The Savage

“If you weren’t so annoying, I’d make you dinner,” Anya said.

“Already preparing for dinner? Forget it. I’ve found out you didn’t get there. So go on to the station and wait for the next train.”

“Another train? Do you know when the next one is?”

“If we’re lucky, tomorrow. But most likely it runs there every other day to our out-of-the-way place.”

“But it’s already dark. Should I go back to the station? And sleep there?”

“Exactly! Right through that door.”

“Can I stay the night with you?”

“No,” he snapped.

What a stubborn one! Anya pressed her lips together and thought feverishly about how to persuade this uncooperative man. She didn’t want to wander around the village in the dark with a suitcase and look for another house.

???

I was going to the village to my brother, and ended up with the most real savage.
He lives out on the edge, alone—and shoots at women with a gun. Not normal. How do you find a common language with him? Also, he thinks I’m a city pretty thing—stupid and not fit for life. But he doesn’t know me at all…