Chapter Text
"Opal! Hey, right on time!" Oral called, running out of Stephanie's store to great her. He ran up to hug her, causing Opal to stiffen for the hug. Once Oral had let go, she smiled, shaking off the feeling of hands on her body. Oral took her hand, basically dragging her to the forest, "I brought all the stuff for the mini claymation! I even brought my Bible so we can pray, it's not my lucky one, but it'll do!!"
Opal nodded, following close behind, she pittered up to be besides him. Opal slowly slipped her hand out of Orels grasp, despite finally getting the friendly love and attention from somebody that she'd craved for years, it still made her uncomfortable. Orel sprinted through the uncharted path, Opal tripping and stumbling behind him. "There's a clearing nearby where we can film it! We should pray first though" Orel narrated, his gestures overly animated. Orel marched into the clearing, sprinting to the middle of the clearing and twirling around to show her, "Tada!!! Its perfect! "Orel layed a picnic blanket down, he scrambled through his backpack, pulling out a midnight black Bible with golden lettering. Orel knelt on the blanket, gesturing for her to join him. She nodded, sitting on the side of her hips as her knees are to bruised and painful to kneel properly. Orel opened his Bible, the satisfactory crackling of books spine echoing through forest. The smell of glue from the pages making orel smile. Not as happy as he was before but Orel would take any pinch of happiness he could get.
"Let me show you my favorite Bible quotes!"
Orel and Opal had been praying and reading for a good hour or so. Though neither were very into it, which is strange because it's Orel. Opal had clocked out a long while ago, she zoned back in, coming face to face to a crossed out section of the page.
"Wait. Wait, why's that crossed out?" She questioned, pointing at the page. Orel tilted his head.
"Oh? Uhm, my dad crosses things out sometimes. It's just pencil so we can still read it" Orel said, pulling it closer to his face, "Uhhhhh, "Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged'' hm. That checks out." Orel flipped to the next page, finding another quote, only half crossed out. It seemed to have been crossed out then erased at some point. Opal hummed in curiosity, pointing at the once scribbled out words, "A man must not lay next to a man? Oh, makes sense why my dad would try to cross it out"
Opal nodded, waiting as Orel continued. Opal turned to face Orel, "Can we do the Clay mation now?" She asked, pulling his backpack closer to them. He agreed, pulling out a tile plate to work on, his camera, some wires, and a bunch of clay. He layed them out, pushing some of it over at her.
"Here you go! Make your own character, then I was thinking we could make a story together! Do you have any ideas for it?" Orel asked, tilting his head. Opal took the clay, piling it onto the wire skeleton. She stared at whatever she was making, deciding against awnsering the last question, "You can talk to me you know that right?" Opal nodded.
After a healthy 30 minutes she'd finished the clay figurine and a second one too, they were.. mildly horrifying, uncanny is the word. The type of horror only possible through a childs imagination. A horrifying creature resembling a bear, it looked disfigured, though, with a significantly drooped face. Like an alcoholic on a rough night. Of course, both being children they didn't see how creepy it looked, "Oo, that's a cool one. I was thinking we could make them go to church! Maybe we could continue a story of mine. Only if you want" Orel complimented, showing her his original clay characters, he also pulled out the small Jesus figure. He grabbed a diffrent character, it was a black huminod wolf, "Oh, I should probably redesign him... I've redesigned some of the others so I should do that to, to keep up continuity."
Opal shrugged, staring at her little clay atrocity, "Maybe we can make a diffrent story. It'd be a new story. Like a new life for them. And us."
"Oh golly... A new story? I don't think I could ever make a new story without him. He's what makes the story a story" Orel mumbled, fiddling the clay figure between his fingers. Opal sighed, reaching out and touching his shoulder, "Is this the Wolfmans story? Or is it your story?"
Orel sat silently, the swaying rustling trees whispering the awnser at him. It's his story. It's his story, it's his life no one else's. Opal took her hand back, taking her clay figure in her hand. She put it down, taking more clay and making another character. A smaller one, one with a round face and a full healthy fleshed out body and an uncanny smile plasterd on its face. She took her old character holding it in her hands, "Did the wolf care or love you..?" Orel shook his head, staring at it. "The Bear never loved me either" She admitted, circling the thing in her hands. She dug her thumbs into its face, finding satisfaction in her own fingerprints being printed on her face instead of its drooped face. She put the figurine in both of her hands, squishing it and completly destroying it. It's her story now. She shoved it into Orels find of vision, giving it a firmer squeeze, ignoring the pricking of the metal skeleton, digging into the layers of skin of her palms.
Orel stared at the allegory in his hands, he felt an awful attachment, he was hugging the wolf while it bit him, tearing open his insides and taking sick joy in destroying him. He took a deep breath, squishing and destroying it. He dropped it into the grass, smiling lightly. He tossed it aside, Opal doing the same.
"Orel. I know the wolf man doesn't care about you."
"But I care.."