A Stranger's Kindness
999 Words
Drake was given a job out in the countryside.
He went to work, never questioning what he was going to do, or even why.
Broken men stop questioning what happens around their life; they only question why they keep existing.
He reached the house in which he was to reside in.
This time, the lady in black had not given him any indication of who he had to judge, or any of the details.
All she told him was that he would have to stay in this house for a couple of days. How long exactly? He would not know.
The house was as modest as you could get. Not too pretty, not too large, not too much of anything really.
At the back of the house, a large plantation for crops and vegetables stood, with a very cute greenhouse.
Francis knocked on the door and was surprised to see that the door opened itself. It just wasn’t locked, he realized.
A man came up to greet him. He had been cooking in the kitchen.
He was dressed as you would expect a farmer to be dressed; large overalls, a straw hat, and a white undershirt.
“Howdy,” said the man.
His voice was what seemed strange to Drake. It was the smoothest voice he had ever heard.
The voice of someone that exudes a characteristic lost to him.
“I’m the one sent by the lady in black,” said Drake.
The man gave him a warm smile and ushered him inside to look at the house.
There really was nothing special about the place, except the woman in a coma in one of the guest rooms.
Francis had only managed to get a glance at the woman, but he did not ask any questions. He was not interested, nor did he really care.
After a tour of the house, the man finally introduced himself.
“The name is Billy, it's a pleasure to meet you, mister Drake,” said Billy.
Drake nodded. He had lost all interest in the living except for Nero.
“Now, you should get yourself some rest. Traveling in those carriages must be quite tiresome. If you need anything, I will be there as quick as I can” said Billy.
“I don’t need to sleep,” said Drake.
Billy looked at him strangely, as if he had misheard.
“I mean, I’m not really tired right now,” said Drake, correcting himself.
“Oh, well, at least let me serve you some hot food kid,” said Billy.
“I can get something in town, I have money.”
“Now, don't be so silly. You should learn to depend on the kindness of strangers from time to time” said Billy.
Drake hesitated, but something told him this man meant no harm, “Thank you.”
The food really was delicious. Billy would later tell him that he had grown all the food himself. He lived a pretty simple and beautiful life. He would work on his crops in the mornings, and then he would sit at the porch and read a book. After that, he would sleep and start over.
He also loved the company of strangers that would come to the house. It was mostly travelers, which found themselves lost in the countryside.
There weren’t many that would appear, but he didn’t mind the loneliness. He said that he still lived a very fulfilling life.
Drake learned all of this through the transition of many days. It was hard for them to communicate with each other. Mainly because Drake did not care to start conversations and because Billy was a quiet person.
Every day, Drake would pry around, asking around the different pubs and taverns if anyone knew of an evil person there.
He never found anything.
And every day he would arrive home and go out to break something, you know, vent out his frustration. The trees were the best, he found.
He would hit them with all his strength, and he would keep going until his hands were completely bent and broken. And they would heal just as fast.
After that, he would go home, and he would see Billy taking care of the strange woman in the guest room. Francis thought that it must have been his wife, who sustained a critical injury. He treated her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
Like clockwork, he would always feed her at the exact same hours, but sometimes he would take two to three hours feeding her, as she could not even move. He would even exercise her body parts, every single day. The amount of dedication Billy gave that woman was a demonstration of true love, Francis thought.
For some reason, that always calmed him down.
One day, he decided to ask Billy if he had ever seen a fight nearby, or if he knew of someone evil.
“I have never seen anyone fight around these parts. They are all a very wholesome lot. The only person who I have seen with an injury that looked like it came from a fight, was from the stranger in the guest room” said Billy.
Shock came to Francis’ face.
“What do you mean stranger?”
“I found the girl near the house one day. She was badly injured but still breathing. I healed her up good and have been nursing her here until she wakes up” said Billy.
After that conversation, Drake sort of softened up.
He started to work at the plantation with Billy.
One day, they talked about his name.
"Never abandon your name, kid. It is sometimes the only thing present in bad times and in good times. And most of the time, it is the one thing that never abandons you, no matter how lost you are, you will always be you." said Billy,
After that, Francis started calling himself like that once more.
- Writer
