The Man Who Failed the World
an excerpt

“In her beautiful but sad Italian, she said ‘Master, how is this so? I saw you dead upon your bed. I helped carry you to be burned myself. Master! How is this so?! Are you evil? Surely not! But how can so kind a man raise himself from the dead, in this time without miracles?’

“Unbeknownst to either of us, my neighbor had come around to investigate the cause of Benne’s inquiries. Upon seeing me, he yelled ‘foul creature! Help! A man has risen from the dead! He is the most unholy!’

“I knew staying to explain would do no good, only harm, so I made haste to mount my horse and depart. As I rode away, I looked back and said to Benne ‘your service was most kind and will not be forgotten. Please, take care.’ I could see the confused tears streaming down her face even as the dust began to form behind me.

“Before I made it around a corner, I could already hear guards crying out behind me, ‘Arresti! Arresti! Signore!’ I cursed myself for ever having made acquaintance with anyone in this damned town. How many times did I have to learn this lesson? I pulled my cloak down further and goaded my poor beast of burden on. We had no time to lose. In a time such as this, tales of the walking dead might follow a man. The guards at the gate had no idea who I was yet, so I rode quickly past them and never looked back.

"I needed to get away from civilization for a while."