Mike's Odyssey

After a while, he realized that he really had no idea where he was going. He had just kept walking because, well, he felt he had to do something. "That does it," he said, sitting down on a rock. His voice was hoarse from thirst. "There's no point in doing this. If I'm going to die, I might as well die sitting down." He sat down on a nearby rock and collapsed in exhaustion. The feeling that he had to get up and do something still persisted, but he quietly strangled it.

Then, he heard a small high-pitched voice coming from his pack. "Why am I here?" it said. He started up, then realized it was the little hyperintelligent btelloid rocifer. "You're here because I have to carry you somewhere and this is all I've got. Sorry."

"No, I mean why am I here? Why do I exist? Why is there something rather than nothing?"

"Little Mikey, people have argued about things like that for centuries and haven't come up with a definite answer. And I can't tell you anything about it if I don't have something to drink right now."

"There's a spring over there," said Little Mikey. Mike realized he was right--a quite burbling sound was coming from beneath one of the rocks. Mike eagerly ran over to it and pushed over the rock. The spring beneath it was foul and brackish, but it was water. He bent over and greedily gulped it down. Then, something jumped out of the water and latched onto his face with sharp teeth. He screamed and tried to pull away, but the monstrosity pulled back. He reached for his dagger, but the monstrosity had gotten its coils around him and was already squeezing him to death. Then, he heard a loud caerwauling scream and sounds of a struggle, and the monstrosity fell off. He opened his eyes, looked down and saw a large dead purple lamprey-like thing covered in black blood. The little hyperintelligent btelloid rocifer lay down beside it, cleaning blood off itself.

"Thanks, Little Mikey," he said, exhausted, as he extracted his dagger from its putrid rubbery hide.

"No problem," said Little Mikey. "I just wanted to help you, mommy." Mike felt a twinge of guilt, probably the first he'd felt in over ten years. He'd done some very rotten things in his life, and while he hadn't expected to commit cannibalism, it hadn't totally surprised him. And yet he felt guilt over it. It was probably just because he liked Little Mikey, who was still too young to know how to screw him over.

Then he saw something approaching in the distance.

1. Gripped by fear, he hid behind a nearby rock...

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