blood from my injuries. It hurt a lot, but I gritted my teeth and held on.

A few minutes later, when I felt it was good enough, I dipped the cloth one last time to wash the sweat. When I thought about putting on my clothes, however, Joseph came into the room and said:

"Here a change of clothes. Your clothes are very torn and dirty. "

I smiled bitterly as I looked at my clothes. It is true, I couldn't use them anymore, but I still felt bad about borrowing clothes from the old man. He's already being very kind to feed me and give me a roof to sleep on, I can't accept his clothes without feeling ashamed.

"It's okay, tomorrow I'm going to find a way back home. These clothes are enough. "

"Don't be stubborn, boy, just accept it. These are old clothes of mine."

He was very insistent, so I reluctantly accepted the clothes. When I put on the clothes, I felt like a country farmer. They were very ugly but very comfortable. I thanked the old man, and he smiled kindly.

A few minutes later, he returned with food, a blanket, and left the room after wishing me good night.

Sitting at a small table in the room next to the lit candle, I ate the vegetable stew that the old man gave me in silence.

It was hot and tasty, although I didn't know the ingredients used. It wasn't seasoned very well, but my hunger made it one of the best meals I've ever had in my life.

At some point, tears started to fall from my eyes and I didn't know why.

The food is delicious.