An old farmer was fixing his farm's fence; the day was sunny, and the wind was calm. He was in joy as he loved nothing more in this world than to do his daily tasks. He never got married nor had offspring to lend him a hand, and was just by himself. But why? His reputation was the worst in the village. He is known as the lone crumby old man, so the kids were told to stay away from his farm to avoid trouble with him.
Nevertheless, kids never listen, so a couple of them were playing football beside the old man's fence. One of the kids kicked the ball so hard that it went over the fence and struck the old man on the head, who fell instantly to the floor unconscious. When the kids saw this, they ran to check on him.
A few minutes had passed, and some adults from the village gathered around him, trying to wake him up. After about thirty minutes, he woke up groaning from pain in his head.
"What happened?" he asked, "My head hurts."
The children tried to apologize, but he didn't give them a chance. Instead, he screamed at them and reproached them in the harshest, most insulting way.
He picked up his spade and proceeded to chase everyone off his land, the old and young, as he didn't care about any of them. "Stay away from my farm, you fools, and don't come back!"
He then coughed as he tried to catch his breath. He was getting old and weak.
One of the reasons he was disliked among the village residents, was that he's mean to everyone and hated people very much.
They tried, at least in the beginning, to understand him. They believed that his indignant action was the result of watching his farm fall into misery, unlike how it used to be.
Ever since he inherited his father's farm, there had been a steady decline in the production of the fields with each passing season. The land that once thrived under his father's care seemed to be withering.
He did everything in his youth and middle age to try to keep the only thing his father left him. He sacrificed his marriage and everything to wake up each day and take care of everything.
In the end, he was forced to sell much of it acre by acre until little remained of what he had once inherited. And though no one dared say it outright, there was an obvious belief among the neighbors: he had failed his father's bequest.
Yet after 35 years of hardship, he found peace by stabilizing the farm. It was not enough to restore what had been lost. Thus, he was no longer that joyful 22-year-old man as life broke him too much and turned him into someone who has no trust in anyone nor cares.
He assumes that people abandoned him in his hardship, so why should he care about any of them? The village is supposed to be made up of close-knit people who stand by each other, yet they turned their backs on him.
And so he lived with the disappointment he carried on his shoulders and the guilt on his face for the rest of his life.
After realizing the time, the old farmer started moving faster to finish his chores before sunset. While walking to the barn to check on the animals as usual, he heard a rustle in the bushes to the right. When he looked into the bushes at the end of the farm, he saw bright red eyes staring back at him. He couldn't tell what it was. At the beginning, he dismissed it, thinking it was because he was tired, but it kept moving around the bushes in the dark, which sent fear through his old bones. He ran instantly to grab his gun from his house, but when he came back, it was no longer there.
He stood there shaking and staring at the woods with his shotgun on his shoulder, trying to figure out if it was his imagination or if it was real, so he concluded it might be because of the hit on his head from earlier.
He went back to check on his livestock one last time for the day. Firstly, he decided to check on the sheep as they were like children to him. He always talks with them despite knowing very well they can't understand a word, but they are the ones with whom he only smiles and laughs. They don't mock him or complain about him, making him feel loved, at least by animals!
"How are you doing, my babes? I had a heck of a day. Some kids were playing again beside our farm, and I chased them off after being smacked in the head with their ball. Your father is strong, you know, that hit did nothing to me." He started to flex his flabby biceps
He paused for a minute, staring into the sheep that were already beginning to sleep.
"Those humans can't leave us alone, can they?" he muttered.
The farmer finally returned to his cottage and greeted his old dog Bobby, who had been sleeping on the front porch for most of the day.
"Sorry, old friend, it seems you're hungry. I will get you some food right away."
The farmer went to his kitchen to grab a can for Bobby, but the shelves were empty.
He grunted, "I need to visit the supermarket"
He got into his farm truck.
It was going to be a quick trip as the market was going to close soon.
While walking through the market, he wore a frowning face and his green, worn-out coat.
He took a couple of cans to keep him away from coming to the village for a while.
"How are you doing, my dear?" the old cashier asked with a smile
"We don't see you as often these days. I'm guessing these cans are for little Bobby."
The farmer looked down at the cans and then stared at the woman, thinking, "Can't this old hag shut up?"
With a grumpy voice, "He is not little anymore"
"I suppose none of us are," the woman said with a gentle laugh.
He placed the money on the counter
"Thank you," she said.
He grabbed the bags and went back to the farm.
Bobby was like his loyal friend; he had him for many years, a friend who was there for him through thick and thin. This dog was the only thing keeping the farmer sane in the past decade.
"Look what I got you, Bobby." He opened the food can for the dog to eat.
The farmer sat in his rocking chair beside Bobby, watching him eat.
But then the glowing red eyes from the forest appeared again in the darkness of the night.
He stood up and ran toward the direction of the glow with his shotgun already hung on his shoulder. Even the old Bobby began to follow the farmer.
In the blink of an eye, the glow disappeared, and he heard a loud howling from deep in the forest.
He knew better than to go there, especially in pitch-black.
He stood there again before walking fast back to the farm.
The old farmer was worried that the wolf would come and attack one of his cattle or sheep. With the help of Bobby, they led all the animals to the barn to make sure the wolf wouldn't be able to enter.
The farmer was sweating profusely because of all the running; he hadn't had that much of a physical movement in ages.
He even coughed blood, and his hands were trembling.
At that moment, he became more determined to kill the wolf.
"Time to hunt that wolf, Bobby."
But Bobby didn't seem excited as usual.
"Oh boy, don't be like that, everything is going to be ok." He bent down to pat the dog, a flicker of pain crossing his face, yet there was a smile.