In Search of Epsilon

The Sleeping Beauty

Apparently, the girl would wake up in a week.  

The obvious deduction would be that the girl was somehow involved in the reason he was sent there, or at least that was what he was thinking. And so, for now, he had decided to wait and work in the farm and the plantation.  

Billy worked remarkably fast. Francis asked him if he was a Hunter, to which he replied with a very soft and sincere “I am immensely happy that you would think so, but I have no noble blood inside of me” 

The sunsets were the best.  

They often talked about Francis’ upbringings. Francis had told Billy everything. Starting from the death of his parents to the death of the love of his life.  

Billy would never stammer in the attention he gave him. He always was actively listening to whatever you were saying.  

Francis finally remembered the characteristic that came out of Billy. Kindness. He still actively believed that there was nothing else for him in this world, but this world was not as sad as he had thought. And Billy stood as the pillar of that undeniable reality, that kindness did exist. 

Billy, as a gift of friendship, had crafted him a chair. 

“I know you can’t take it with you, but there ain’t no need for you to take it. This house is too big for just little old me. So, from now on, that chair will belong to you, and this will always be your home as well. We can get started on making you your own personal room” Billy said.  

That made him happy.  

And so, their conversations always began at sunset, after a long day of working at the farm. There was one day on the week, he noticed, that Billy would drink a beer.  

A single beer, and he always invited Francis into drinking with him. He had no idea whether he could get intoxicated or not, but a single beer would either way not be enough.  

It was almost like a tradition. Though he had no idea how time was passing, not accounting for the days, he knew that every Sunday Billy would drink a beer.  

There were many lessons that Billy left Francis, but there was one which Francis could not let go of. 

“Never let anyone tell you that doing your best is enough. It is not just enough; it is even more than enough. Doing your best all the time is exhausting. We should not expect our children to constantly be doing their best, just to be doing what they want to do.”  

Billy was the father he never had.  

There are many other lessons Billy gave Francis, but he decided to save them for another day.  

Finally, after the week had gone by, the girl woke up.  

She woke up in a strange room, and her eyes immediately began to analyze it. It was strangely comforting, yet very humble. Nothing of value was seen in the room. That was what made it so strange. It was humble to the point of perfection.  

The first thing she saw was the window. A way to escape. The next thing she saw was the lack of bonds. If she had been captured by an enemy or something else, she would have been tied down.  

This means she was either captured or saved by someone else, and that they were most likely not hostile.   

She checked the room, opening drawers and other places, and looked through the rest of the rooms. She wanted to make sure that the person who saved her was someone decent.  

Nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at her.  

She then went downstairs, where she found two individuals, talking about some strange poet whose last name was Whitman.  

A small thought crept through her mind, but she ignored it completely. It was dangerous to think of those kinds of things. 

“Ah, the sleeping beauty has finally waken up,” said one of the strange men.  

“it is a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Billy, I am the owner of this house. This here is mister Drake, he is something like my son. I would offer you my seat, but maam you should stand for a while. You need to get the blood flowing properly through your body. We have been nursing you back to health all this time, but that is just the basics, as neither of us are doctors” said Billy, rising up and taking off his hat, in a polite way to salute.  

The girl looked at them with a very close eye. They did not appear to be Hunters, nor did they appear particularly strong either. If anything became hostile, she would be able to take them. It was a thought that she was not used to having. 

“My name is Zoe, it’s a pleasure to meet both of you,” she said