Nezumi waited for the words to sink in, for Paukka to wrap his mind around the offer, the request, if he so wished to see it that way. Leaving wasn't always the right thing to do. There had been cases where people left, having been seduced and drawn towards the path by Eve or by some other circus member, and then half-way down the road they realised they didn't belong to the travelling life. They became homesick and deserted and nothing but going back to their roots would soothe them. Sometimes, it was food that people missed. Or it were traditions kept by their people. Or it was a neighbour. Or it was simply the version of them that they could be while living in comfort of the known.
Perhaps Paukka would be such a person, but it was difficult to say that in advance.
"You know that I'm not a real fortuneteller, don't you?" Nezumi raised his brows in amused reproach. "I can't predict the future. I only speak of what I see and I offer an option. You're wrong to think that you wouldn't fit it โ and you're even worse if you want to doubt it. Your misery and loneliness aren't special here, and they will not be special anywhere else. You aren't uniquely tortured, Sheriff. Everyone you know has something going on, but it's up to you to take responsibility for your own well-being."
"What I'm offering you is a solution. I've met people like you, similar to you, who were unhappy and alone and couldn't sleep. People who were haunted by their own selves, their own thoughts and their own misery, and they couldn't, for the life of them, figure out why that was. And I've found that sometimes, a seed doesn't germinate close to home but must travel a great distance before it becomes a strong tree. Sometimes, the problem is that there is nobody to water that seed where it currently is, and that is a great pain, because nothing can grow from an unnurtured ground. I told you before. We've spoken about it."
Nezumi leaned in, verging on desperation to be heard, using as many words as he could find so that Paukka would hear him โ to reach into the man's heart and pull him towards light, if he could.
"Pack your bags, take your horse and leave with us before the seed of your soul becomes nothing but rotten, dusty ground, no different from the muck you're standing on right now." He reached out and gripped Paukka's shoulder. "Sever the ties you have here, free yourself from the chains, and breathe fresh air. With me. With us. I'll teach you. I can be there for you โ so many of us can โ but you have to let us. You have to make the choice."