A trip on the ramshackle glider was the stuff of Little stories. The furnace vents gave way to stovepipes, attics, and crawlspaces without rhyme or reason. Each time the passage split or opened up to a larger space, Alanna would call out a direction and the stuffies would coordinate to steer.
Shacklebolt, actually Wingsley Shacklebolt, Beartholomew had learned as they flew, would use mighty wingbeats from their dragon wings to alter their course. Finer adjustments came from Strawberry and Beartholomew, through the threads they’d conjured to shape the glider.
Occasionally those efforts would not be enough to push them to the passage that Alanna’s intuition said they should take. David the rabbit would leap fearlessly out, rebounding off a wall and crashing back to the glider for a massive push.
All the while Ginger the bear and Hamlet the fennec were preparing some kind of warding magic to shelter them when they arrived at their destination.
It would have been grand to say they arrived in fine style, with a swoop and a tip of their caps! Of course, it was rarely the case that stuffies were so coordinated and suave.
All the warning they got was Alanna roaring, “We are leaving The Woodwork!”
The glider crashed headlong into a vent cover, popping it off the wall and sending the stuffies spilling out into a stranger’s house. Fluff and threads went everywhere as the glider came apart. Beartholomew managed to pull in his threads without entangling any of his companions. They bounced lightly on the carpet and rolled up into alert stances.
It was night, but the house was not properly dark. There were lights on in the kitchen, the bathroom, and what looked like a bedroom. Before Beartholomew could get his bearings any further, a hulking shape emerged from that bedroom.
It was, to Beartholomew’s relief, not a monster. It was just a Big. Though, as he approached the group, he seemed a particularly grim Big. He was wearing a dingy gray t-shirt and gray shorts. His whole body was gray, in fact. It took Beartholomew a third look to realize that the Big was fairly young, for a human. He walked past the stuffies without registering them at all, pouring himself some coffee and returning to the room he’d emerged from.
“Do you suppose that’s the Caregiver?” Strawberry asked.
“I doubt it, unless the curse has fallen on them too.” Hamlet said.
“Look how gray he was.” Ginger said sadly.
“What do you mean?” Beartholomew asked.
“To the eyes of a stuffie, humans have color in proportion to their imagination.” Wingsley said.
“Or at least interesting contrast.” Alanna said. “My Little’s Caregiver is gothic, but not washed out like that.”
“So that Big has no imagination?” Beartholomew asked. It seemed impossible. Everyone had a little imagination, didn’t they? He hadn’t seen a completely colorless Big yet.
“That’s not a Big!” The voice came from above, shrill and squawking. A raven stuffie flew down to land nearby. “That’s my Little!”
“You would be Bridget.” Alanna said. When the raven nodded, the lioness set her mouth grimly. “Then it is as bad as you said in your message.”
Ginger and Strawberry hurried to hug Bridget, squooshing her soft fuzzy body between them.
“Thank you.” Bridget said. “For the hug, and especially for coming. There’s a thing in the house, in the office. It used to be a nursery, but my Little’s Caregiver moved out of the house. First the nursery was gone, then he was doing work all the time. Finally, that – thing showed up and he stopped being Little at all!”
“Don’t worry.” Wingsley Shacklebolt rumbled. “We will set this right.”
“Tell us about the creature.” Hamlet said. “What did it do to your Little?”
“Some kind of terrible magic!” Bridget said, flapping her wings in worry. “It was in the computer at first, but it came out into the room and cursed him. Now it carries Tanner’s paci with it all the time.”
“We will need to get that pacifier.” David said softly.
“How?” Bridgit squawked in distress. “I tried once, and look at my foot!”
She held up what should have been a plush, well-stitched foot. It was withered and floppy, with all the stuffing gone out of it.
“When Orthodox Dominion cursed your Little, he cut you off from the special connection between you that would have shielded you from his evil.” Alanna said.
“I’m his Stuffie Primary!” Bridget whimpered. “But I can’t do anything to help him! He’s sad all the time, but he doesn’t even cry! He won’t look at me or hug me. I – I failed him.”
“No, of course not.” Ginger said, while Strawberry wrapped themself entirely around Bridget in a big hug. “You have been very brave, and you summoned us to help your Little.”
“Here he comes.” Hamlet said.
Beartholomew turned, fearing that their enemy was upon them. It was only the former-little, though. Tanner walked down the hall, still blind to the stuffies there. Too late, Beartholomew realized that the other stuffies had let themselves fall or roll out of Tanner’s path. Beartholomew was still stock in the middle of beige carpet when Tanner’s foot booted him away. The stuffie flew and tumbled, teetering at the top of a stairway.
Tanner had not noticed at all. He simply set his coffee cup down in the kitchen and turned out the light.
“Going to bed already?” The voice was dry and heavy, like lead.
A slim figure had stepped out of the office. Pale skin and a bald head framed beady eyes and a severely narrow nose. His jowls dangled from his chin, despite the gauntness of his frame. The creature wore a perfectly starched black suit with a slate gray tie. His knuckles were knobby; his hands liver-spotted.
“It’s almost two am.” Tanner said with a sigh. There was no resistance in his voice, just fatigue.
“What will your supervisor say if the report isn’t done? Better to finish. It’s not like you really need more than three hours of sleep.” His voice was unctuous and insistent.
Tanner shrugged. “I guess so.”
He trudged back to the office, closing the door behind him. The creature was left behind in the hall.
“Orthodox Dominion!” Wingsley Shacklebolt bellowed. “Release your hold over that Little at once!”
“Little? I see no Little.” Orthodox Dominion said with a sneer. “Tanner is productive now. What I do see are a bunch of discarded toys that should be disposed of.”
“You cannot stop us all.” David said with firm conviction. “We are all Stuffies Primary.”
“Every one of us is a Sympathmagus.” Strawberry said, rising to their full, long height.
“Release Tanner and spare our Littles the effort of banishing you.” Hamlet said.
“Oh? So you are Sympathmagi?” Orthodox Dominion smirked. “Once perhaps that mattered. No longer.”
“Enough! We do not negotiate with such evil!” Alanna rose to her feet and brandished her sword. “Orthodox Dominion! I banish you in the name of Cloudland, by the power of Briana Tess Rasmussen, she who is the Queen that was Lost!”
Beartholomew gasped. Briana, his Little, was Cloudland’s Queen? He had to cling to the top stair as a blast of rainbow magic blazed out of Alanna. It poured around her like whirlwind, blasting hot air away from the Lioness like a the furnace winds that had carried them here. The power collected in her sword and shot toward Orthodox Dominion in a spike of multicolored brilliance. Everystuffie held their breath at Alanna’s display of raw power.
Orthodox Dominion held his hand out to meet the blast. Power that would have vaporized a thousand Gloomlings stopped abruptly, exploding in a spray of rainbow sparks. As they looked on in shock, Orthodox Dominion opened his gnarled hand to reveal a pacifier. The shield of the paci looked like rusted iron, while the ring and nipple were Mr. Yuck green. Beartholomew’s stuffing recoiled at the sight of it.
“Tanner’s Little Heart is here, every bit of his former delusions of innocence and playfulness.” Orthodox Dominion said. “You cannot oppose a Little with your own Little’s magic.”
The stuffie knights backed up, forming up around Bridget. They had their blades out, but Beartholomew couldn’t see what good it would do against such a huge, terrible creature. He couldn’t draw his own blade, he couldn’t even move from the top of the stairs.
“Such bravery.” Orthodox Dominion said, with vicious scorn. “You are not knights, or living creatures at all. You are merely bits of cloth and fluff. Garbage, not fit even for the thrift store bin!”
Orthodox Dominion brought his foot down, smashing and scattering stuffies. Sharp kicks sent the knights flying, though they swung their swords with determination. The last to be booted was Bridget, every knight had stepped bravely up to protect her despite the hopeless odds. The raven went flying directly at Beartholomew. She crashed into the bear, sending them both tumbling down the stairs.
The door to the basement slammed at the top of the stairs with a sound like a stone sarcophagus lid. Beartholomew heard the cries of the knights upstairs, then horrible cloth-tearing sounds, then silence. Shaken to the core of his fluff, he curled up in a ball and wept.
Tears gave way to outrage. It was not FAIR. Orthodox Dominion was evil, awful, and he had no right to do what he was doing. Imbued with life by a Little who valued family and justice above all things, even her own safety, Beartholomew rose to his stubby feet.
“Bridget, are you alright?” Beartholomew asked.
“Of course not!” Bridget sobbed. “We lost!”
“No.” Beartholomew said. “I won’t allow it.”
“Are you crazy?” The raven squawked. “You saw what that monster did.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Beartholomew said. “Alanna is Briana’s Stuffie Primary. She WILL be there for Briana tomorrow. Every one of these stuffies is going home to their Little. David is going to wake up with you in his arms.”
“HOW?” Bridget cried.
“First we have to get out of this basement.”
Beartholomew heaved himself up the first stair, scrambling up the carpet. It was awkward and slow, but he refused to give up. By the time he was halfway up, Bridget had calmed her tears. When he reached the top, she flew up to meet him.
The door was firmly closed. Try as he might, Beartholomew couldn’t scrabble up the wall to reach the knob. Bridget could reach it easily, but her withered leg left her without enough leverage to open the door.
“We could try going into The Woodwork.” Bridget said.
“No, that could take forever. We don’t have much time.” Beartholomew said, kicking the door with a soft bump. “If I was a real bear, I could reach the knob easily, or just knock the door down!”
“I’ve been a real Raven.” Bridget said, her voice soft and sad. “When Tanner believed in me. But that’s Sympathmagi magic. I can’t do it now.”
“Briana has believed in me before.” Beartholomew. “Maybe I can do it.”
“You’re not a Stuffie Primary.” Bridget said. “Neither am I, anymore. Only the Primary Stuffie has that close a connection to their Little.”
“Since when do the stories of Littles follow strict rules?” Beartholomew asked. “Tanner needs us. Bridget, please. Believe in me.”
“That’s even more backwards! Stuffies don’t believe in stuffies! Littles believe in stuffies!”
Beartholomew didn’t answer. He put his paw-stubs over his eyes and concentrated. Memories of being played with filled his mind. Briana walking him across her adult-crib, making silly roaring noises. Melody shaking his paw, holding him up as if he were as tall as a bear. Veronica waving his paw at Briana and doing a low rumbly voice as Briana fell asleep.
A plush wing pressed gently against Beartholomew’s back. “My, what an enormous bear!” Bridget said.
The stairway spun and shifted. Beartholomew pulled his paws away from his eyes to see that everything had shrunk around him. He was huge, wooly, with flashing claws at the end of his not-so-stubby paws. Without hesitation, he slapped the doorknob and shoved his way forward.
Orthodox Dominion was still in the hall, holding a serrated bread-knife over Alanna’s torn-open body. Beartholomew roared, a real, thunderous bear roar and flashed his gleaming fangs. The knife fell from Orthodox Dominion’s hand, and the creature retreated, falling back to the bedroom. The door slammed and locked.
Beartholomew’s sense of triumph was short-lived. He found himself stuffie-sized, tumbling out of the air to bounce off the carpet.
“Alanna!” He cried out, scrabbling on stubby legs to reach his knight.
“That was amazing!” Bridget squawked. “He ran from you!”
“I couldn’t hold it though!” Beartholomew said. “Please, Bridget, do you know any Fluffmancy? I can repair the rips, but I can’t replace her stuffing.”
“I’m sorry Beartholomew.” Bridget said. “I’m only a Comforticator, without Tanner being Little. I don’t have much magic now. It was a miracle that I reached Alanna at all.”
“Then we’ll do what we can. Find the others! Sir Ginger first.” Beartholomew said.
Bridget flew off. It didn’t occur to Beartholomew that he’d given the other stuffie a command until she was already away. He hoped Alanna wouldn’t be angry at him for rising above his station.
Frantically, he waved his paws over Alanna’s shredded cloth, stitching her back together. There was so much damage! His own threads were getting thin, his joints missing stitches as he poured magic into his knight.
“I feel terrible. But it’s pleasant to not be dead.” Alanna said in a soft rumble. She tried to rise, and only managed to flop. “Though I see my stuffing is gone. Thank you for the rescue, Beartholomew. What is the situation?”
“Bridget is finding the others, Sir.” Beartholomew said. “I told her to find Ginger – er, Sir Ginger first.”
“You’ve done exactly right.” Alanna said. “I’m proud of you. Take me with you, we need to get out of this hallway.”
Beartholomew picked up Alanna’s floppy body. It hurt him to see her so diminished. It obviously hurt her too, but she wasn’t complaining. A squawk from Bridget set his course. At first he was overjoyed to see Ginger’s orange fur, but his heart sank when he saw how much stuffing the other bear had lost.
Nevertheless, he set Alanna down and set to repairing Ginger. By the time he was finished, his limbs were loose and wobbly. One of his eyes was no longer tied on, he tucked it into his fluff to keep it safe.
“Sir Alanna, Squire Beartholomew, thank you.” Ginger said. “How are the others?”
“Bridget is bringing them here.” Alanna said. “But I fear we are all critically lacking fluff.”
“This is a carpeted apartment.” Ginger said. “We have as much fluff as we need. Observe!”
Ginger’s sparse fluff flowed all into one of his arms, bulking it out to it’s proper shape. That arm rubbed the carpet vigorously, tearing off bits of fabric. Those bits flowed into Ginger, until he popped out into his fully plush self.
Bridget swooped by, dropping Hamlet and circling away. Beartholomew set to patching the fennec immediately, consuming the stitches on his left arm entirely. A shield was likely to be of little use against Orthodox Dominion anyway. He tucked the arm into the seam that had opened up on his side. Meanwhile, Ginger was ripping away at the carpet, filling up Alanna first, then Hamlet.
“Thank you Beartholomew.” Hamlet said. “But you need to stop with the Threadmaturgy. You’ve almost come apart yourself.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Beartholomew said. “This is what I can do to help. I can get all the Stuffies Primary back in fighting shape.”
“Very noble of you!” Strawberry said, dropping from Bridget’s grasp, “But we need more live stuffies than brave martyrs. I had Bridget show me where the sewing kit is.”
Beartholomew gasped in excitement as Strawberry uncoiled to reveal three full spools of thread.
“Think we can do something with these?” Strawberry asked with a huge smile.
“Brilliant, Sir Strawberry!” Beartholomew said.
David and Wingsley Shacklebolt arrived by Bridget’s rescue service, while Strawberry and Beartholomew set furiously to patching the group up. By the time they’d finished, the thread spools were empty and a big patch of carpet was decidedly bald.
“We’ve been given a second chance by my squire’s heroics.” Alanna said. “We mustn’t waste it.”
“We could try a concentrated blast of Sympathmagic.” Ginger said. “The power of five littles might overwhelm just one.”
“I’m not so sure that Sympathmagi works that way.” David said. “Even if it did, it could hurt the Little’s hearts, as if they had an argument.”
“Maybe we can steal the Paci by stealth.” Hamlet said. “Then find a way to break the curse on it directly.”
“We’d still need a back up plan in case the stealth fails.” Wingsley Shacklebolt said.
“There has to be something that monster is afraid of. Something we could use to make it back off.” Strawberry said.
“He was afraid of Beartholomew!” Bridget said.
“He was?” Alanna asked in wonder.
“Oh uh, I was in bear form. Um, imagination bear form.” Beartholomew said. “But I couldn’t sustain it.”
“How?” Wingsley asked. “That’s Sympathmagi magic. Even then, the Little has to be present.”
“I don’t know.” Beartholomew said. “I just thought I had to do something. Bridget told me it wouldn’t work, but why should there be rules to Little stories? They make up new rules all the time!”
“Imaginesis?” Alanna whispered.
“Only Littles have that power.” Hamlet said. The rest of the knights nodded.
“I know what I saw.” Bridget said. “He was a huge bear and the monster ran away from him!”
“It’s the best option we have now.” David said. “Try again Beartholomew.”
Beartholomew set his stance and covered his eyes. He imagined Briana playing with him again. Nothing. He dug up memories of Melody playing with him, Gary, Veronica, Jane, even Suzie. Still, nothing. Finally, he pulled his stumpy arms away from his eyes to see the hopeful knights he was going to have to disappoint.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know how I did it last time.” Beartholomew said. “I don’t feel it at all.”
“Is there anything different about this time from last time?” Hamlet asked.
“Uh, Bridget helped me. She believed in me.” Beartholomew said.
“Er… that’s not completely true.” Bridget said awkwardly. “I just um, encouraged you. I was able to reach Tanner with my Comfortication while he was daydreaming.”
“Dreams!” Wingsley shouted.
“What?” Strawberry asked.
“That’s it!” Ginger said. “Sir Shacklebolt, you are a genius. Dreams are pure imagination. Tanner must still have some imagination left in his dreams.”
“Can you reach your Little?” Alanna asked Bridget. “It must be very late, is he asleep?”
“I…” Bridget fluttered, doing a hopping dance on her good foot. “I think so.”
“Use whatever strange alchemy you used before.” Strawberry said. “Bring Tanner’s dreams to Beartholomew, or he to them.”
Bridget hopped to Beartholomew and wrapped her wings around him. He hugged her back, imagining with all his little stuffie heart. A chill went through his fluff. What if it didn’t work? He hadn’t realized that only Littles had magical imagination. He’d always played along with Briana, thinking he had imagination too.
The embrace with Bridget was warm and tingly, like the excitement of Briana coming up with a new story to play. Once again, he asked himself why there should be such rules. Pushing his fear aside, he embraced the feeling.
The spinning, shifting sensation returned. He was looking down on the stuffie knights with Bridget on his shoulder. A massive bear, his shoulders pressed against the living room ceiling. Or did they? The ceiling was a high cathedral-like affair, far above the reach of any Little on the floor. Beartholomew rose to his full height and roared.
“Magnificently done, Beartholomew!” Alanna shouted. “You can take the fight to Orthodox Dominion now!”
“No.” Beartholomew rumbled. “We ALL can.”
On his shoulder, Bridget screeched in alarm. He felt her grow heavy, a ruffle of feathers tickled his ear. A Raven beat her powerful wings and cawed in amazement. Alanna stood, rising higher and higher. Powerful muscles rippled under tawny fur. Ginger’s eyes came up to Beartholomew’s level, his shaggy fur beautifully offsetting his kind eyes and gleaming fangs.
Strawberry flowed longer and more broad, until they were a shimmering magical pink cat of pythonic length. David was nearly lost in sudden forest of huge legs, growing merely to jackrabbit size. The merest twitch of his legs hurled him explosively to a wall and up to Ginger’s shoulder. Wingsley Shacklebolt dwarfed them all, massive wings spreading out over the group. A draconic bellow heralded a blast of glorious golden fire. Lithely stepping out from under those wings was Hamlet, deftly twirling his sword in hand.
“I don’t know how long I can hold this.” Beartholomew rumbled. “I’m not even sure how I’m doing it.”
“Then let us waste no time.” Hamlet said. “For Glory!”
“For Tanner!” Bridget called.
“For the Littles!” The rest of them cheered.
The hallway was now a great cave tunnel. The bedroom they burst into was a Colosseum, by Beartholomew’s choice. Orthodox Dominion stared at them and his new surroundings in disbelief, clutching the stolen paci to his chest.
“Impossible! You wretched creatures and your foolish imaginations have no power over me! I am of Reality! I am the banal truth that all must acknowledge when the book is closed!”
“You acknowledged us.” David said, soaring like an eagle with a massive jump that carried him behind Orthodox Dominion.
“You spoke to us, engaging us directly.” Hamlet said, moving light on his feet, his blade spinning.
“Now you will deal with us in all the glory that a Little can summon.” Strawberry said, curling into a spring and sproinging to cover the right flank.
“Orthodox Dominion.” Wingsley Shacklebolt said. “We banish you from this place.”
“Bears to the front!” Alanna roared.
Ginger grinned at Beartholomew. They charged together, eschewing swords for powerful arms. Orthodox Dominion screeched as he was crushed in their terrible embrace. With a horrible cracking sound, he wormed his way free and stumbled away on crippled legs.
David was there in an instant, his jump too fast for eyes to follow. He rolled and kicked, knocking one of Orthodox Dominion’s hands upwards. Hamlet moved in and severed that wrist with a sound of shredding plastic. The hand flew aloft, releasing the pacifier held within. Bridget grabbed it out of the air, screaming as smoke rose from her good foot.
Beartholomew returned his gaze to their enemy. Strawberry had already surrounded Orthodox dominion, spinning their body around the monster. As they did, they sent a tangle of threads inward to trap him. A blast of fire, gold as the sun, engulfed the tangle of monster and thread. With a final wail, Orthodox Dominion collapsed into greasy smoke.
Staggering in relief, Beartholomew realized he was beyond tired. He could feel Bridget’s pain through whatever connection she had established. The dream that was fueling his bear-form was falling out of his grasp.
Once again, the stuffies fell to the floor in an ordinary room. This time, they were cheering! Without need for discussion, they each reached out to touch the pacifier. Beartholomew did as well, for solidarity’s sake.
Each of the stuffies called upon their little, glowing with soft rainbow colors. Beartholomew invoked Briana’s name as well. Some warmth answered inside him, but there was no glow in his paw. It didn’t matter.
The rusty iron and Mr. Yuck green vanished from the paci. It was restored to pink and purple, innocent and inviting.
Reverently, they helped Bridget to Tanner’s office, the paci in her beak. The poor Little was asleep at his computer, notifications pinging at him on Slack. The stuffies climbed to the desk and watched with bated breath as Bridget nudged the pacifier into Tanner’s open mouth.
With a snort, he rose, chewing on the pacifier. He looked around and blinked, touched the pacifier with a sort of cautious awe. Tanner’s eyes fell on Bridget and filled with tears. Color flowed back into his body, giving him sandy brown hair and a Hawaiian print shirt.
“Bridget!” He cried out, grabbing her up and crushing her close. “Bridget I’m so tired. I can’t get the report done, I don’t know what to do.”
“Call in sick!” Bridget squawked.
Tanner’s eyes opened wide. “Right! I think I need a break.”
He fired off a message and closed his computer. With Bridget tucked under his arm, he dug in the office closet, pulling out a pair of diapers.
Beartholomew and the rest of the stuffies giggled as Tanner shucked his pants right there, mooning all of them. They gathered up and hopped off the desk, leaving Tanner and Bridget to their reunion.
—–
Back in Cloudland, after a much more peaceful journey through The Woodwork, Beartholomew waved sadly to the knight stuffies. He’d only known them a single night, but already felt like they were bosom companions.
“We couldn’t have done it without you.” David said, giving Beartholomew a hug.
“A braver stuffie I have never known.” Ginger said, crushing them both in a massive bear hug.
“Wise beyond your years.” Strawberry said, wrapping around Beartholomew when Ginger disengaged.
“You are a credit to your Knight.” Hamlet said, ruffling Beartholomew’s ears. “I hope your Little knights you soon.”
“I think we will see great things from you. Perhaps a Stuffie Primary, one day.” Wingsley Shacklebolt said.
“For that to happen I’d have to leave Briana.” Beartholomew protested.
“You’ll understand when you find your own Little.” Wingsley said.
“We have shooting stars prepared for you all.” Alanna said. “If you think your Littles can handle it.”
“Our Littles are going to need such a nap tomorrow!” Ginger chuckled, “But it’s the fastest way. There isn’t much night left.”
“Goodbye, brave Sirs!” Beartholomew said, waving frantically and wiping tears away with his other paw.
“Fare you well, Sir Alanna, Squire Beartholomew.” They said together, waving their paws.
Light swelled up in the clouds underneath the visiting knights, shooting them one by one into the sky on sparkling stars.
“That was quite the first quest you had.” Alanna said to Beartholomew. “You exceeded all possible hopes. I don’t have words to say how proud I am of you.”
“Thank you Sir.” Beartholomew said. “But you know I’d never leave Briana, right?”
“Never say never.” Alanna said. “While we were breaking the curse, your eyes sparkled rainbow.”
“What?” Beartholomew rubbed his glossy black eyes with his paws.
“Indeed. You may be a Stuffie Primary yourself one day. We’ll see. Until then, we have a Little to get back to.”
“She’s going to be cranky with all the magic we used.” Beartholomew said. “Especially all that Sympathmagic you used.”
“Then we had better snuggle her twice as hard in the sleep time she has left.” Alanna said, with a rumbling chuckle.
“What was that about her being a Queen?” Beartholomew whispered.
“You caught that, did you?” Alanna asked. “I’m sorry, I cannot give you any details. Indeed, I must bind you to secrecy on this matter.”
“You can count on me, Sir.” Beartholomew said, though he was still burning with curiosity.
“I know that I can. Now find us a good moonbeam to get back to Briana on!”
“Yes sir!” Beartholomew laughed, racing his Knight back to the moonbeam stairs.