"Oh great Creator of this world, I don't know if you're real, and if you are, if you can hear me."
I look behind me for a moment while I'm running. There I see a green, evil looking, scythe wielding monster running after me, screaming things at me that sounds like it's scraping rocks and pieces of metal against each other inside of its throat.
"If you can hear me, you probably still don't know me. I'm pretty much a nobody, I don't have anything. No food to eat, no roof to sleep under, no family to help me grow up, no friends to share with."
I run into another ally, almost stumbling over a barrel filled with rotting things that can't be recognised any longer. I pull it sideways, hoping it will slow the green devil.
"I do have my freedom, although I don't have the strength to make anything of it."
The green devil chasing me jumps over the barrel effortlessly, he's gaining on me. I feel like he should have caught up to me long ago, but he's keeping his distance. What could he possibly want from me?
"But if you help me this once, help me survive this situation, then I promise you... If you keep an eye on me I'll show you one hell of a story."
There's an abandoned building here, I run in there. It's small and there's a door onto the main road. Normally I'd never go into any main roads, the people will do anything to me that they feel like. They'll curse at me, hit me, trip me over. Anything what they feel like. Just because they do have food and a roof and all the other things I don't have.
"Great Creator, now that we're talking so open with each other anyways... I'll be impolite and ask for another favour. If you're taking the trouble of saving my life, can you also give me the chance to make a friend too?"
Just as I finish my last sentence I reach the door to the main door, when I'm through here I won't just get killed. Although anything less than that will probably still happen.
I pull at the door, but nothing happens.
"Fuck, you abandoned me."
Those stuck up people must have nailed the door close, preventing rats like me from using it to flee.
After turning around I put my back against the wall, he's inside already. I lower my body and steady my breathing, I won't go down without a fight, no matter what.
He stops after walking a few steps through the door, he's just standing there. Half a head taller then I am, wearing a long, dark grey cloak, only showing his thin shins and bare, green feet underneath. His arms are unusually long, one is behind his back holding his scythe, the crescent shaped blade behind his head. His other hand pointing at me with a sharp, clawlike finger. His face is ugly, looking disfigured compared to a human. Long, pointy ears with hair that makes them look even bigger. A grimacing mouth showing crooked yellow teeth. A narrow nose that points downward. Dark green eyes that stare straight through you. And his monobrow in a scowl. His head just stops after that, his monobrow is the highest part of his head. On top of his head there is some hair, but it looks like it could fall out any moment.
"You, fast."
He starts talking while pointing at me, I really need to strain my ears to understand what he says. His voice really doesn't sound like it was supposed to be talking our language.
"But I wasn't fast enough, you still caught up to me."
He scowls a bit more for a moment, as if he didn't understand what I meant.
"Not flee, just talk. Waited, you talking you."
So he just wants to talk for now? I don't trust him though. And he waited? So that's why he didn't catch up to me, and just because I was talking to myself? I wasn't even talking to myself!
"I wasn't talking to myself! I was..."
I lost my temper there, I really need to get my temper under control.
"No worry, me also, me talk me."
His scowl eases up for a moment, and his mouth twitches... Is he trying to smile to make me feel better? But why does he even want to talk to me?
"That doesn't matter right now, what did you want to talk about?"
His scowl comes back, and he smashes the stick of his scythe in the ground so it stands on its own. Then he points one hand at me, then makes a fist. He points his other hand at himself and makes it a fist too.
"We same"
He shakes both his hands.
"You free, me slave."
His hand for me gets one extended finger.
"Me food, you hungry."
His hand gets one.
"You no family, me no family."
He shakes both fists.
"You no friends, me no friends."
His fists shake again.
"You me friends."
Both his hands open up, showing his palms.
"You me brothers!"
He raises his hands high above his head in celebration as he declares us brothers.
I stare at him dumbfoundedly. Brothers? Just like that? I can't help but relax my stance a bit at his sudden exclamation.
"Is this how people become friends? Brothers?"
I ask him in my confusion, I never had anyone say anything like this to me... Maybe the Great Creator did listen to my prayers.
"Yes!"
He exclaims full of confidence, his scowl almost easing up in the process.
"And share."
He quickly grabs something from a pocket inside of his cloak. Takes a few steps forward and holds it out to me.
I stretch my arm and take it. As I grab it and take it closer to me, I notice it is bread. Fresh bread, still slightly warm and crunchy on the outside. I can't help myself and take a big bite out of it. The taste, the smell, the warmth as I swallow it down. My eyes get moist as I relish the taste, the feeling, the realisation that I can't remember the last time I had something this good.
"Good, eat, me made."
Through my foggy eyes I see him standing there. A smug scowl on his face, I didn't even know one could do that. His hands in his sides, as if tears are supposed to appear when people eat his bread.
I can't help but smile at his antics, maybe he really isn't that bad. At the very least, he wouldn't have needed to do all this to kill me, he could have done that easily long ago.
But then I realised that I don't have anything to share, I hope he won't get mad because of it.
"Umm mister..."
He puts his palm in front of my face to interrupt me.
"Brother."
He corrects me with a scowl, I honestly think scowling is his only expression, and everything else is a variation on his scowl.
"Okay, brother. I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to share with you. I don't have anything beside the rags on my body... But your cloak is way better than my clothes."
He brings his hand to his chin, as if thinking hard. Then his eyes open a bit more in realization.
"You give name, me no name. Master give name Grinch, me no Grinch."
I can understand that he'd reject the name his master gave him, being a slave is terrible. He was right that we're off at least just as bad.
"Then I will call you Brother Goba, if you like it better?"
There's a green sparkle gowing through his eyes as he nods his head.
"Name good, full honor."
He goes in his smug pose again, but he quickly snaps out of it, grabs my arm and pulls me outside without forgetting his scythe.
We walk out of the ally in silence, at the end there's a small hidden garden, I've used it to sleep quite often a long time ago. Before bigger kids chased me out of it.
He looks at the sky, the setting orange sun lighting his face. Only now do I notice that his pupils are two slits, one horizontal and one vertical, like a cross. He opens his mouth and yells:
"Me Goba!"