Now no longer burdened with an expanded bladder, I walked back towards the house. For the first time since I saw her running away, the little girl was there in the doorway handing a bundle of cloth to the woman. As I approached, she threw it at me. Using my amazing dexterity, the envy of all last picks at every sports game I had ever participated in, the bundle passed right through my open hands and hit me in the stomach before it fell to the ground. I noticed the woman’s frown as I bent over to pick up the bundle. As I had suspected, it was a pair of pants wrapped up in a button shirt. It's not the ultra-soft cotton I am use to and there was no pair of boxer but I did appreciate ending my voyeur career. Now dressed in a pair of brown pants and a cream colored shirt, I followed the ladies inside.

They lead me to a dining room and say down on the far side. The woman was still holding onto the pitchfork and I was sure that the table was there as an extra burrier. I decided to seat myself as the girls had also taken seats. “Hello. My name is Luke Skywalker” I cringed a little as I said my last name. My father was a Star Wars fanatic and changed his last name to Skywalker. Thus resulting in my last name. I really didn’t appreciate being named after a guy known for banging his sister but after watching all of those anime’s where the Imoto ends up with the MC, I finally gave in. It’s just too bad that I was an only child. My father lost his chance to assemble the trio. Luke, Leia and Han. I can’t blame the guy, he died in a traffic accident when I was 4. Mother never got remarried or even dated. Years later she told me that he had been her true love. I’ve never been in love so I just have to take her word for it.

was so distracted by my own inner musings that I didn’t even notice that the woman had been speaking and was waiting for me to answer her. ”Sorry” I said. “I spaced out for a bit there. Can you repeat what you just said?” Some anger pass across her face before she regained her composure and adopted a neutral face and posture. “This is The Els Woods in The Kingdom of Blasmar and that out there is Els Lake. I’ve never seen you before so you can’t be from any of the surrounding villages.” She tilted her head and said in a curious tone “you don’t know any of this do you? Blasmar is one of the most powerful kingdoms and you have never heard of it. Where are you from Mr. Skywalker?” her voice almost a whisper. In most of the novels I have read where this situation came up, the MC will cover up his or her origins so that people with alternative motives wouldn’t come after.

Relying on the wisdom of all that I have read, even if all of those stories were imaginary, I used my non existing diversion skill to try and change the subject. “Thank you for the clothing, it was starting to get breezy” I gave her a cheeky grin. Why draw more attention you myself? Well, as you work your way up in the corporate world, HR will start sending you to all sorts of places for training. What kind of training? It’s mostly on things you can and can’t say to your employees, how to be a good manager and not do dip your pen in the company ink. One of the ice breaker techniques I remember an instructors giving me was to make a joke about yourself. That way you seem more down to earth. The frown the woman across from me was sporting told me that I had failed.

Then it hit me. Repeatedly pointing out my crotch to a woman I had just met while dressed only in my birthday suite was not a very smart thing to do. From her perspective I was a total stranger that stalked the little girl home just to flash her and even escaped captivity. What the hell was wrong with me? A 30 year old virgin, never dated, never even kissed a girl. The longest stream of physical contact I had with a woman was the cashier girl at the McDonalds I got coffee from every morning. I always made sure to pay in cash so that I could touch her hand as she gave me my change. Kind of creepy? Yeah I know it is but that didn’t stop me. One day she just stopped showing up and was replaced with an old Mexican lady. I gave it a week and realized that she was gone for good. I never even got to ask her for her name. It’s my own fault? In my own defense, I suspect that she was jail bait. No, no, I looked and touched but that does not make me a pedophile.

Realizing that I had once again zoned out, I stated “I am lost and have no coin to pay you with. Will you alloy me to help with any chores? I am not a strong man but I am fit and healthy. Forgetting all of the strangles of our first meeting, I want to pay you back for your kindness.” Some of the word combinations are not really used in modern day speech but may fit better here in this place. From the items around the house I have spotted and the dress ware of the woman and child, I want to say that the level of technology is roughly equal to Pre-American colonization. The woman stared at me for a while and it wasn’t until the little girl tugged on her sleeve and said “I’m hungry” did she look away. “Just wait a little bit longer Charlee, I’ll get started on dinner.” While talking to the little girl, her tone was soft and sweet. She then turned back to me and her voice lost most of its emotion. “I can offer you two meals a day and a place to sleep. I cannot spare any more than that.” I knew that she was lowballing me but that wasn’t what was important to me at the moment. Every protagonist needs a safe haven where they can grow strong and start to master their powers. “Great” I said with as much cheer as I could muster. “Where can I start? “

The woman stood and thumped her pitchfork onto the ground in front of her. I was a bit disappointed that no Gandalf “you shall not pass” magic barrier rose up. “You will not go beyond this point.” She gestured to the hallway beyond the dining room. I smiled to myself at her statement, it was so close to what I had been thinking about. “You will not remove anything from this house unless I give it to you or give you permission. You will not try to take any liberties with me or my sister. Break any of these rules and I won’t use the blunt end.” I could see her knuckles white as she clutched the shaft harder. “By the way, what’s your name?” I injected myself back into the conversation. “Willow, my name is Willow Dawn.” She didn’t extend a hand out to shake. Not sure if handshakes just isn’t a thing around here or if she was just trying to avoid physical contact but I sure wasn’t going to push my own culture onto her. We had just me, with all the craziness that has gone around already. I want to make sure that I start to build some goodwill with this duo.