THE EXTINCTION ERA - Chapter 11

1-11

When the old man and Esen returned to the house after checking the warnings around them, Esen noticed that there was a small square house with no windows or doors at the edge of the forest behind the house.

-Grandpa, what's that small house?

-We store various things there, such as food. No need to pay attention.

When they entered the house, the old lady was cooking dinner. She cooked the soup again and put sliced the bread next to it. After dinner, the old man took out homemade booze from the bottom of his storage box and got tipsy.

-"Dear, you have drank enough" old lady whispered.

-"Yeah, I know" he answered and start singing a song. He seemed to be unfamiliar with the lyrics of this song, whenever he forgot the lyrics, he just hums the tune. But Esen was really surprised to hear this song. Because there is no one in the community who doesn't know this song. This song tells the story of a wonderful time ancient times and a lonely person.

The last wind of autumn

Blew away the leaves

What's the reason of me?

Sitting here alone

The first rain of spring

Calls forth the love

At my tender age

Beloved you came and gone etc. this song has few verses and has a melancholic melody. Both men and women sing this song when they are drunk and sad. However, the old man did not know much about this song, but he probably learned from someone who came from community. Esen wanted to ask where did he learn it but decided not to do so. He thought he would ask the next day when the old man gets sober. When everyone went to bed, they made a bed for him on the ground. In his dream, he once again saw the image of Molon burning again and again in the fire. Molon's hair and clothes were on fire, but he pointed somewhere without saying a word. When Esen look where he was pointing, it was a small house.

-"Should I go there?" Esen asked.

As Molon nodded in response, his whole body turn into ashes and collapsed. Frightened, Esen approached the house. Slowly, as he approached, crimson blood flowed between the logs and planks, and the sound of people screaming and moaning was heard. However, Esen didn't stop approaching the house. In the blink of an eye, he reached to the doors. Instead of a handle, there was a femur. Esen thought it sure isn't an animal bone. When he pulled from the handle, the bone was pulled out and left in his hand, leaving an open hole. His arm was thin enough to fit in that hole. He put his hand in it. In his hand he could feel the inside of the old door. He felt the long hairs on his hands as he checked for locks. It was obscure what's hair was it, but Esen stretched his arms up to the elbows and tried to figure out what it is. As he reached in the depths of clumpy hair, his ears received a shriek of "Aaaay". When Esen woke up in shock, the old man was shouting in his dream, "Aaaay!". Old lady woke up and lit a candle beside her then called her old man to wake up.

-Dear, are you having a nightmare?

The old man replied with a sigh that he had just dreamed of his son. After all this fuss Esen fell asleep quickly. In the morning, Esen went outside to look around, still staring at the small house with serious eye.

-Grandpa, can I go to the forest and pick some berries?

"All right. Be careful. Take this bucket," the old man said and agreed.

Esen pretended to be walking into the woods with a bucket, and when he looked back, no one was paying attention to him. So, he walked through the woods straight to the small house. He saw a door on the side of the forest. There was no bone handle as he had dreamed, only a wooden handle. It is nailed to the outside with a plank. Esen struggled to find a thick enough branch that would not break while bolster planks. He put in a lot of effort and tossed one of the planks away. Peeking around the corner of the house, the old man and old lady were nowhere to be seen. So, as he continued to struggle and stripped the second plank, Esen heard a hoarse voice inside.

-Who are you? Please help me.

-You tell me first who you are.

-I'm a miserable man who caught by an evil old man.

-Are you talking about grandpa? He is a kind person though.

- At first, they appear to be very kind and good people, boy. Have you ever heard of a wolf in sheep's clothing? Those are two are exactly the that type of people.

Esen continued to stripping off the last plank. Behind the plank was a hole that could fit a human hand.

-Put your hand in that hole and open the lock, boy.

Esen couldn't stop thinking about the dream of the night before and standing struggling to decide what to do next.

-Hurry up, boy. If the old man finds out, we will get in big problem.

Esen decided to put his hand in it, inside the old door, as he stretched his arm further, long hair held.

-Where's the lock? The moment Esen asked this question, a wet, cold hand grabbed his wrist. Panicked, he tried to pull his hand away, but the man in the house wouldn't let go.

-"Calm down, boy. I'm going to show you where the lock is." The stranger held his hand close to the lock.

-"Unlock it to the left side. My hands aren't able to reach that." The door swung open as Esen unlocked it. At that instant, he smelled the stench of cold air.

-Come in, boy. I won't do any harm to you.

Esen entered the house cautiously. There were no windows, and it was pitch black.

-"There are candles and matches in that corner. Lit it on." Esen lit a candle.

In front of him was a miserable man in ragged clothes, chained around his neck like a dog His messy gray hair grew back over his shoulders. He had a dirty face, as if he had never been near water before. Esen now realized that the hair he had touched earlier was this man's hair.

-Why did they chain you?

-Old man and lady chained me so that I wouldn't do something bad to their son.

-Their son is still alive!? They told me…

-Is it said that his son was captured and killed by mutant when he was a kid? They tell the same lies to everyone. But that son is still alive. The man said, "Direct your candlelight there."

Esen shuddered as the candlelight shone in the direction indicated. The mutant, which was as small as he was, but had already lost its human form, was also chained there. When the mutant saw Esen, it opened its mouth and roared, and the sharp teeth of the mutant were visible. Its small red eyes stared at him angrily, occasionally gritting its teeth. Mutant's hair was completely bald and the scalp was completely pale white. But it was dressed like a normal child. In front of it was a bowl of water, and next to it were the bones of a human leg. Frightened, Esen stepped back and took a few steps.

-What are those leg bones?

-Boy, that's my leg. When Esen looked at the man's leg and he almost screamed in fear. The poor man's legs were amputated above the knee and healed.