A story set in the fictional town of Ardenthill.
Briana had been watching the clock for over forty minutes. It was now precisely 7am, which is the time that Mom had said they could start getting ready to get the tree. Therefore, it was time for Melody to get up. She snuck past Mom while Veronica was getting some coffee (not that mom had …
Melody woke up with a diaper so soggy that at first they were worried they’d messed themself. Rosa was naked in bed next to them, breathing slowly and softly. The peace of it made Melody’s breath catch in their throat. It stripped away any remaining illusions about the adrenaline-fueled bacchanal they’d had with Beatrix. That …
“It should be an easy job, Lyssa. They’re all newbies. I need you because there are five of them, but it shouldn’t be too intense.” Monserrat said. It was the third time she’d had to reassure Lyssa during their pre-job briefing. Her patience was wearing thinner than her long-neglected nail polish. “Five is a lot …
It wasn’t Beatrix’s fault. Sure, they hadn’t had the talk during dinner, but that was because they were both so hungry. After dinner they’d had more amazing sex; you couldn’t expect a talk during that. Then they were exhausted. It was okay to not talk when Melody literally fell asleep in Beatrix’s arms. Mornings were …
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 fell back before the press of the Gloomlings. Everywhere he looked, there were nightmare creatures. They were of many shapes and colors, though all the shapes were sharp and all the colors dark. One was black with an oil-slick shine to it’s cruel mandibles, while another was a leaden red color, bursting with thorns. …
Watching Melody go back to that monster broke Briana’s heart. Especially because Mom had let her go. Her pain made her too Little to let her understand why Veronica had done it. There was a part of her that knew she shouldn’t take feelings out on her mom. Listening to that part of her meant …