The Familiar Little Town

Naos was just wandering the earth like he used to, taking in the sights that seemed to be the only thing that never changed. But unfortunately, some of nature did. Whenever he saw this,

Naos could only frown and move on. Humans He thought to himself.

This wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, this dejection. The world has been changing so much after all, especially in these most recent years, when science has grown exponentially.

Naos could remember when times were simple. as cliche as that sounds. He was growing tired of attempting to keep up with the world as it was now.

He looked over to the sight that he liked seeing the most after crawling out of whatever den he had stayed in for a while. Sometimes it would be 3, 7, or even 20 years at a time. But he would always come back to this town that has lasted for quite a while.

Naos arrived in his favorite ghost town named Calico. It had been abandoned after all of its "valuable" minerals were mined up. He remembered when he used to value the same things, but those meaningless interests slipped through the cracks of his mind into obscurity.

But when he arrived at the ghost town where he had stayed for over a hundred years, he was met with people.

Regardless of the newfound status of his residence, he was undeterred from resting for a little while. The project that he had spent quite a while working on had been a failure and he was feeling exhausted for a reason he did not know himself.

Stepping into the domain of Calico, Naos counted the populace inwardly. About... 100 from what I can see? Surprising. He continued to walk through the center of the town, bearing hostile gazes from all directions.

When he arrived at the core of the community, the town hall, he opened the door and walked in. It was shabby and cobwebs had found their way into just about every corner. An old man sat at a desk towards the back of the room. His eyes displayed the same apprehension that Naos felt from those hiding behind their blinds.

"Any houses available?" Naos asked.

"Not if you don't have the money for it." The old man's sickly voice that came from his brittle body was cautiously polite but direct. "Our little town can't afford many more castaways."

Naos shrugged placed $100 on the desk and said to the mayor "Is this enough proof that I can handle myself?" The old man's eyes were wide at the long-lost sight of a $100 bill. He looked back up to the mysterious man who had just walked through the door.

He looked like someone who could easily handle themself in a larger and wealthier city, but for some unknown reason decided to find shelter in Calico, of all places.

He scowled at the man while backing away slowly. "Why did you come here? I'm sure other places have a much better space to live."

"Seems like a homely place," Naos said half-jokingly while inspecting the state of the town hall, before looking back into the eyes of the mayor, "but that's beside the point, isn't it? It looks to me like you need more money, and I need somewhere to live. And I am willing to spend some money."

The old and nearly senile mayor thought about the risks and rewards before shaking the man's hand. "Unfortunately, the best that I can do for you, sir, is a small house on the outskirts of Calico. I hope that won't be a problem with you?"

Naos smirked at the mayor's prudence. "Not at all," Naos reached for the keys to his new abode, "good day to you Mr. Mayor."

The mayor looked at Naos's back, confused at the shrewd man's choice of housing. "Why did he choose here of all places? Did he crawl out from under a rock or something?" He closed his eyes and sighed.

...

Naos took in the sight of his home for the foreseeable future. It could be described by a single word: decrepit. Not the worst, but not great either. He had certainly lived in worse, but not in the past few centuries.

Luckily, it was not unlivable. Naos could easily see this as somewhere he would stay for a while, as long as he removed the bugs and cobwebs from the premises.

Cleaning the house was done pretty quickly. But what stopped Naos from continuing was the mass of people that were gathering a good distance from his home. Although they were doing nothing at the moment, it was quite obvious what their goal was. Someone new just appeared in a slum town, anyone would be suspicious especially if that person was as clean as Naos was.

They were doing nothing at the moment, just simply watching, so Naos had no problems with them being there. When he finished cleaning, Naos walked back into town.

He was hungry and planned to look for anywhere to buy food. Seeing a building that looked like a store, he walked in the door that had nearly fallen off of its hinges. The man a the cashier looked to be in his mid to late 30s and caked with dirt. As Naos thought, cleanliness was a rare commodity.

While wondering how even a former ghost town could drop to this point in just the time that he was regenerating, he talked to the clerk. "What food do you have?"

"Not much, do you think you can afford it?" The clerk frowned at the stranger's useless confidence.

"I can afford it, so what do you have?"

"Just some basic fruit that's been sitting for a little while." The clerk pointed at some slightly moldy fruit that was sitting in a basket. "That's all I got."

Naos looked at the fruit before walking over to it and picking it up. He sniffed it, before shrugging. "Might as well take it. How much?"

"$10 for you," The clerk's eyes could not hide his shock even if his words could. After all, who would expect someone to buy moldy fruit? "you said you could afford it?"

The shopper raised an eyebrow before placing a $10 bill on the counter and walking out of the store. Naos knew very well that he was getting scammed, but he didn't care. He was someone who could survive without eating or drinking anything indefinitely, so what was the point of getting food? The reason he did buy food was simply because eating made him feel slightly more human.