Bed

"Love never rots away. Love stays behind."

Benjamin Hollick is 12 years old.

He goes by Bed more often than not.

He can see animal spirits.

He has no regrets.

Bed has always found comfort in adventures into the woods. Since he was small he felt more at home among the trees than inside 4 walls. When Bed turned 10 he came across a clearing he hadn't seen in these woods before. Curious as any kid would be, he got closer and realized it seemed to have caught fire long ago, leaving a charred and barren husk in its wake. A feeling in Bed's stomach made him weary about continuing his investigation, but the sight of something just inside of the door lured him closer and closer until he was inside of the weak and battered building. Kneeling down, Bed slowly pulled what seemed to be a cow skull out of the rubble. The finding made him grimace, the young man muttering a prayer that this animal hadn't died in the fire. Examining it further, he discovered a part of the skull was missing. In this moment, as Bed raised the skull up to his head to get a closer look and his eyes lined up with the empty all-knowing sockets of that cow, everything in his life changed.

He now could see things he never saw before. Frozen in fear, wide blue eyes darted around the room trying to make sense of what he saw. The harder he looked, the more he came to realize these odd shapes seemed to have eyes and a mouth. He tried to offer a meek greeting to them, but he gained no response. As he scuttled to get up he dropped the skull, the heavy bone shattering across the barn floor. A piercing whine assaulted Bed's ears as he sprinted away, tears streaming down his face as he made a beeline home. Upon arrival to his doorstep he felt relief, confident that he had escaped whatever he had seen at the barn.

He hadn't.

Fast forward to now and Benjamin is 12 years of age. The beings he can now see have been identified as the spirits of animals who's remains have been separated, latching onto him as an anchor so they wouldn't become lost in the abyss without their remains to put them to rest. He has become comfortable with them, growing to genuinely care for and want to help the innocent souls. He now spends his time hunting down the scattered bones of his growing collection of spirit friends, sacrificing socialization time with his fellow humans in favor of his dead acquaintances. Bed is extremely anxious and paranoid around humans. His only living friend is Maska, who seems to have good intentions but has a crooked and questionable way of getting around.