Fixing the mask (in progress)

>“uuuugh… this sucks”
>those were the first words that came out of my mouth as I got out of my truck in front my “new home”
>I was going to live here alone whether I wanted to or not
>in this shitty barren land my father calls a ranch
>he got into trouble with the IRS, so he ran back to Spain and forced me to handle this lot he had just bought
>he wants me to have it run perfectly with at least 100 heads of cattle by the end of the year or else I would be disowned
>that’s all he told me
>I wouldn’t mind being disowned by that old bastard, but he has a fat hoard of money with my name on it once he kicks the bucket
>so, I guess got to comply just for now
>no problem, 100 cows for just one person is no big deal
>the problem is getting this place up and running
>the shack that’s supposed to be my new house is pretty much just a big piece of rotting wood, that’s not good
>the barn where the cattle are supposed to live in is moments away from turning into a rust cloud being taken away by the wind, that’s not good
>the fields are covered with a tall and yellowish grass, that’s not good either
>but the worst thing is that this whole place is surrounded by a pine forest
>wild animals are going to be harassing my cattle 24/7 in a place like this, that’s pretty not good
>this place is going to collapse in any moment now
>guess I got to do what I can then
>shit…
>this inspection is over
>I got to go back to retrieve all my shit so I can finally move in
>as I got into my truck, I noticed another house in the other side of the dirt road
>it looks uncared for but not abandoned
>I finally start my truck and head towards the house
>the city is the other way, but I want to check if I’m going to have neighbors or not
>as I drive past, I notice the field of dying flowers next to the house
>there’s a red pickup beater overgrowing with weeds
>there’s clean furniture out in the front porch and there seems to be movement inside the house
>there are people living here
>maybe I should introduce myself…
>…later
>when I completely move in
>that night my father sent me a text message
>“I sent you a small loan of 100,000$, you are not getting anymore so don’t waste it”
>that’s oddly nice of him
>just got to hope it’s enough to put that shanty old place back on its feet
>…and enough to get some starting cattle
>…
>…hold on…
>…just making some calculations…
>…oh fuck
>god damn it, old man!
>just half of that is enough to get the 100 heads of cattle
>considering the price of cattle is 50$ per hundredweight…
>that means I can get 100 cows, each one weighing around 1,000 pounds
>no… that’s a bad plan
>then I would have to survive the rest of the year with those cows and if something were to happen then I might not have enough money to recuperate
>sigh…
>I got to play the long game then

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>the next day
>I go back, and I brought a moving truck with me
>the moving guys help me move everything I need into the house
>since I don’t want to pay them extra hours, I just get everything into the living room and tell the moving guys that I would take it from here alone and dismissed them
>I wave at the moving truck as it leaves through the dirt road
>which reminds me
>I turn around to see that lonely little house among the pine trees
>I hop on my truck and drive over
>the furniture on the front porch is no longer there
>definitely
>there’s someone living here
>I walk to the front porch and knock on the door frame
>…
>silence
>well, I guess they don’t want to meet me
>as I turn around to leave back to my truck, I hear the door creak open
>I slowly turn around back to the house only to see a pair of eyes looking at me from the darkness from beyond the door
>“um… hello?” I asked with a bit of a bad feeling running down my body

>the door suddenly slams shut
>a cacophony is metallic clinking behind the door reassures my bad feeling
>those sound like an unnecessary amount of locks
>the door slowly creaks open as the resident of the house makes itself visible
>it’s a girl
>with triangular ears and a puffy ringed tail
>it’s a raccoon girl
>she looks very disheveled though
>her skin is pale
>sunken golden eyes
>hair is ungroomed
>clothing is wrinkled and dirty
>“h-hello?”
>her voice is very raspy and tired
>“hello ma’am, I recently moved to the lot down the other side of the road and I wanted to introduce myself, I’m really surprised to know there are other people living around here, I thought I was going to be alone out here”
>she looks at me puzzled for a couple of seconds
>she looks around and behind me before deciding to answer
>“he-hello, my name is-is Jessamine…
>she takes a deep breath before continuing
>…did you rea-lly come alone?”
>“…yeeees?”
>“w-what’s your n-name?”
>“my name is Anon de-
>the moment the word anon escapes my mouth she begins to have a very violent coughing fit
>she puts her hand over her chest as she leans on the door frame
>“m-ma’am! are you ok?!”
>she grabs the door and hides behind it
>she waves me off as her coughs die down
>“d-don’t come any closer!”
>her voice sounds worse than before
>I raise my open palms and back off
>“m-miss? what’s the matter? are you ok?”
>“yes! Anon what?!”
>what’s wrong with this woman?!
>“a-Anon de San Ustillo Segundo… b-but you can just call me Anon”
>she peeks her head from the side of the door
>she looks at me from head to toes
>I think I can see a tear forming in one of her eyes
>she sighs before opening the door again
>“I’m sorry about that, it’s just that I’m really sick right now”
>“no problem, everybody gets sick from time to time”
>she gives me a little smile
>a little smile that lasted a whole 0.00002 seconds before her face turned back into sadness
>“so you are m-my new neighbor?”
>“yeah, and it’s a pleasure to meet you miss Jessamine”
>I extend my hand towards her
>she takes a full two seconds to react and shake my hand
>she gives me another flash smile
>I pull out my wallet and give her a card with my info on it
>“I’m going to be working on some remodeling on my new property, if you need anything you can call me, ok?”
>she nods and takes the card
>“it’s been a pleasure to meet you miss Jessamine”
>she simply nods again and slowly retrieves herself back to her house
>the clinking of the several locks is heard from behind the door once again
>I walk back to my truck and drive off to my home
>…phew…
>…that was awkward as fuck, holy shit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>the next four days go by without much incident
>I have bought a pack of 10 grown cows that should be arriving in a few days along with some basic supplies
>I also had some nerds from an agricultural college come take a look at the place
>they charged me hell for making them come half a state only to look at bunch of dry grass
>so at least I know it’s not the chemicals in the soil making my grass funky
>but the fact that this place has stayed dried even though we are surrounded by a green and prosperous forest is kind of weird
>speaking of which
>remember what I said about wild animals harassing my cattle?
>yeah, I saw a pack coyotes wandering the edge of the tree lines
>by the time I got my rifle ready they had already left
>from now on I’m going to need to keep an eye out for those fuckers at all time
>don’t want them chewing on my beef
>I’m halfway through installing one of the open field feeders when I spot the pack of coyotes coming back
>luckily for me I had my rifle handy this time
>I take aim and as one of the yotes spots me I pull the trigger
>with a loud bang, the bullet rips a new orifice into the fucker
>right where the lungs should be
>it drops dead, being throw to its side by the might of my 30-30 Winchester and my skillful aim
>I have the power of gunpowder bitches!
>unsurprisingly the rest of the little shits scurry away into the woods
>hopefully that will keep them away some time
>now to deal with the body
>I cross the fence and grab the dead coyote by its hind legs
>I chuck it back over the fence and begin dragging it through my field
>I’m going to take it to where I left my tools and bury it right outside my property
>yes, I know I could have buried where I dropped it but that would mean I’d had to walk double the distance in going for my shovel and bringing it back
>I’m lazy as shit so that’s a no go
>the thin trail of blood the body leaves will dry and disappear with time
>also, I think it’s good for the ground or some bullshit like that
>don’t quote me on that though
>I’m halfway through when I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket
>I drop the yote and answer my phone
>it’s an unidentified number but it’s local code so it may be someone I know
>“hello? This is mister Anon, who’s calling?”
>I hear a very loud gulp and shaky breathing before a familiar voice replies
>“h-ello mister Anon, it’s y-your neighbor”
>oh
>it’s the raccoon girl
>what was her name?...
>Jessamine?
>yeah it was Jessamine
>“hello miss Jessamine, how can I help you?”
>“I heard a l-loud bang a few minutes ago, I tried calling you once b-before but the signal w-asn’t good e-enough”
>“yes, it was me. I had to take care of some vermin you see?”
>“oh… o-ok, I just got a bit spooked by the noise, that’s all”
>“yeah sorry about that, hope I didn’t interrupt anything”
>“it’s ok, thanks for answering my call anyway”
>“yeah no pro-
>she hangs up before I can finish
>damn, this girl seems to have some sort of aura of awkwardness around her
>even through the phone I feel weird talking to her
>not that I displayed it because I’m the fucking boss
>I should probably check on that girls more often
>she seems lonely and sad
>anyway…
>where was I?
>oh yeah, the dead coyote

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>two days after the coyote incident the cattle I ordered online finally arrive in a truck
>they were in pretty good shape
>the basic supplies I mentioned in the past are a few instruments to take care of them and some bags of feed for them
>the truck loaded them off a ramp into the field
>since I’ve been watering it its color got a little more alive
>still looks weird but at least it’s getting better
>I picked up a bag of the feed and place it on wheelbarrow
>they are heavy as shit so I’m not carrying it with my own hands
>they follow me to the feeder
>they seem to already know what’s up
>that’s nice
>when I’m done pouring as much of the dried food pellets into the feeder, the cows stick their heads in through the tubes and begin to eat it
>since there aren’t enough holes for all of them, they seem to take turns
>I go back to my house to let them get used to the place
>on the distance I can see a figure standing on the porch of house on the hill
>it’s that…?
>hmmm
>it’s surprising to see her outside
>I don’t think I’ve ever seen her come out on her own until now
>and that’s a little worrying
>she turns to my direction and then walks inside
>she probably saw me looking and decided to hide again
>hmmm
>…
>I hop on my truck and close everything
>I park on front of her house and knock on her door
>she takes a bit but eventually comes out
>she is wearing a pretty pink sundress and her ears are poking through a straw hat with a purple ribbon around it
>“h-hello anon, what do you need?”
>“hey, I see that you don’t go out much…
>her cheeks start to blush and retreats a little
>…so I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime?”
>“like… I mean… thanks, I have plenty of free time but I don’t want to get in the way of-
>“plenty of free time? Then why don’t we go out soon?”
>“I-I meant that I’m free… uh… right now but I don’t know…”
>“then lets go right now!”
>“R-IGht… now?”
>“mhmm, you already look lovely”
>her cheeks goes from slight blush to beet red
>“so what do you say?”
>slowly nods and closes the door behind her
>“o-ok… if you insist”

>we both hop on my truck and head out into the city
>it’s a decent distance away
>the trip is completely quiet
>Jessamine only looks forward and stares into the horizon
>every time I move or turn to look at her, she becomes stressed
>starts breathing more heavily and starts shaking
>I break the silence with some casual questions
>“how have you been recently?”
>she flinches when she hears my voice
>“I ah… I’m- I have been…?”
>“are you ok?”
>she begins to panic
>her breathing gets heavier and she starts sweating
>“look, if you would have preferred to stay alone, then with all confidence, you can tell me and I’l-
>“yes”
>well… that was blunt
>I slowly bring the truck to a stop and prepare to make a three-point turn to head back to her house
>just as I put my feet in the gas, Jessamine has a change of mind
>“NO WAIT!”
>I step on the brakes and turn to her
>“what’s the matter?”
>she is covering her face with her eyes
>“are you ok?”
>“yes, I’m sorry I’m sorry…. let’s go o-out to eat or what you s-said”
>I sigh, pull on the parking brake and shut off the engine
>“Jess, don’t force yourself, ok?”
>“what do you mean?”
>“I made you an offer, and that means that you have a choice”
>she nods
>an unsecure nod but it’s still something
>“so, be honest with what you want. You don’t have to choose what will please me. Do what will make you happy, ok?”
>she sniffles a bit before nodding again
>“so… what do you prefer?”
>she starts to breath heavily again
>“I… I want to… go out to eat… with you”
>“are yo sure?”
>she nods again, this time with confidence
>“right…”
>start the truck and head into the city again
>the trip is quiet again, except this time I feel more relaxed
>I turn to look at Jess again
>she still seems to be on edge
>I move my hand from the shifter to her shoulder
>she flinches and starts shaking
>I start to rub her shoulder and then move to her back
>her heavy breathing becomes stammered
>“relax, Jess, you don’t have a thig to worry about”
>she takes a deep breath and seems to calm down a little
>“where do you want to go?”
>she doesn’t reply
>“I know there’s a nice steakhouse around here”
>her breathing becomes stammered again
>“n-no..”
>“what’s the matter? don’t like the free peanuts? heheh-
>I cut my chuckle when I see that she is in quiet distress
>she looks like she’s on the verge of tears
>I get the point and stop pushing with the steakhouse
>“hey, I know about this nice Italian place called Basilico, how’s that sound to you?”
>“I- I don’t know…”
>“wait, I think they are closed due to remodelation”
>“oh…”
>man, this is awkward
>I’m not good at carrying a conversation all on my own
>we pass by the local university
>that gives me an idea
>there are usually some comfortable small joints around universities like this
>and I just spotted a promising one
>I stop right in front of the place
>“hey, how do you feel about this one? San Biagio’s pizza parlor”
>“p-pizza? ok”
>“are you sure?”
>“I- uh.. yes, yes I’m sure”
>although she seems to hesitate on everything, I could sense a little bit of confidence in there
>I still feel a bit worried about this girl
>I gave her a reassuring smile and she tried her best to give me one
>it’s fine
>we get out of the truck and enter the restaurant

>a waitress welcomes us and takes us to a vacant booth
>I sit down and wait for her sit down beside me
>instead she sits at the opposite side of the table
>ok, if that’s how she’s comfortable
>the waitress hands us a menu and tells us that another waiter will come soon to take our order
>she then retreats back to the front door to greet any new would be costumers
>the joint itself is pretty quiet
>there’s plenty of people but everyone keeps to their booth
>it’s quite nice actually
>I hand Jessamine the menu
>“here, you choose what you like”
>“a-are you sure?”
>“yes, I have a taste for everything”
>“b-but what if you don’t like what I want”
>“oh I’ll like it, don’t worry”
>she gets a bit flustered and nervous
>“are you ok Jess?”
>“I- yeah it’s just that… uh”
>she starts to get visibly frustrated
>“what’s the matter?”
>“I-I don’t know what I want”
>“hold on, let me see”
>she hands me the menu over
>I open it up and start looking through
>“what do you crave Jess?”
>“I… uh… ve…ge…tables?”
>“vegie burger?”
>“y-yea-no! I mean I want some meat in it too”
>“ah, look, here’s one you may like”
>I give her the menu and point at the pizza I’m talking about
>“the all-in-one?”
>“mhmm, sounds good right?”
>“y-yeah”
>“okay, anything else you’d like?”
>“I- uh… well I don’t have much money”
>I wave my hand in denial
>“don’t worry about it, it’s all on me”
>“hng, well… you don’t mind if I…”
>“absolutely not, go right ahead”
>some silent minutes pass
>another waiter walks over to us with a little notepad and a pen on her ear
>“sorry for taking so long, it’s just that I thought you were already being served”
>“oh it’s nothing to worry about, we are in no hurry”
>“ok, what would you like?”
>I look over and raise my chin at Jess
>the waiter looks over to her with a big smile
>“I uh… c-an I- we get the a-all in one aand some parmesan br-breadsticks?”
>“sure, anything to drink?”
>“I- uh”
>Jessamine starts to browse through the menu
>I raise my finger to get the waiter’s attention
>“I’ll get a coke please”
>“can or bottle?”
>“can”
>“I-I’ll get one of those too… p-please”
>“sure, one all-in-one, parm breadsticks and two cans of coke”
>“aha, thank you very much”
>“no problem, your food will be ready soon”
>she takes the menu from Jessamine and walks back to where she came from
>I look over to Jess to see her breathing heavily and shaking
>“h-hey are you ok?”
>I see a tear form in one of her eyes
>“I... I got scared”
>“hmmm”
>I stand up and walk around the table to sit beside Jessamine
>I wrap my arm around her
>she gasps at my touch before steading her breath
>“why were you scared?”
>“I-I felt like she was judging me”
>“who? The waiter?”
>she starts shaking again and nods
>I start rubbing her back trying to calm her down
>“don’t worry, she wasn’t judging you”
>“b-but the way she w-walked over to us a-and stared at me, I-I can’t…”
>“shhh, it’s her job to take our order, you are fine”
>“I-”
>“no one here is judging you”
>she starts sniffling
>I lean down a little to see her face
>tears are rolling down her cheeks
>oh boy…

>I step up and walk around the table to sit beside her
>as soon as I wrap my arms around her, she stops sobbing
>“it’s ok… it’s ok…”
>she stays completely still for a couple of seconds, then leans into me
>we stay like this for a couple of minutes
>I only break up the hug when I see the waiter coming towards our table with our order on a big platter
>she lays it on our table
>the pizza is still steaming, the cheese drooping between the slices
>she hands us two cans of coke and our plates
>good, this place uses proper plates instead of those shitty paper ones
>I put one of the plates and a coke in front of Jessamine
>for some reason I feel like we’re missing something…
>“I’ll bring you the parmesan breadsticks in a minute”
>ah, there we go
>the waiter leaves for the kitchen again
>Jess just stares at the pizza with wide eyes
>…but instead of grabbing a piece, she just stares at it
>I use my big brain to calculate which piece of the pizza is the biggest one
>*bzzz* *pewauauagh* *fshew* *computer noises*
>got it, it’s the piece exactly opposite to me
>and it also happens to be fully loaded with toppings
>I spin the aluminum platter around, burning my finger in the process
>ouch worth it
>I grab the biggest piece by the crust, burning the rest of my fingers in the process
>ouch worth it
>I pull the slice up, stretching the cheese
>Jessamine follows my hand with her wide-open eyes
>I can almost see her mentally saying goodbye to the slice of pizza
>she clearly wanted it
>I would say something like ‘you snooze, you lose’
>instead I place the big slice on Jessamine’s plate
>I’m a generous god
>she takes the pizza slice and hesitantly takes a bite out of it
>her expression immediately changes
>from silent awe to silent joy
>she notices me staring and composes herself
>pretending as if the last 8 or so seconds didn’t happen
>I can’t help but to crack a smile as I grab the second largest slice of pizza and put it on my plate

>Jess takes no time to enjoy her slice of pizza
>she’s being hasty but clearly enjoying it
>her eyes have a glimmer of joy in them
>it’s gratifying in a way
>to know that I brought her joy with such an improvised plan
>hmmm
>I think that’s more of a testament to her situation than to my charisma
>oh who and what did they do to you girl…
>Jess turns to look at me and smiles
>still, not a greatly confident smile but it’s her best so far
>the waiter comes back with a platter with our sodas and the parmesan breadsticks
>Jessamine’s eyes widen as the waitress sets everything on our table
>she snatches a bread stick and bites into with her mouth full
>she immediately stops and corrects herself
>sitting straight and chewing slowly
>she got carried away
>it’s cute but…
>it feels wrong
>she shouldn’t feel to act like this
>I need to know what happened to this girl
>maybe not now
>I’ll have to gain her trust
>I just hope…
>…
>I don’t even know what I hope
>“a-anon, are you ok?”
>“mh? what? yeah I’m okay”
>“oh, it’s just that you stared off l-looking sad”
>“oh it’s just uh… my thinking face”
>“oh… ok”
>we continue eating quietly
>by the end of the night only a quarter of the pizza remains
>all the breadsticks are gone
>Jess ate half the pizza, but I don’t know who dug more into the sticks
>it was probably me
>I like parmesan bread a lot
>I call the waitress over
>she takes the leftover pizza and then brings it bag in a doggie bag
>pay with cash
>leave a tip of whocares%
>never liked tipping much anyway
>that’s one of the few things I got from my dad
>we leave the pizza place and get in the truck
>streets have gone silent
>not many cars on the roads
>even less people walking around
>good, I’ve heard things don’t tend to go well in this city when the sun goes down
>start the truck and head back home
>Jess stays quiet for most of the ride
>when we get to the outskirts she lifts and hugs her knees
>her eyes slowly getting heavier
>until she finally falls asleep
>I take the rest of the ride slowly
>taking the smoothest road towards her house
>park outside of her house
>I grab the doggie bag and get out
>then I walk around the truck and open Jessamine’s door
>she doesn’t react at all
>she’s out like a brick
>I bite on the doggie bag and put my arms around her torso and under her knees
>she is incredibly light
>even after eating all that pizza
>I carefully carry her inside her house
>up the stairs and into her room
>it’s…
>…a mess
>things all over the floor
>weird stains on the walls
>the bed is just a mattress on a wooden frame with curtains thrown over it
>no pillows
>a nightstand is flipped over and there’s splinters all around it
>geez
>I lay down Jessamine on her bed
>she slowly curls into a fetal position and covers herself with her tail
>her ears are pivoting erratically
>her breathing gets choppy for a second before going back to normal
>I slowly leave her room
>grab the doggie bag from my mouth and walk down the stairs quietly
>the railing is covered in a thick layer of dust
>pass through the living room on my way to kitchen
>everything is covered in dust
>except the TV
>it’s smashed and there’s still glass bits on the floor
>the kitchen is just a counter with a sink and a fridge
>there’s a space where there once was an oven
>now only the grime it left behind remains
>I open the fridge
>the light inside flickers a bit before going out completely
>there’s nothing inside anyway
>nothing except a half-eaten jar of peanut butter
>I can tell she’s been digging at it with her fingers
>not even using a spoon
>put the doggie bag in
>sigh and scratch my head
>well, I can spare some money
>I’ll take her grocery shopping one of these days
>leave and head to my own house
>have a hard time sleeping tonight

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>several days later
>the cows have been doing nice
>they’ve been packing the pounds nicely
>although I noticed one of them has a lame leg
>she probably has a cracked hoof
>I need to call a specialist to help me with that
>in the meantime…
>I’ve made sure to keep their barn clean
>it avoids infections and makes them happy
>I could also get one of those big brushes that have been becoming viral on the internet
>they seem to like those
>I’m pretty sure if I make them grow healthy and happy, I’ll be able to eventually sell them for more than what they are worth in weight
>and all thanks to those special idiots who want to know if they burger had a good life before getting served
>ehehehe…
>…
>fuck, that thought got weird on me…
>hmm, maybe it’s not always the people around me that are the cause for those awkward moments that always seem to happen around me
>…
>no, it’s definitely not my fault
>oh! speaking of awkwardness…
>I grab some binoculars from the back of my truck and look over to Jessamine’s house
>she’s…
>…nowhere to be seen…
>…of course
>I walk over and walk up to her door
>before I can knock on the door, I hear a faint sobbing to my left
>huh?
>I walk around the house to see Jessamine
>she’s wearing a light sundress and no shoes
>lying down on a bed of dead flowers
>is she asleep?
>I can’t tell…
>is she just having a lie down?
>my questions are answered when I step on the patch of dry flowers
>they make a crispy crunch under my shoe
>Jessamine’s ears shoot up
>her tail puffs up and her body starts shaking
>she starts to slowly turn her head around
>I catch a glimpse of one of her teary eyes
>it’s filled with terror
>I step back and say softly
>“hey, don’t worry, it’s me your neighbor”
>she lets out a deep sigh and wipes her face
>“h-hello Anon, what are you doing here?”
>she sit up but doesn’t turn to face me
>instead she looks down at the dead flowers
>“I uh… I just came here to check on you”
>“that’s… nice… o-of you”
>“hey, don’t take this the wrong way but…”
>her ears perk up again
>“…I noticed that since I took you out to dinner, you have been more uh… you have gone out of your house more”
>she finally turns to face me, she is visibly confused
>“what I’m trying to say is, would you like to accompany me shopping?”
>her visible confusion gets accentuated
>“look… you don’t have t-
>“ok”
>“oh, uh, when do you think you’ll be… available?”
>“I… tomorrow?”
>“ok”
>“…”
 >“…”
>“…so um…”
>“…”
>“nice flowers?”
>“they… they’re dead”
>ANON YOU FUCKING IDIOT

>she rubs her eyes a bit and stares at me
>waiting for a response
>“well… uh… we can fix them”
>“you think they can be saved?”
>I crouch down and touch one of the flowers
>it snaps by the stem like a dry twig
>the petals disintegrate when they hit the ground
>“hmmm… probably not”
>“oh…”
>“and that wheat field…
>I stand up and walk down to the small wheat field
>the stems of the plants are drooping
>the heads are small and some of them completely lack grain
>…I’m a rancher, not a gardener, but I can still tell that these plants are in serious trouble”
>“…oh…”
>“hmm?”
>I look back to see Jessamine running her fingers through the bed of dead flowers
>a single tear falling from her eye into the ground
>“um uh I mean uh”
>fuckfuckfuckfuck
>“uh… I will help you”
>Jessamine wipes her eyes and stares at me again
>“I will help you grow a new flower bed… and save your wheat…”
>“you will?”
>“…”
>“…”
>“…yes…”
>“thank you Anon…”
>she stands up
>I expect her to walk up to me and hug me
>instead she turns on her heels and heads to her front door
>oh…
>I start to walk to my land before realizing
>“WAIT, JESS!”
>Jessamine flinches as I scream
>her tail puffing up for a few seconds
>she turns around slowly
>“we didn’t agree on an hour”
>“evening…”
>“ok… which hour of the evening?”
>“three…?”
>“I-”
>she retreats into her house
>shutting her door behind her
>I sigh before turning back and heading home
>“three it is then…”

~Next morning

>the day was sunny
>I was sitting on a rocking chair in my front porch
>the chill morning breeze blew the steam off my mug of coffee
>I took a sip as I was browsing my phone
>I came across what I was looking for
>a phone number highlighted in blue
>I tapped on it, and my phone automatically dialed up
>a man with a thick Scottish accent picked up
>“hello, this is Jeremy Hander specialist in cattle health and care, what can I help you with?”
>“ah, hello mister Jeremy, my name is Anon, I own a small ranch of beef cattle”
>“what seems to be the problem sir?”
>“you see… yesterday I noticed one of my cows had a lame foot and-
>“I’m sorry sir but I won’t be able to attend the animal soon, we are booked for two day you see?”
>“yeah that’s okay, I can wait two days”
>“right, in the mean time I would recommend keeping an eye on the co-
>the man’s voice faded into unintelligible background noise as my attention switched focus towards Jessamine’s house
>I grabbed a pair of binoculars that laid on the windowsill behind me and took a closer look
>Jessamine’s shadow behind the curtains was moving from one side of the window to the other
>and then back
>and then forth
>she was pacing aimlessly around her house
>eventually the shadow stopped on the window
>and I saw Jessamine peak out from the curtains
>she had a scared look on her face
>“sir? sir? are you there?”
>“ah! yes wait two days and take care of the cow”
>“ok… send me an email with the details and I’ll get back to you soon”
>“alright, thanks have a good day”
>“good day to you si-
>I hang up, lean back on my chair and sigh as my spine pops
>the chair starts to rock slightly
>I notice some gray clouds in the distance
>they are heading towards the city
>as if on cue, the breeze began to pick up as well
>the trees shook, and loose leaves flew by
>oh fuck
>I don't have an umbrella