Submission (#2646) Approved

It was a strange night, familiar loneliness and the unusually bright glow of the stars. The hermit curled up in a lump, thinking on his own, waiting for sleep to come. What if he had been different? His bony tail thumped irritably against the walls, giving the cave the illusion of clockwork walking in circles. Fosa had often wondered about this. He wanted to understand. What was 'interacting with others'? Wanted to understand. What was "company and understanding"? But the thoughts decayed in his mind, and the harsh reality reminded him who Fosa really was. Some semblance of sleep finally shut down the hermit's thoughts, plunging him into darkness.

The sensation of light hitting the visor and a horribly unnatural feeling forced consciousness into his mind. In front of him was a strange lump with sunglasses. A cheerful and careless smile stretched across his semblance of a face. Attention shifted slightly to the other side. Sensors. Moving a little lower. Body. What was going on? Some glass reflected the bright rays of the blazing sun. The giant regarded the hermit, putting a hand up to the visor in mute thoughtfulness.

Putting some of the pieces together, the picture was beginning to take shape. It wasn't the giant, it was just that Fosa himself was negligible. What had become of his stature, and what was the obscure figure considering him? One thing was clear, something strange and unexplainable had happened overnight..... or was it a dream? Lowering his gaze to his body, Fosa could clearly see the seams, and the body itself was soft and furry. There was no trace left of the bone tail. It was soft, sewn on as if by an inept child.

Molan. The 'giant' in front of the display case. Yeah, it was no surprise to him, since he was just passing by the toy store. It was another thing when the very toy he had his eye on started looking around and touching the material it was made of. The rather smiling lump didn't change its appearance for a second, though surprise clearly hovered in the atmosphere. This was evident in the way the giant's body stood motionless over the display case.

Finally, after a long five minutes, the giant's hand opened the door to the store, and a second later, payment had already been given to the cashier. Little Fosa rested in Molan's arms. The lump was walking contentedly down the street, despite the waving arms of the little toy in his hands. Fosa was shocked, this wasn't like a dream. He had literally been turned into a toy! The unfamiliar locality that the hermit had turned his nose up at all his life was swarming in front of his eyes right now. Yes, he'd been here like a rat in a back alley, rummaging through the trash for discarded books, but never in his mind had he ever really approached the people of this town.

Molan was walking down a barely busy street, but even that was enough. Phosa froze, mesmerized as he watched a wide variety of terra going about their business. So many different species, and all right next to each other.
The road was long, but thankfully with an end in sight. On the outskirts of the city, the giant lowered the already used to the hermit's arms to the ground and turned around, starting to walk back out with the same smile on the face of the lump in his visor. Just like that? Little Fosa stared back at him, pondering such a strange day. Pondering what he should do next. But this situation gave him a glimpse of the various inhabitants of this city. In the hands of the giant Molan, the hermit saw things he would never have been able to see normally.

Warmth and desolation was inside the little toy whose journey was just beginning.