I Rejected My Obsessive Werebeast novel Chapter 54

Chapter 54

I wandered toward the sandbox.

Sat on the edge. Watched the bear beastman boy stacking blocks. He was about six, concentrated, tongue poking out the corner of his mouth. Every time the tower got too high, he’d hold his breath, place another block with exaggerated care, then exhale when it didn’t fall.

I didn’t say anything. I just watched.

After a while, he glanced at me, then went back to his blocks. A moment later, he looked over again.

“You want one?” he asked.

I shook my head. “You built it. It’s yours.”

He thought about that for a moment before picking up a block from the pile beside him and holding it out to me.

“You can have this one.”

“Thank you.” I took it and sat there with the wooden block in my hand while he went back to building.

Twenty minutes passed, maybe thirty.

The rabbit girl came back, a little closer this time. She stood a few feet away, watching the bear boy build his tower, both ears standing upright.

A fox beastman girl, maybe seven years old, wandered over next. Her two tails twitched behind her as she sat beside me on the edge of the sandbox, swinging her legs without saying a word.

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Then a little cat beastman, maybe four, curled up in the sand a few fec away and started digging.

I stayed where I was, letting them come and go without trying to draw them into conversation.

The fox girl spoke first. “Are you a new teacher?”

I looked at her. “No. Just visiting.”

She frowned. “Visiting who?”

“The kids,” I said. “I wanted to see you all.”

She considered this. Then reached into the pocket of her overalls and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Unfolded it. Held it up.

A crayon drawing. Yellow sun in the corner. A house with a red roof. A stick figure with long hair standing in front of it.

“I drew this just now. That’s you,” she said. “Because you have long hair.”

I took the drawing. Looked at it. The lines were wobbly. The proportions were off. The stick figure’s arms were different lengths.

I folded it carefully. Put it in my bag.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll keep it.”

She smiled. Small. Quick. Then she stood up and ran back to wherever ‘she’d come from.

The afternoon stretched out.

The cat beastman fell asleep in the sand. The bear boy’s tower eventually collapsed. He didn’t cry. Just started rebuilding.

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The rabbit girl sat next to me again. Closer this time. Her shoulder pressed against my arm. She didn’t say anything. Just sat there, watching the other kids.

I didn’t move. Didn’t shoo her away. Just let her stay.

–

By the time the staff called us in for lunch, the tension had gone. Most of them weren’t watching me with suspicion anymore. They were just being children. Running. Shouting. Fighting over toys. Being small.

We sat at a long table for lunch. The staff served rice, vegetables, and small portions of meat. The children ate with the focused intensity of kids who know food isn’t always guaranteed.

One boy – a deer beastman, maybe seven

—

sat next to me. He ate slowly.

Picked at his food. Then, without a word, he pushed a piece of dried meat off his plate. It landed next to my hand.

He didn’t look up or say anything. He just kept eating.

I glanced at the piece of meat, then at him.

I didn’t thank him or make a fuss about it. I just picked it up and ate it.

He glanced at me once before going back to his rice.

After lunch, the children scattered back into the yard.

I sat on a bench at the edge. Pulled out my phone. Checked messages. Nothing urgent.

A small shadow fell across my knee.

It was the rabbit beastman girl. She had quietly made her way over and was standing there, looking up at me. Both her ears were upright now. The one that had been folded was straight again.

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i looked down at her. “Hey.”

She didn’t answer right away. She just stood there for a moment before saying quietly,

“You smell nice.”

Before I could respond, another small figure appeared. A wolf beastman boy, maybe five. He sniffed the air. Loudly.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s like… a blanket that’s been in the sun.”

I lifted my sleeve. Sniffed. “I don’t smell anything. Must be the laundry detergent.”

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