A Slime Named Pudding

I burst through the door. The inside looks like a tornado ran through it. I tear through the hut, checking everywhere I can think of.

Nothing.

Racing back outside, I—

There it is. Peeking out of a water trough—my Monster Encyclopedia.

I sprint over and yank it free before desperately flipping through the—

Soaked and shredded. Pages stuck together. Ink bleeding everywhere. Almost nothing’s readable. Completely and utterly destroyed. Years of observations. Thousands of hours of work. The only thing I have left of my parents—gone.

Unable to hold it in any longer, I throw my head back and sob. For the first time since they died, I stop trying to fight the tears.

I don't understand.

I don't understand why my parents were the ones taken away.

I don't understand why people have to treat monsters... treat me... so cruelly.

I don't understand why it's so wrong to want everyone to get along—human or monster.

I don't understand why I keep being punished.

I don't understand why everyone I love keeps getting hurt.

I just—

“Squee?”

…This has to be some sort of cruel joke.

I look over at Pudding, slowly crawling toward me.

“After begging you so many times… after everything that happened… you still won’t go home?”

Pudding just stares blankly. Somehow… I can’t help but let out a broken laugh.

“Maybe…”

…

“Maybe they’re right… Maybe all monsters ever do is bring suffering. Maybe this is a wake-up call… that it’s time I started living in the real world.”

I gesture at the surrounding wreckage. “Just look around us. Yeah, I get it, you were trying to help, now tell me why that matters if this is the end result? I begged you not to follow me. I asked you one favor after giving you my everything, and you couldn’t even do that… and now it’s all gone.

“So, I’m sorry, but no. I just can’t do it anymore. You can survive on your own now. You don’t need me anymore… and I don’t need you… so just… go—please.”

Pudding stares at me.

“Go.”

“Squee?”

He rubs against my leg, but I knock him away. “I said go! Get away from me!”

Pudding slinks off, whimpering.

I bury my face in my knees and go back to sobbing… all alone.

***

After a while, once there are no more tears left to be shed, I notice it’s gotten dark and realize I still need to get Granny her herbs. However, as I make my way over, I can’t stop thinking about what comes after that.

I’m going to be an adult soon… it’s time I started acting like one. I should ask Granny if she’d let me help out at the shop. Learn how to turn selling herbs into a job.

…Make that my life’s work instead.

I should come clean to Granny about everything that happened. Maybe she could help me settle things with the boys. Maybe… the villagers could finally see me differently. Maybe I’ll start living a life that’s… normal.

…

As I arrive at Granny’s shop, I reach for the door—

Locked.

Just my luck.

As I search for Granny nearby, I hear the faint squeal of an animal. I follow the sound as I keep an eye out for her, but as soon as I get close enough, I recognize it instantly.

An Ember Boar piglet.

…

No. I’ve learned my lesson.

As I turn to leave, it squeals again—and this time I realize who’s squealing.

Porkchop.

…

He didn’t leave me behind…

…

…

…Like heck I’m leaving him behind!

I sprint toward Porkchop’s cries until a barn comes into view. Throwing open the doors, I—

Everything goes dark as a sack is yanked over my head.

“Tie her up!” Owen orders.

I try to resist but quickly find my wrists and ankles bound before I’m tossed against a wall.

“Told you it’d get her to come!“ Sam exclaims.

“We did it! The village is safe!” Ben cheers.

Owen cuts him off. “Not yet. We still have to take her to the adults and tell them what happened. I hate to admit it, but she’s strong. If the adults can get her to use her magic to drive away the monsters, the village could finally be safe… nobody else would ever have to get hurt again.”

“Stop! You have to let him go!” I plead.

“Oh please,” Owen scoffs. “We’ve heard it all before.”

“You don’t understand! He’s just a baby!”

“We’ve got you tied up, and you're worried about the monster? You really are a freak.”

“That’s not it! You can’t just kidnap an Ember Boar piglet! You have to let him go or else—”

Suddenly, screams erupt from outside. A moment later, the barn is engulfed in flames.

Porkchop’s mom comes smashing through the barn doors. I can just barely make out her shape through the tiny gaps in the sack’s stitching.

The second she spots Porkchop, she charges. The boys try to dive out of the way, but they’re sent flying. Sam and Ben are knocked unconscious instantly, while Owen reels on the ground. She picks Porkchop up with her mouth and blasts straight through the opposite side of the barn.

Between the fire and her two charges, the barn finally gives way. Both exits are buried beneath falling debris.

I start coughing as smoke fills the barn.

I’ve never been so terrified.

I don’t want to die. Not so alone.

I miss Mom. I miss Dad. I miss Granny… I even miss—

“Squee!”

“Pudding!”

He climbs up my body and into my satchel. A moment later, I hear him frantically devouring herbs. Within seconds, the herbs take effect, and he rapidly grows, safely encasing me within his gelatinous body.

I feel him begin bouncing, each leap carrying us higher than the last until finally he launches us through the hayloft opening high above.

Soon after we land outside, Pudding shrinks back down.

I feel him dissolving the ropes binding my wrists and ankles until, at last, they fall away. I rip the sack off my head and quickly wipe my glasses clean.

“Pudding…” Tears well in my eyes.

“I’m so sorry! I said so many horrible things to you, and you still risked your life to come save me! I couldn’t have been more wrong! You’re the best little buddy a girl could ask for!”

Pudding bounces excitedly, unable to contain his joy. “Squee! Squee! Squee! Squee!”

Laughing through the tears, I throw my arms around him and hug him as tightly as I can. “Oh Pudding, I’m never letting go—”

Suddenly, a summoner’s circle appears beneath us. Ancient runes flare to life around its edge, their white glow shifting to pale blue as mana courses through them. A massive pillar of light erupts into the night sky, engulfing us both.

…

Warmth. Somehow… Joy floods through me. But not my own. His. Then the light slowly fades.

“I-I don’t understand… A summoner’s contract? But I didn’t—”

“Help! Somebody! Please! Sam and Ben aren’t moving! We can’t get out!”

Owen’s desperate cries snap me back to reality—they’re still inside.

I look toward the burning barn. Villagers crowd around the entrance in a panic, unable to clear the collapsed debris. Others form a frantic bucket line, but there’s nowhere near enough water to stop the flames.

My whole body trembles, knowing what I have to do.

Pudding gently nudges my hand. A comforting warmth spreads through my chest.

Calm. Determination. They’re not my emotions…

They’re his.

Somehow… I stop shaking.

I take a deep breath and steel my resolve. “Pudding, I need your help.”

He looks up at me.

“I know what those boys did to you. I know they tried to hurt you…” My throat tightens. “But I can’t just sit here and watch them die. Nobody deserves that. Not even them.”

I gently rest my hand against him. “Will you help me save them?”

“Squee!”

With no time to lose, I feed Pudding every last bit of the herbs he ate before, causing him to rapidly expand again—even larger than last time, now having to roll to move around. I follow up with another set of herbs, making his surface more adhesive.

I climb inside Pudding and he rolls up the burning wall before jumping through the hayloft. We land directly in front of Owen, Sam, and Ben. They’re all awake now, though only barely. The moment they recognize us, their eyes go wide, whatever panic the fire had inspired instantly replaced by sheer terror.

We emerge from a wall of flames left by an Ember Boar they must believe I called to the village, and an enormous slime now towers over them.

To them…

The witch and her monster had returned.