Dully, Erin wondered how long it would take for her teeth to rot or her gums to start bleeding. Not too long now.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a good day. But at least she had food. And if she didn\u2019t have money, at least it was a new day.<\/p>\n
With her stomach full, Erin felt a little better. Ready to face the day, at least. She made a mental list of what to do. Gather blue fruit first. Then she\u2019d make some pasta, some bread, and then she\u2019d figure out how to\u2014<\/p>\n
Knock. Knock.<\/em><\/p>\n Erin jolted upright. Someone was at the door. Was it Pisces? Well, it was just another headache for the day. She\u2019d deal with him and\u2014<\/p>\n Knockknockknockknockknockknock\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t<\/em> Pisces. Erin got up and went over to the door. Whoever was there was seriously excited. Too energetic at this time of day.<\/p>\n Erin yanked open the door.<\/p>\n \u201cWho the hell<\/em>\u2014oh. It\u2019s you.\u201d<\/p>\n Relc grinned at Erin. He was holding something in one hand and his spear in the other.<\/p>\n \u201cGood morning, Miss Human! It\u2019s me, your favorite [Guardsman]! And how are you doing this fine morning?\u201d<\/p>\n Erin blinked at him. It was far too early to have to stare at a giant lizard grinning at her with a mouth full of sharp teeth.<\/p>\n \u201cHey Erin, I\u2019ve just taken care of your Goblin problem for you! Took all damn night, but that\u2019s how much I wanted to apologize. See?\u201d<\/p>\n Relc raised his spear triumphantly. A bit of something fell to the ground. Erin blinked and stared at it. Red.<\/p>\n She looked up and saw red blood dripping down the spear, running along Relc\u2019s claw and onto the floor of her inn. Relc noticed that and pulled the spear back outside.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry about that, Miss Erin. You see, I was just disposing of the Goblins. Call it me making up for yesterday. But now that they\u2019re gone, the others should leave you alone, especially once I set these up around the inn. Uh, do you have any sticks? I need some sticks or something.\u201d<\/p>\n Relc lifted the objects in his left hand. Erin looked at them and saw two melons. Green melons? No.<\/p>\n Her eyes went back up to Relc\u2019s grinning face. She stared at his bloody spear. He was talking, but the words were suddenly impossible to make out over the buzzing in Erin\u2019s ears. She looked at his smile. She looked at the spear, still covered in drying red blood.<\/p>\n She looked down and saw the heads.<\/p>\n There were two of them in Relc\u2019s claw. He\u2019d grabbed them by their ears, and the force was already tearing the dead flesh. Each one\u2019s eyes were still open, their lifeless expressions twisted in fear. Blood still dripped from one, down into the eye sockets of another.<\/p>\n Erin\u2019s eyes wandered up and away from the heads. She stared out past Relc\u2019s shoulder. It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. There wasn\u2019t a cloud in the sky.<\/p>\n She looked down at the heads. They were still there. She looked up at Relc. He was still speaking, but stopped and looked at her in concern. He dropped the heads carelessly to the ground. Erin heard each one thump<\/em> wetly on the floorboards of the inn.<\/p>\n Relc raised his clawed hand and reached out for her. The same one he\u2019d held the heads with.<\/p>\n Erin threw up. She vomited up the sausages, choked, and threw up some more.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n She felt a hand holding her, helping her upright. She pushed away at it, retched.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014\u2014? \u2014\u2014. \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n Her head was spinning. Her ears were filled with a piercing, high-pitched sound.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014? \u2014\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n Erin looked around. The heads were still there. She threw up again, but there was nothing left. But still, she threw up bile, and then retched and retched until she couldn\u2019t breathe or think.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n At last, Erin stopped. She felt strong hands lifting her up and felt herself being sat in a chair in the inn. Relc\u2019s anxious face peered at her, and she felt his hand on her temple. She stared past him at the heads. They were lying on the floor of the inn. Their eyes were open. Blood had dried on their faces.<\/p>\n Erin took one deep breath. The world spun around her, and she heard nothing. Just static. She felt numb, like she was in surgery. But underneath that numbness was something terrible.<\/p>\n She looked at Relc. The Drake was fussing over her, trying to get her attention. She looked back at the heads. Then she began to scream. He reached for her, with concern in his eyes. A blank look of uncomprehending concern. Then\u2026confusion. Frustration. Outrage.<\/p>\n The Drake looked down at the two heads on the ground and laughed. Through the ringing in her ears, she saw him kick one slightly with a toe, then recoil and clap his hands to his earholes. He stared at her. Then he shouted, threw up his hands, and turned. Came back, pointing a finger, and she\u2014<\/p>\n She kept screaming, like that wordless howl in her ears.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2014\u2014<\/p>\n Erin walked outside with the two Goblin heads in her arms. They weren\u2019t cold. They weren\u2019t warm, either. They were just fleshy. Heavy, fleshy. And dead.<\/p>\n She made sure not to drop them as she walked. She didn\u2019t know where she was going, only that she had to find the bodies. She left the inn behind and began walking.<\/p>\n Relc was gone. He\u2019d left sometime earlier.<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t remember anything. Just flashes of her screaming at Relc to get out<\/em> and hurling things. Screaming, crying, vomiting. And then the heads. Picking them up where they lay.<\/p>\n Erin walked with them in her arms. Everything was going by too quickly. One moment she was inside, the next she was out, looking around for\u2026for\u2026<\/p>\n The bodies.<\/p>\n The dead bodies were lying out in the open. Two corpses lay in a bed of trampled grass at the base of a hill. There was nothing\u2014graceful about it. There was no dignity. Just flies, buzzing already. The Drake hadn\u2019t done anything, just removed their heads and presented them to her like a trophy. Like an apology gift.<\/p>\n Erin stopped. She placed the two heads on the ground and walked over to the bodies. They told a story. She wasn\u2019t good at forensics or anything like that, but she could still read what had happened. The blood was still wet on the ground.<\/p>\n Two died\u2026there. At the top of the hill, running. Relc had probably cut the first one down in an instant. The other had run, but not far. He\u2019d made it only a few steps before a spear had stabbed him from behind. Multiple times.<\/p>\n Erin looked at the bloody holes and felt nothing. No. That wasn\u2019t right. She felt something. She felt so many emotions she couldn\u2019t think. But they were buried deep within her heart. Right now, the numbness made her feel like she was in the middle of a silent world.<\/p>\n She placed the heads down next to the bodies. Which belonged to which? She looked at the cuts around each head. The\u2026the cuts were too similar to match one to a body. She had to roll over the corpses to check the other side.<\/p>\n The sunlight kept their bodies warm. But they were still cold, and Erin\u2019s hands were colder still. She flipped them over carefully and learned something else.<\/p>\n One was male, one was female. It was hard to tell from their faces, but they were distinctly a pair. The same who\u2019d been throwing stones at her? Hadn\u2019t there been three?<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t know. Erin couldn\u2019t think. The coldness grew worse. Erin began to shake. She crawled away to throw up, but found she couldn\u2019t. So she went back and stared at the two bodies.<\/p>\n Their blood had long stopped flowing, but the grass was still red. They smelled, but only of dirt and blood. Not of death and rot. Not yet. But they were rotting. And in the sun, they would start to stink soon.<\/p>\n Erin knew this. She didn\u2019t know<\/em> it, but she\u2019d read about it. They would rot and attract bugs. They were already.<\/p>\n A green fly landed on one of the bodies. Erin stared at it. An Acid Fly. It fanned its wings and began to crawl over the male Goblin\u2019s body.<\/p>\n She swatted it. The bug exploded as her hand struck it, and the acid burned her palm. Erin scrubbed her hand in the grass and rubbed dirt on her skin. It was raw and red, but she ignored it as soon as most of the burning had stopped.<\/p>\n She needed to bury the bodies. Or they would rot.<\/p>\n Erin went inside the inn. She came out a few minutes later holding a long wooden spoon. It was probably used for stirring one of the big pots. It would do.<\/p>\n She began digging in the grass where the bodies lay. It was hard work. She had to tear out the grass before she could pry at the soil. And even then, the ground wasn\u2019t easy to break up. But she persisted, and the few clumps of dirt grew as she dug deeper.<\/p>\n Slowly. Like making a sandcastle at the beach. Erin dug down, and the pile of dirt beside her grew. The hole was small, and every time she tried to scoop out more dirt, the walls caved in. But she kept digging. And the pile of dirt grew.<\/p>\n At some point, the wooden spoon broke. Erin used her hands. They began to bleed after a while. She kept digging.<\/p>\n At last, the hole was big enough. Erin picked up the first body and laid it in the grave. It fit. It more than fit. The hole she\u2019d dug was big enough for a Human, which meant more than enough to fit both Goblins inside.<\/p>\n They were such small creatures. Erin vaguely wondered if she should dig one more grave.<\/p>\n She looked down at her bloody hands and broken nails. No.<\/p>\n She placed the second body in the grave, next to the first. Then came the heads. She placed each with their body. One, and then two.<\/p>\n As Erin picked up the second head, she heard a sound. She turned around and saw the Goblin standing in the long grass.<\/p>\n The Goblin was small and ragged. It was wearing a grey, stained loincloth and a few rags tied to its chest. It held a small knife. It stared at Erin and the head she held in her hands.<\/p>\n Erin paused. Her head was still filled with static, but her mouth tried to say something. Too late. The Goblin rushed at her, screaming wildly and slashing with the dagger.<\/p>\n Erin stepped back. She held the last Goblin\u2019s head in one hand and waited until the other Goblin was close. She leapt sideways at the last moment, and the small Goblin missed her. It turned, still flailing its weapon.<\/p>\n She slapped the Goblin as hard as she could across the face. Her hand made a krack<\/em> as she sent the Goblin tumbling to the ground, and it lost hold of the dagger it was carrying. It whimpered and fled from Erin, scrabbling after the weapon in the grass.<\/p>\n Erin was still staring at the Goblin as it seized the dagger and spun to face her. It was small. So small. Like a child. This one was a child. But it had murder in its eyes.<\/p>\n Erin\u2019s mind was still hazy. But as the Goblin stared at her in tense silence, she realized what she wanted to say. It came to her when she saw the tears running from the Goblin\u2019s red eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n It rushed at her. Erin stepped forward and kicked<\/em> the Goblin in the stomach. She\u2019d done that to a boy as a child, only now she was kicking a child.<\/p>\n The Goblin vomited and then curled up into a little ball of pain. It tried to scrabble away from her, but it was in too much pain. Erin stared at the Goblin lying on the ground. She still held the head of the other Goblin in her hands.<\/p>\n The smart thing to do would be to kill it. She\u2019d level up, and then she\u2019d be rid of one less Goblin trying to kill her. If she let it live, it would get reinforcements. She\u2019d never be safe so long as they were around. They were dangerous monsters. They\u2019d kill her in her sleep and eat her or do worse if they could. It was survival of the fittest. She\u2019d pay for letting it live. It was it or her. She had to\u2014<\/p>\n The thoughts ran through Erin\u2019s head as she looked at the twitching Goblin. It was small. She turned and placed the last head with the bodies.<\/p>\n When she turned around, the Goblin was gone.<\/p>\n Erin put the last head in the grave and stared at it. Then she slowly began to fill in the rest of the grave.<\/p>\n It was a long process. Erin packed the dirt in tightly and made a mound of the rest. She pushed on the dirt and made it as firm as possible. Then she stared at the uneven pile of upturned soil.<\/p>\n Erin placed her hands together and bowed her head. Then she let her hands fall away. There were no words for her to say. So she patted the last bit of dirt into place and sat down on the grass.<\/p>\n The sun was shining. The sky was a deep, deep blue. She didn\u2019t cry. She just sat and rocked back and forth as she stared at the grave she\u2019d dug.<\/p>\n Erin didn\u2019t blink.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014<\/p>\n She looked up when she heard the horn.<\/p>\n It was no echoing bass rumble of a dread army\u2019s herald. And neither was it a clarion call to victory sounded upon a dark battlefield. It just sounded like a horn. But it was loud. And it made her look up.<\/p>\n A Goblin stood upon a hill and stared down at her. He was nearly a head taller than Erin. So he was very big for a Goblin, but small, still. His body was muscled and wide, but taut, as of someone starved for enough food. His head was covered by a rusted helmet, and he wore mismatched bits of metal armor on his body.<\/p>\n Even without being told, Erin knew he was the leader of whatever Goblin tribe lived around here. And she also knew he was out for blood.<\/p>\n Hers.<\/em><\/p>\n She got up slowly. It wasn\u2019t that she was terrified; it was that she was still in shock. She backed away slowly as the Goblin Chieftain pulled something from behind his back.<\/p>\n Her thoughts scrambled together. The inn? Or the city? She could probably outrun him, but the other Goblins were sure to be nearby. So where were they?<\/p>\n Erin was so busy looking out for other Goblins sneaking up on her that she only realized that the Chieftain was holding a bow when he fired the first shot.<\/p>\n An arrow struck the grass next to her feet and quivered in the packed soil. Erin turned and ran.<\/p>\n A second arrow missed her as well. So did the third. The fourth passed through the gap between her pumping arms.<\/p>\n Erin crested a small hill and immediately dove. She hit the grass face-first and slid painfully, and the fifth arrow missed the spot where her back had been. She got to her feet to run again and saw the Goblins.<\/p>\n They stood together, a silent wall of small bodies and red, staring eyes. They were staring at her. Not many all told. Forty? Less? If she had to guess, it was a small tribe. Smaller than the one she\u2019d run away from that first day. But they were all armed. She waited for them to charge. She waited to die.<\/p>\n Not one of them moved. They watched her, that was all. They made no sound.<\/p>\n One of them was quivering. It was standing close to Erin and holding a knife. A small knife, held by a small hand. Erin recognized it.<\/p>\n It was the ragged Goblin from earlier. It stared at Erin, and she stared back. She could tell it wanted to cut her, to attack. But it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n A horn blew from the other side of the hill. Erin looked up. The Goblin Chieftain. He was the one who was orchestrating it all.<\/p>\n So. She stared back at the Goblin. It stared back, hatred and death in its eyes. Crimson eyes. They were unnatural, monstrous.<\/p>\n But still, they were too much like a Human\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t kill them.\u201d<\/p>\n Erin said it out loud. She didn\u2019t expect it to understand, but the Goblin jerked in surprise. It looked at her, searching for the meaning in Erin\u2019s words. The young woman looked into those sad, crimson eyes and saw the pupils lost and staring. She spoke, her voice rasping.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t kill them, but it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n It looked into her eyes. Erin looked right back. Then she got up and ran.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t scream as they followed her. That was the scariest part. The Goblin tribe followed Erin swiftly, running as fast as they could to keep up, but they didn\u2019t move to cut her off. They just followed.<\/p>\n Maybe they would have stopped her if she\u2019d run for the city. But Erin ran for her inn and so they let her go. They weren\u2019t here to kill her. Just to watch.<\/p>\n Without being told, Erin knew this was different. If it were just a fight or them trying to kill her, they would have swarmed her and ripped her to shreds in an instant. But this was a hunt.<\/p>\n And the Chieftain was the one hunting her.<\/p>\n Maybe he thought she was easy prey. He was right. And he probably could have guessed Erin wasn\u2019t the one who killed the Goblins. It didn\u2019t matter. It was blood for blood. The oldest of vengeances.<\/p>\n Erin thought all this as she hurtled through the door of her inn and blocked it with as many tables and chairs as she could. She knew it as she scrambled to find a kitchen knife, a frying pan\u2014anything to defend herself. And she knew it when she sat in a chair and tasted death in the air.<\/p>\n She gave up on looking for a weapon. She sat and stared at the door. She heard the Chieftain\u2019s horn call far away and then again as he drew closer slowly.<\/p>\n There was nowhere to run. And she couldn\u2019t fight.<\/p>\n It had dawned on her as she was holding the sharp kitchen knife. She\u2019d been trying to imagine her facing the armored Goblin, dodging blows, countering with a slash and then cutting\u2014<\/p>\n No. It was impossible.<\/p>\n She was no warrior.<\/p>\n Erin sat in the wooden chair and felt it rub against her t-shirt. She felt her hands, slick with sweat. She tasted blood from running too hard and felt each breath tear a hole in her lungs. She was alive. She knew she wasn\u2019t dreaming.<\/p>\n And she knew she was going to die.<\/p>\n \u201cCheckmate.\u201d<\/p>\n She sat at the table in the inn and stared at the door. It occurred to her, suddenly, that this was the first time she\u2019d sat around and really had a chance to think. Because this was, in a sense, the first time she\u2019d ever had when she wasn\u2019t reacting blindly to events.<\/p>\n Maybe if she\u2019d taken more time earlier, she would never have come to this point. If she\u2019d thought ahead, maybe she\u2019d have asked Klbkch and Relc how much food was worth. If she\u2019d thought for a second, she would have known what Relc meant by taking care of the Goblins yesterday. Maybe then she\u2019d have stopped Relc from killing the Goblins.<\/p>\n But she hadn\u2019t. So she was here. But it was a terrible thing, waiting. So Erin sat and thought.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll think. I\u2019ll think for once about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Erin closed her eyes and tried to ignore the horn as it blew from far away. The Goblin Chieftain wasn\u2019t moving fast. He was probably walking, saving his energy for when he got here. He was in no hurry.<\/p>\n She thought about Goblins. She thought about how they had leaders, and how it was the leader\u2019s job to defend his people. Maybe he didn\u2019t care about them. And maybe he wouldn\u2019t take revenge if it were an adventurer or guardsman that killed them and then went back into a city with stone walls. But what about a stupid Human living by herself out in the middle of nowhere?<\/p>\n She thought about the small Goblin who\u2019d attacked her. She thought about families, and thought about her parents. She thought about the Goblin Chieftain and his axes and armor.<\/p>\n She thought about what would happen to her when he caught her.<\/p>\n \u201cCheckmate.\u201d<\/p>\n Erin whispered it again. It sounded wrong, for some reason.<\/p>\n Checkmate. She\u2019d heard that word too many times. But those had been games. This was real life. And she\u2014she didn\u2019t want to die.<\/p>\n But she was about to. That was why she was sitting in the inn. Erin heard the horn blaring again in the distance and knew that death was coming. So. Checkmate.<\/p>\n Was it? She had to ask. Erin whispered to herself a single question.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it checkmate or just check?\u201d<\/p>\n Erin stared at her hands. She hadn\u2019t washed them. And she could still feel the clammy, lifeless head in her palms. She sat in the inn and stared down into the lifeless eyes of the two Goblin heads.<\/p>\n Horn call. <\/em>She looked up at the door. The big Goblin was moving slowly. He wanted her to be afraid. To despair. To panic. There was nowhere to run. And if the only options were to fight and kill or run and die\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cIf only it were dying.\u201d<\/p>\n Erin whispered those words. She didn\u2019t want to die. But better than anything else. So. Fight. And kill.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n But she had to. Erin started shaking. There was no option. It was as clear a choice as she\u2019d known. She could run or hide, and maybe, maybe she\u2019d succeed. But if he caught her, she\u2019d have to fight and win. And to win, she\u2019d have to kill him. It was kill him or give up.<\/p>\n \u201cCheckmate.\u201d<\/p>\n Did she have a fever? Erin\u2019s body flashed between burning heat and empty cold. She was shaking, but something inside of her was calm. So terribly calm.<\/p>\n Erin closed her eyes. She knew. But she didn\u2019t want to. Her mouth was dry, but she forced herself to speak.<\/p>\n \u201cOh Father who art in Heaven\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Her voice trailed off. She\u2019d forgotten the rest long ago. And there was no God to listen to her. No merciful god would condone what she was about to do.<\/p>\n Erin opened her eyes. She stared at her hands and thought. Who was her enemy?<\/p>\n A Goblin. Not just any Goblin, but a Chieftain. A leader among their kind. Strong? Yes. Stronger than the others by far. But maybe not that much stronger than a normal Human man. If she were better at fighting\u2026<\/p>\n But he had two axes. And a bow and arrow. And he had levels, whatever that meant. He was a better fighter. And what did Erin have?<\/p>\n She looked around. She had an inn. She had a kitchen, the few supplies she\u2019d bought from the city. She had a common room full of tables and chairs, an upstairs with no way out save through the windows. She had kitchen knives, pots, pans, and an empty fireplace.<\/p>\n Erin closed her eyes and thought. She opened them a minute later and knew.<\/p>\n A horn blew somewhere in the distance<\/em>. Erin listened to it and heard her heartbeat drowning out her thoughts. She knew what she had to do.<\/p>\n Erin got up. Her ears were ringing, but the world was silent. She felt like a dreamer, walking through a sleeping world. Even the blaring horn call sounded faint. In this moment, she felt like she had all the time in the world.<\/p>\n Slowly, Erin walked into the kitchen. She bent and fished around in the bag of food she\u2019d bought. There it was. Was it enough? It would be enough.<\/p>\n Erin looked around and picked up the cast iron cooking pot. It was small, but it would do.<\/p>\n All the embers in the kitchen\u2019s fireplace had long since turned to ash. Erin tossed in a few pieces of wood and slowly bent to strike sparks. It was slow. The horn kept calling, louder and louder. But her hands never wavered. She was still dreaming.<\/p>\n At last, the fire caught. Erin fed the small blaze, and it grew slowly. She added enough wood and set the pot above the fire. It would be hot soon enough. The fire was growing.<\/p>\n That was it. Erin filled the pot to the brim with the item she\u2019d taken from the shopping bag. Then she put the lid on the pot. Slowly, she walked back into the main room of the inn. And sat down.<\/p>\n The horn blew<\/em>. It was from right outside the inn. Erin heard the Goblin\u2019s heavy footsteps now, the rattle of his metal armor. He paused before the door.<\/p>\n Thud<\/em>.<\/p>\n The door rattled. The chairs and tables blocking it moved from the force of the impact. Erin stared at the door.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all just a game.\u201d<\/p>\n She whispered to herself. She didn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n Thud<\/em>.<\/p>\n Another impact. This time, Erin heard cracking. The door wouldn\u2019t last. She had seconds left.<\/p>\n Thud.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The fire was starting in the kitchen. It would take time to heat the pot. Was it enough? It would have to be enough.<\/p>\n Thud.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The entire door shook. Erin saw the wood splinter around the hinges. She waited. Death was in her bones. But whether it was hers, she didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cKnight to D4. Pawn to E3.\u201d<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t want to die. But it might be better than what came next. Erin closed her eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI truly hate this world.\u201d<\/p>\n The door crashed inwards, and the Goblin Chieftain stepped into the inn.<\/p>\n Previous Chapter<\/a> Next Chapter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Erin woke up tired and bleary-eyed. She mechanically got up and remembered that she\u2019d forgotten to gather any blue fruits. She looked at the bag full of food she\u2019d dragged all the way to the inn. It was too much work to make pasta or bread, so she ate one of the sausages instead. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52856846,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"patreon-level":0,"patreon_level":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11693081,349],"tags":[],"twi_volume":[11693130],"twi_collection":[],"class_list":["post-13486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volume-1","category-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wanderinginn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/BebbeRags.jpg\")
<\/a>Rags<\/em> by ArtsyNada<\/a><\/p>\n
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