Andrei Borodin

The World He Once Knew

The smell of a smoking fire mixed with the delicious scent of steak being charred, carried through the air. Mataius snapped awake, dream rapidly fading and dark reality about him came rushing in. As he gained his senses, he looked down to see his right-hand clutching onto the heart-shaped locket around his neck. "This is becoming a habit" he thought to himself, and then caught himself salivating at the smell of dinner. Mataius sprung to his feet. The dinner was not his, nor was he expecting to be a welcomed guest; that was not a thing anymore, he mused. He quickly gathered the little belongings he had, unholstered his pistol and checked the ammo, before placing it back. From his vantage point higher on the hill, he could see smoke to the north, "Good" he thought, as his journey was taking him east; another 30 miles east to Spokane. He started the trek, legs carrying him easily after having walked over 200 miles in the last two weeks. It has been a long two weeks; longer 200 miles from home; from his 4 bed, 3 bath home on the lake near Seattle. And an eternity from the last glimmer he had of normal life.