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His body shook and I took a step forward but stopped.What do I do?How do I help him? I watched with helplessness as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slowly collapsed backward with a loud thud.
Driven by a thirst for knowledge and yearning to assist, I decided to stay at his side to help him in any way I could.What if his story was true and he really was cursed by the gods?
I sat with his unconscious body as a breeze whipped itself through the desert. I hoped it cooled him off. With my arms on my knees, I threaded my fingers through my hair and pushed it back before turning to look at him. His eyes twitched a few moments before he regained consciousness. I quickly patted around myself and reached into my little bag I had attached to me and offered him a drink of my water.
He slapped the bottle from my hand with a long leg from his back, making my eyes widen. What in the world…
It didn’t negate the fact that his actions were rude.
"Why are you attempting to attack me?" he cried out, his mouth grimacing when the water splashed on his skin.
I winced in empathy.Oh no, his burns. The water must make it worse.
“I-I apologize. I didn’t mean any harm. I was only trying to help,” I explained. I could see the pain and confusion in his eyes as he struggled to understand my intentions. I was a stranger, after all. He a… being who was cursed. Suspicion was granted.
"I'm so sorry," I told him again in the softest of tones. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I thought you might be thirsty and in need of water. Please, forgive me."
He looked at me skeptically, his expression still filled with pain. "Why should I trust you? I have been judged. The fates—Shai—holds my life firmly in his grasp, never cutting the string, only making me suffer again and again. What's different about you?" he growled.
I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to convey my sincerity. "I understand that you're in pain and that you're wary of strangers. But I promise you, I have no ill intentions. I only wanted to help you."
I reached into my bag again, this time pulling out a clean cloth. "Please, let me at least tend to your burns," I pleaded. "I have some medical supplies that might help alleviate some of the pain."
He hesitated for a moment, his eyes searching mine for any signs of deception. Slowly, he nodded, allowing me to approach him.
It was only as I got closer when I truly saw what I was beholding. He laid exceptionally still for his condition, his body contorted in a shape that resembled a beetle. His serrated limbs were elongated and segmented, with a glossy exoskeleton that shimmered in the light except for the areas that were covered in soot. The surface was coarse and textured, reminiscent of the hard carapace of an insect.
His head was small and round, with large, compound eyes that seemed to reflect the world around him. Clubbed antennae protruded from his forehead, twitching and swaying as if sensing the environment. How did I miss this the first time I looked? His mouth was a small, sharp mandible—I bet he would be capable of delivering a powerful bite if provoked.
I observed him quietly with a mix of fascination and unease. His appearance was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I couldn't help but wonder what kind of creature he truly was. His beetle-like body seemed to defy the boundaries of the natural world, leaving me in awe and a bit unsettled. His story had to be true—he had been cursed by the gods, but why?
A million questions raced through my mind and not enough answers. Was he once a man and if so, how was it possible he was now what he was? If he was never a man, what kind of strange divine intervention had to have happened to create a talking creature the size of a human? He was speaking in tongues initially and though my phone was able to decipher his language… Was he really from earth at all?
Would he resist me if I asked him everything I was dying to know?
My curiosity was one of my weaknesses and perhaps my biggest faults, depending on the way one looked at it. My parents warned me time and time again that a man wouldn’t be able to put up with a woman who continuously asked why when given a command to complete. My father blew a gasket when I told him that it meant the person wasn’t man enough for me. My mother, bless her, had to calm his rage as I locked myself in my room and calmed my own. I couldn’t help who I was or how I was made. It was what led me to find sanctuary and peace in our local library where I was surrounded with the abundance of knowledge without having someone to scold me over my thirst to know more, to find answers.
But it was neither here nor there at this very moment. What this being needed from me was help and that, I could supply to the best of my ability. After all, wouldn’t I want someone to help me if I was in the same situation?
Though the situation itself was so illogical…
I grabbed some of my first aid kit items and reached out to him again. His skin was still hot to the touch, but I couldn't leave him to suffer alone. I gently began to clean his burns, being as careful as possible to avoid causing him any more unnecessary pain while I situated myself around the debris, kicking a few out of the way.
As I worked, I explained to him that I had come across the impact site during my run, and had been witness to the aftermath of the crash. “When I heard something down here, instincts drove me.”
“Do you always go toward danger?” he croaked. The more he spoke, the more I was convinced he was male.
I stopped what I was doing and took his question seriously.
“No,” I whispered.
It was the truth. But there was something that pulled me like a magnetic force and refused to let me go. I couldn’t understand it myself so I couldn’t explain it to him. Plus, he was already wary about me, I didn’t want to add any more reason to his initial suspicions. I chose to change the topic of conversation about offering what assistance I could since there wasn’t anyone else around for miles.
I assured him that I had no affiliation with the people or organizations responsible for his injuries. I didn’t remember there being any mention about military experimental zones around here. Mr. Redding never mentioned anything to me either and he knew my running route.
I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things but the more I rambled to him… Gradually, his expression seemed to soften.
Isolarel
