บท 40: The Boy and Horse

The boy stopped; his shadow flickered as the door of the shack moved in the wind. The aluminum bucket that had seemed so ordinary until that moment seemed to emanate an aura of filth and gore as Rakshasa looked towards him.

Facing him, just a meter away from his face, the boy chuckled as the blindfold slowly slipped away from his face. There was no need to wait anymore; everything was ready.

And Rakshasa just stared, his heart beating like rhythmless drums. What was inside that blindfold, as he had previously expected, was not some terrifying image of two holes instead of the eye or something even worse, but a pair of absolutely gorgeous red eyes. Its beauty almost transcended mortality. It looked divine.

Throwing the blindfold away, the boy came closer to the shivering little horse and patted his head, making it shiver even more. And then he asked, his voice gentle and soothing, "Are you afraid?"

The horse didn't reply.

"Do you fear me?"