[ramorkin]

*GASPS*

And then....

she woke up!

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 26 The Great Hanging Out

The Lost Boy’s Kitchen 

The first streaks of dawn’s early light had risen above the treetops in the distance turning the sky a rosy orange. She licked the steak juice from her fingers as she watched the light brighten through the window above the sink. Verd was dressed in a flowing white nightdress that hung off her right shoulder. The blue flowers were still woven through her braid. She now sat in the kitchen she’d accidentally walked into earlier. She was sitting at the table with five chairs, next to Doug. He was fresh from the shower, wearing a t-shirt and gym shorts. Tristan had a tank top and pajama bottoms on as he sat to his right at the head of the table. Faustus was seated at the opposite end, deep in conversation with him. Celly was with his dad helping his mother and sister get settled in.  

Doug put his fork down and wiped his mouth with the napkin draped over his thigh. He cleared his throat and leaned toward her, speaking softer than Faustus’ volume, “Verdy, I don’t know how much Faustus has had a chance to tell you. But since you’re of mating age, it's important to be wary of eating food offered outside your family circle. When you’re unpaired and flying about, don’t go inside a stranger’s dwelling and then eat anything they offer. There are expectations after you finish the food. Everyone else that grew up here knows customs in courtship like that, and I didn’t want you to accidentally find yourself in a position you didn’t understand to begin with.”

“You mean if I go inside a dude’s dwelling and eat, they’re going to expect me to fuck them?” she laughed, “Kinda like back in Texas, if you go on a date and the guy buys dinner, he’s gonna get pissed if he doesn’t at least get a blowjob.”

Doug shook his head as he chuckled softly, “Exactly, good, I’m glad you get it.”

“So, how many girls have enjoyed a perfectly cooked steak like that,” Verd said as she winked at him. She watched in amusement as the apples of his cheeks blushed, and he guffawed.

He shrugged self-consciously, “Ok, so there was one once,” and laughed at himself.

Verd tilted her head laughing and said, “And?”

Doug rested his elbow on the table, put his chin in his hand, and leaned in real close, “Turned out the dick was too big for her taste, and she didn’t want it.” He widened his eyes as he drew the corners of his mouth down. “Then she went and told all the unpaired mates in town about it,”   “Since then, everywhere I go in town, fertile sows try to corner me,” he said, pausing to listen to the musical sound of Verd’s laughter. The room had fallen silent, turning to see what cracked her up.

Delighted she saw the humor in it, Doug said, “I’m not a dumb bear. I know what they want.”  He raised his chin off his palm and slapped his knees as he leaned forward, “Do you know what happened to me when I went in to pick up meat from my Da’s butcher shop earlier today?” He didn’t wait for her to ask before he said, “A sow I’ve known since our cub days came in, shopped for what she wanted, and then grabbed one of the whole salami rolls from the display case. And, in front of my Da, says out loud, obviously trying to sound sexy, “I’ve been practicing.”  The room echoed with peals of laughter. “She then passes the whole roll of salami across the counter to my Da. Who is doing everything he can to hold it together, and I just excuse myself out to the back,” Doug was laughing now too. He picked up his right paw and measured an imaginary distance between his index and thumb, “I’ve been this close to going down to Madam Revere’s and getting a repulsion charm.” His laughter rumbled from his chest, “I’m not interested in simply existing to breed and spread seed,” he said as he shook his head with distaste.  

After Verd caught her breath, her brows drew together, “Wait, just the one?”

Doug stood slightly and turned his chair seat to face her. As he sat down, he said, “Correct. I haven’t found anyone around here I want that’s interested in the same things you’ve seen in our bedrooms.” He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, giving her a knowing look, “I’m pretty sure you understand what King Daddy’s tastes are,” he winked at her, watching with pleasure as the blush crept up from her neckline. He heard Tristan shift in his chair behind him. Doug smiled as he continued, “So I turned to my coding work, eventually became an independent contractor. The three of us haven’t had a whole lot of luck in the mating department.” 

She heard Tristan chuff and looked up to see a chagrin on the lion-man’s face. He met her eyes and said, “True. We’re a semi-virginal triad waiting patiently for their unicorn pussy to make us a quad,” he tried to keep his face stoic but lost it.

Doug looked over his shoulder at Tristan and chortled before facing Verd again and saying, “Celly and Tristan had just disentangled themselves from unhealthy attachments right around the time I had that initial experience. We’d rather wait for the kind of intimacy we’re looking for with someone that wants that with all of us as well,” he said. 

“Cuz nobody breaks up the lost boys bitches!” Celly exclaimed as he entered the kitchen. He was wearing pants but not a shirt. He bent down and booped Verd on the top of her head as he made his way around the table.  He flopped down in the chair across from Doug.  Celly tipped his head and bowed to her in his chair as he said,  “A throuple of dom dudes down to dick their sub with love, daily, in their shared domicile.” Her giggles made his tail wag. He cocked his head to the side and asked, “What about you? Do you have any mates?”

Verd scoffed and looked down at her lap before she shrugged, “No, I’m single. I suppose I’m a widow. I was married to a human man, Jess, for nine years.”

Celly looked aghast and said hurriedly, “Oh my Rod. That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”

She nodded her head, “I appreciate it,” she twanged. Pausing for a second, she bobbed her head before saying, “Happened a few months ago now.  He was shot in the parking lot of the movie theater we’d gone out to for our anniversary. I’d stopped in the bathroom while he was going to get the bronco to pick me up out front. ”

Tristan’s face pinched between his eyes, clearly sad for her, “That’s awful, Verdy,” he said.

 “Yeah, but that wasn’t the worst part. After I spiraled from grief, the guy I thought was my best friend, Jess’ roommate Scotty, suggested we go on this weekend vacation to his family’s cottage in the country. Then I wake up in a room with no door to exit it from.” She swallowed, staring out the window as she said, “Next time I see Scotty, he forced me to pee in a cup in exchange for clothes to wear. I give it to him, and he pulls out a pregnancy test that turns out to be positive.” She hugged herself while shaking her head as she continued, “I ain’t had sex with nobody but my husband that I remember, and he was sterile.” She bobbed her head from side to side, then swiveled to Faustus, “When did he do that to me? Was it before Jess died?”

Faustus glanced around the table at the faces mixed with concern and dawning horror. He sighed and looked back at Verd.“The night Jess left on that business trip before your anniversary, you went into his office and sat in his chair with a tumbler of rum and coke. You were clearly upset about a fight the two of you had and how he left it. Scotty walked in and asked if you wanted to know what was in the locked drawer of the tall gray filing cabinet in the corner behind the desk.” He traced his nails in the wood grain on the table’s surfaces as he continued, “He took a key from a hidden slot in the top drawer and unlocked the filing cabinet. It was a file he tossed on the desk, and when you opened it and went through the papers, you found an envelope.” Faustus leaned forward and looked her in the eye, “There were two papers inside, dated six months before you married. One was a letter, the other was a page of lab results confirming that the vasectomy procedure was successful.” Faustus heard Celly gasp softly but didn’t break eye contact as he said, “You were drinking the entire time you confided in Scotty. Sharing your heart, all your true feelings about children. And after most of the rum was gone, you blacked out on the couch. That’s the first time Scotty raped you while unconscious.” He watched her sink back against the chair and stare fixedly at a point on the table. 

Doug’s eyes had filled with tears that slipped down his cheeks. He was sniffling as he whispered in a raspy tone, “I’m so sorry this monster did this to you.” Verd turned her tear-streaked face up to his. His lips were trembling as he reached out his paw to her hand, gesturing with his chin to it as he paused. Watching and waiting for her permission.

Verd’s face folded as she nodded and managed to squeak out, “Yes.” Doug scooped her hand into his right paw and gently squeezed it comfortingly. 

Faustus knew there was no other way but forward. He took a deep breath and said, “There wasn’t a lock on your smartphone. Scotty was checking the period tracker app you kept your data in for several months before he opened the filing cabinet.” Verd’s left hand made a fist as she shook her head slowly, rage radiating from her eyes. Faustus rushed on to get it over with for her, “He watched your symptoms and waited till you were a few weeks late to be sure. He confessed to me that he is the person that shot Jess.”

A wave of sadness washed the fury far from her. Verd groaned, covering her face with her left hand. She involuntarily leaned toward the right. Doug gently wrapped his left paw where the ruffle covered the skin of her arm. Verd reached her left hand across her chest and held onto Doug’s wrist like the liferaft it was.

Her eyes burned as hot tears collected in the corners until they trembled and splashed on the tiled below.  Struggling to keep her voice from wavering, she swallowed hard and then said, “Wow. What a couple of fuckboys.” She sniffled, watching the tears fall from her eyes to the floor. 

Faustus leaned toward her, his arms outstretched, “Come here, little bird. I’m so sorry. I’ve been waiting to talk to you as soon as you felt ready.” 

She raised her weepy face and nodded with her eyes closed before covering her face with her hands and crying in earnest. Faustus picked her up and put her in his lap. She curled into him, burying her face in his neck while he held her tight. 

Doug rose from his chair and disappeared through the door to his bedroom. He returned a few moments later with a light blue blanket. Verd felt the soft texture of the fabric and sat up enough for it to be wrapped around her.

Tristan stood and opened the icebox behind him, withdrawing a milk bottle. He went to the stove and lifted a hanging saucepan down. Pouring the milk bottle into the pot as he turned on the burner at the back of the stove. Opening the cabinet doors next to him, took out five mugs of different colors and set them down on the counter. He stuck his paw back in the cupboard and removed a squeeze bottle of honey in a plastic teddy bear. He pulled open the drawer in front of him and retrieved a wooden stirring spoon, swatting the drawer closed with his tail. He squirted the honey into the milk and stirred until steam rose from the surface. He poured an equal amount in all the cups until the liquid was gone from the pot and brought the warm vaporous mugs to the table. Celly and Doug reached forward and took theirs as Tristan picked up his and returned to his seat.  

Verd wiped her face on the corners of the blanket and sat up on Faustus’ knee. He scooted a sky blue mug to within in her arm’s reach and looped his fingers through the handle of his own. The smell of sweet milk wafted under her nose as she sipped and swallowed the creamy drink.  She looked at Tristan and said, “Thank you, Kitty. I didn’t anticipate how comforting this was going to be.”

Tristan winked, “You’re welcome, Verdy darling. I love sweet, warm milk. I spent a lot of nights as a lonely cub, and this always seemed to soothe me.” he said. He took a long sip and swallowed before he cleared his throat and said, “I wish you didn’t suffer as you have Verd. I’m so glad you are home. He sat forward, resting his elbows on the table as he said, “I can only imagine the amount of courage it took to survive what you have, and I want you to know I’m proud of you for making it here.” He lifted his mug toward her and said, “You have my respect.” Celly and Doug raised their mugs with an echoing “Here, here!” accompanied by padding paws on the tabletop.  

Their support buffeted her spirits as she sat up and finished the milk, setting her mug down on the table. Before she could say “thank you,” a yawn took over her mouth, stretching her jaw. She struggled to close her jaw and burped before her lips came together. Her hand flew to her mouth as the room was filled with deep belly laughs. 

Doug chuckled as he turned toward her and gently took her right wrist from over her mouth, holding her hand in his. “If you’re tired, Verdy darling, will you be a good girl for Teddy and go to bed?” 

Verd bit her bottom lip as identical stiff points appeared, poking at the fabric of her bodice. The flush bloomed on her chest as a tingling between her thighs made her squirm on Faustus’ thigh.  She was captivated by his gaze for a couple of seconds before she remembered to respond, “Yes, Teddy.” The blush in her cheeks was almost red as she watched him kiss the back of her hand as she said, “I’ll be a good girl and go to bed.” 

Faustus smiled at Verd and kissed the top of her head, “it is very late for owlets to be awake.”

Verd nodded silently, and before she rose, the three animal-men were on their feet. She went to unwrap the blanket from her shoulders when Doug’s big mitts stopped her. Faustus slipped behind her and went to carve the symbol into the back door while she said goodnight.

“You keep that. It’ll keep you company while you’re away from us,” Doug winked at her as he drew the ends back around her. He leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head, “Goodnight, Verdy darling, sweet dreams.” 

Verd opened her arms and wrapped them around them him. He was so tall she was practically hugging his belly button. He chuckled and bent down some and wrapped his arms around her, “Goodnight Teddy, may your rest be sweet,” she said and pecked him on the cheek before she let go and stepped away toward the back door. Doug straightened, a handsome smile on his stunned face as his hand cupped his cheek where she kissed it. 

Tristan’s shoulder rubbed up against hers as he walked around behind her. With a coquettish swing of her hip, she felt his thigh unavoidably graze the contour of her buttocks. A loud purr revved up his throat, his eyes bright as he stepped in front of her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed against him and laid her head on his chest. She felt his arms steal around her and tighten in a vice grip. His whiskers tickled her bare shoulder before she felt his warm, dry nose nuzzle the crook of her neck. She leaned her head against his, “Thank you for making me some sweet milk and talking to me. What you said means so much to me. You’ve made me feel so much better.” She kissed his temple and heard the purr whir like a motorboat engine.  

He pulled back enough to see her face and said, “You’ll come through the door anytime you want to talk or hang out, yes?” 

“I’m going to take you up on that offer,” she said and giggled as Tristan leaned down and kissed her forehead, nodding his approval. As he released her, their hands trailed down the other’s arm until her fist was around his index finger. He blew her a kiss with his free hand. As she pretended to catch, she turned and walked right into Celly’s open embrace. 

She bumped her nose against his chest. As his arms went around her, he said, “Ha! I have you now. Don’t worry, I won’t lick you unless you ask me to.” 

Verd laughed and wrapped her arms around his chest. They tightened the embrace together, pressing against one another until her soft lower belly pressed against a hard knot in the crotch of his pants. A fresh wave of goosebumps broke out on her skin, her nipples hardening against his furry chest.  As she stood against him, she remembered what Faustus had said about the capabilities of a heightened sense of smell. The cleft between her legs had become slippery since she heard the words “good girl” in relation to her person.  

“You’ll still be here tomorrow, right?” Celly whispered to her.

“Yes, and every tomorrow after that,” she whispered back and felt his tail wag briskly. He kissed and booped her forehead with a cold, wet nose. As Celly released her, Faustus opened the door. He pulled Verd to his chest first and then held his arms to the boys. They wrapped their arms around them both and held one another in a group hug that Verd wished didn’t have to end. 

“Goodnight, my three wisemen, kings of the land of stars. Sleep well, I will see you when we wake,” Faustus said, patting the backs he was able to reach.

The Counsel of Three let go and stepped back. Verd waved to them, laughing as she returned their blown kisses until the door shut on their three blissfully happy faces. 

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 25 The Counsel of Three

 The Counsel of Three

Verd gasped after several breathless tense moments of watching the knob. She took deep breaths, put her hands on her hips, and paced in a circle. Her heart was still racing as she shook her head with regret. Foolish behavior tended to get her caught. She was relieved she wasn’t trapped this time. 

The knob turned, and the door swung open. Verd jumped back, screeching in alarm. Faustus stepped inside quickly, catching her around the waist before she fell back on the stairs, his face full of worry. “What’s wrong little bird? Did something happen? Are you ok?” he said as he pulled her close to him. His bifid tongue flicked the air in front of her face. His head tilted, “Did you have a wet dream? Nothing embarrassing about it. Happens to creatures with reproductive organs regardless of genitalia.” He held out the ruffled sky blue dress over his right arm, “I’d give you some time alone, but we don’t currently have any to spare.” He finished shutting the door and guided her up the stairs.  

Verd’s face blushed a bright red, and she stuttered, “I’m good, um, why don’t we have time?” She walked over to the end of the bed and went to sit down.

Faustus tutted at her, “Wait for a second, sweetie.” 

Verd frowned and straightened back up. She crossed her arms across her chest. Faustus laid the sky blue dress over the sofa’s arm closest to the dresser. He pulled the top drawer open and pulled out a washcloth. “I haven’t had much time to explain the quirks of this world, but one of them is that human-animal hybrids take on the characteristics of their animalistic natures.” He twisted it in his hands until it grew damp and steamy. “The bathroom in mama’s room is busy, and while this is simply water, not soap, it is considered polite,” he said. He held it out to her, “The house is full of individuals with keen olfactory senses,” then looked down pointedly at her crotch.  

Verd gave him a rebellious look. 

“If you don’t wipe yourself off, I will,” Faustus said. His voice was teasing, while the look in his eyes was mischievous, a smirk quirking the corners of his lips. 

Verd pretended to sigh exasperatedly and looked peeved at the thought as she rolled her eyes. Then Faustus appeared inches from her face. Their bodies were close but not touching. “It’s not sexual for me, Verdy darling. I see in your eyes the idea doesn’t repulse you. Where you experience sexual release from orgasm in bondage. I experience the same pleasure trusted to care for the most intimate parts of being alive for you. I love you. When you want to trust me, it will be an honor I treasure to be that individual for you.”  

The expression of his true feelings swooned her. Verd leaned toward him as she gazed up into his eyes. Placing her hands on his chest, “I love you too, Faustus,” she said earnestly. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to his chest. He crooked the finger on his free hand under her chin, tilting her heart-shaped face up to him. She rose on her tip-toes, pressing her lips to his. 

He returned her chaste kiss and pulled back to look down at her. Verd laced her arms around his neck, her eyes fixed on him as she picked up her leg beside the bed and placed her foot on the mattress. He chuckled and took the washcloth from the hand around her back. He slid his splayed hand down her spine, guiding her to arch her back. She bent willingly, sighing contentedly as he gently rubbed the fabric in between the lips at the top of her cleft. Nuzzling his neck as the damp, wet heat of the cloth soothed the prolonged ache of arousal she was suffering from. As he wiped front to back, his hand paused between her buttocks to pay particular attention to where the sun didn’t shine. A tiny gasp of surprise escaped her, and she laughed. 

Faustus looked down at her, “This isn’t the first time I’ve done this, you know.” Her giggling made him smile. When he was finished, he took the cloth and aimed at the hamper by the dresser. The lid raised as he tossed it towards the opening. It bounced off the back of the hamper with a shutting clap. He danced across the room with her to the arm of the sofa where the dress waited. 

Faustus picked up the dress and threw it over his shoulder. Verd raised her arms and waited expectantly. His fingers went under the hem of her chemise as he lifted it over her head. He said,  “That dream you had was an actual person praying to you. She is Richard’s friend, Windi, from Academia. The same wizard that bound us and took us away from your parents also kidnapped Windi. I can’t imagine what my poor little lost boy, Celly, has been through. I didn’t know that Windi was pregnant when she was taken. Celly has a little sister, Tori, who was held in captivity this whole time.” He tugged the dress into place and stepped back to look at her.

“You mean Celly the lost boy? Mr. Laces and Ribbons?” she asked, her face full of shock.  

“The very same,” Faustus said as he pulled the strapless dress’ neckline out and stuck his hand inside to readjust her breasts so that her nipples were even. He straightened the ruffle that hung from the top. Then stepped back and twirled his finger in a circle, gesturing for her to spin. 

Verd spun for him slowly to the sound of his clapping and hooting of approval. Her blushing face beamed at him. Then she remembered where she’d been before Faustus walked in. “Who’s here, Faustus?” the anxiety evident in her tone.

Faustus grabbed her around the waist as he sat down on the sofa. He hooked his arm around her knees and turned her to sit on his knee. “All of them are part of your extended family. You’re safe, Verdy darling. You’ll get to meet the boys today, Tristan, Celly, and Doug, they’ll be here. Their dads are also here too, as well as Doug’s Ma, Windi, and Tori. Oh, grampa and granny with your uncles Tommy, Timmy, and Taye.” He saw her eyes widen when he mentioned the lost boys. She shifted on his knee. He narrowed his eyes as he flicked his tongue out at her, “Verdy darling, is there anything you need to tell Peter Pan?”

Verd’s eyes snapped to his. She spluttered, crossed her arms across her chest, and said indignantly, “Like, what?” 

Faustus tilted his head as a knowing smile crossed his face, his eyes bright, “Now, little bird, if you choose to lie to me, discipline is the consequence,”  daring her to discover what that entailed.  “The truth is, that’s something I enjoy too.” He winked at her before he continued, “last chance, sugar pie, tell Peter Pan why your pussy was a sopping mess when he came to dress you.”

The blush on Verd’s face threatened to burst aflame from the heat. She crossed her legs, squirming at his tantalizing words. Discipline was her least favorite part of being naughty, but what she’d not admit was that a part of her liked it too. Getting in trouble on purpose wasn’t behavior she naturally gravitated to. However, there was no denying that discipline was the consequence of making choices that led there. Sometimes there was no avoiding it.

 She took a deep breath and said in a rush, “When I woke up, I almost fell down the stairs, and when I opened the door, I was in a kitchen I hadn’t seen before. I turned around to go back into the attic and saw a door ajar to my right. My curiosity won out, and I went inside.” She fell silent as she began nibbling on her bottom lip.

“What did the little bird see?” Faustus asked as he arched an eyebrow, unable to stop grinning.

She looked bashfully to the side as she continued, “A couple of pictures on a dresser. One was of the lady with mismatched eyes holding a little boy. In the picture beside it, the little boy was kneeling beside you and holding the songbird whistle from the trinket box. I guessed that the other two were Tristan and Doug, which meant the baby in the blanket in your lap was me. I figured I was in Celly’s bedroom and wondered if they were living together now.” She covered her face with her hands, trying to stifle her laughter. 

“But that’s not what made you wet,” Faustus said, shaking his head.

Verd peeked out from between her fingers and nodded in agreement. Faustus chuckled and took her wrists, gently pulling her hands away from her face. “Trust your shadow Verdy darling, tell me,” he said as he turned her hands over, kissing her palms.

She laughed nervously, “Celly’s room had a shibari ring and a framed picture of a suspended, bound silhouette.”

Faustus gasped and planted his hands on either face, “Oh my!” he exclaimed as he winked at her. “What was in the next room?” he asked.

Verd looked up at the ceiling, gathering her courage. A flush had blossomed on her chest and crept up to her collarbone. “There was a twin-sized mattress, and at the corners, there were metal plates with loops bolted to the floor,” she said.  She made eye contact with him as she said, “and a hidden cabinet in the wall across from the bed with every bondage tool I’ve ever wanted to be used on me. It was just all there, neatly organized, and mouth-watering.”

Faustus laughed, “I do know your taste in porn, but it wasn’t your mouth that was watering, sweetie,” he said.

Verd playfully punched his shoulder, “Oh my Rod, you stinker,” she said in a rueful tone.

Faustus stuck his tongue out at her, bobbing his head and wiggling his fanned fingers by his ears. He put one arm around her back and draped the other across her knees, “Don’t stall little bird. What happened next?”

She sighed, shaking her head at herself, “In the next room was an enormous bed and a strangely shaped piece of furniture. I was following a sweet sugary smell coming from beyond the bathroom. The last room I went into was a playroom with a tea set, books, and toys. There was a blanket fort there, and all I wanted was to crawl in there and stay. I knew I needed to go. But when I came back by the desk, I decided to sit and think for a second. I moved the mouse and saw a picture of the lost boys as adults…” she trailed off and looked away from him.

Faustus lifted his chin slightly, “Did you touch yourself to the picture?”  asked curiously.

Verd’s hands went to the sides of her hair grabbing and pulling at it, “No. I mean, I thought about it. My fingertip barely touched anything when I heard something behind me.” She grabbed his hand with both of hers and pulled him close to her face. Trepidation tinged her tone, “The boys chased me, and I didn’t stop running until I jumped back through and shut the attic door.” 

Faustus burst into laughter, wiping the tears out of his eyes, he caught his breath. Shaking his head in awe, “Then you’ve met them already,” he said. He looked over to the staircase below the floor, “I bet Richard carved the rune into the bottom of the door. I’m going to check,” he said as he stood, setting her down on her feet.

Verd sat back down on the sofa and watched him disappear behind it. She heard him stop in front of the door. 

“I’ll be damned. The rune of the counsel of three is right here in the bottom of the door!” He exclaimed excitedly. He ran back up the stairs and kneeled in front of her, “This means we know who the counsel of three is! Verd, it’s the lost boys! It’s been them this whole time!” His eyes were bright with excitement. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead before pulling her into a hug. He stood, swinging her with him in circles, happily humming a tune. 

He sat her down on the sofa and walked over to the dresser. Opening the top drawer, he withdrew a hairbrush with soft bristles. “Come on, turn around, lean your back against the sofa arm. I’m going to brush your hair,” he said with a smile from ear to ear.

Verd obediently did as she was told. The bristles brushed against the skin of her scalp, making her shiver with delight. Having her hair brushed had the same delicious tactile effect as fingertips running through her hair. She leaned into his strokes as an involuntary soft chittering hummed from her throat.

Faustus chuckled when he heard a noise of disappointment as he stopped brushing. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, “I’ll be right back.” He turned and walked back to the dresser’s top drawer and fished out a small ponytail holder. As he stepped up behind her, he waved the stretchy band over the back of her dress until the colors matched precisely. He brushed her hair over her left shoulder and carefully combed it to sweep around the back without a strand out of place. He came around in front of her and sat down. He put the ponytail holder between his teeth and brushed the length of her hair into a single rope. Frowning, he said, “Verd, your hair is longer than it was yesterday.” He held the length of hair against her arm, the tip end fell to her elbow. Faustus cocked his head and glanced at her, his face bemused. 

“Do you think it’s because that spider thing isn’t in my chest anymore?” she queried as she bobbed her head to the side.

Faustus’ eyes drifted back to the length in his hand. “Yes, little bird, I think that’s everything to do with it. We need to find Gondul. I have a feeling they are the only one that can explain the nature of the Livinity.” He began braiding the length from the nape of her neck. As he neared the tip, he looped and twisted the ponytail holder until it was tight enough to hold the braid together.

“You’re such a patient little bird. Are you ready to go out there and meet everyone?”

Her body stiffened, “I’m really nervous. Do I have to?” she asked.

He took her hands in his and kissed the top of each, “I’ll make you a deal, I’ll hold your hand the whole time, and when we’re done with introductions and polite conversation, we’ll go get a treat from the kitchen. See how you feel then. Whatcha think?”

Verd chewed on the inside of her mouth for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. 

“Good girl,” he said and kissed her forehead again before he rose and extended his elbow to her.

Verd looped her arm through the angle and followed him down the stairs. Her thoughts buzzed with excitement, but as they neared the doorknob, apprehension flitted around the edges of her mind. Her eyes widened in alarm as the hairs on the back of her neck raised. Faustus was turning the knob as she yanked on his arm to get his attention. 

He looked down at her but didn’t stop pulling the door open as she began to whisper urgently, “Oh no, Faustus, they’re going to know I was horn–” she stopped. The opening door revealed the same three faces that rushed at her earlier. Now they stood, dressed, just outside the door in the hallway at her parent’s house. 

The wolf-man was sniffling as the lower lip of his snout trembled. Wet tear-tracks soaked the fur on his face all around his bloodshot eyes. He was hiccupping softly while a chuffing whimper sound came from his throat. Witnessing the transparency of his feelings dissolved Verd’s anxiety as empathy washed over her. Almost without realizing it, she opened her arms to him. 

He stumbled to her with reverence in his eyes. As he stepped into her embrace, he bent down to rest his head on her right shoulder. Squeezing her arms around him, she pressed against him as he sobbed. Verd felt his head turn toward her neck, and she tilted her head to rest against his. He hugged her as if he was afraid to let go. His cold, wet nose touched her skin as his snout bumped against her neck. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a whine. She began rubbing his neck and upper back with her palm. His tail wagged as she petted him until his sobs had calmed to quiet crying. 

After he’d gone silent for several moments, he slowly let go and stepped back from her. She was silently crying too. Tear tracks streaked her face as well now. His brows creased as he reached inside his jacket and produced a clean handkerchief. He offered it to her, and as their eyes met, he found his tongue, “Thank you, my Livinity, for returning my mother and sister to me,” he said softly. He took a deep breath before he continued, “I’m sorry for the way I behaved when I saw you. I apologize for being uncouth.” He shook his head at himself and said, “I was acting like a dog, my bad.” 

Verd took the handkerchief and snickered as she wiped her face and shoulder. She stepped closer to him with a dry corner of the fabric wrapped around her finger, raising to the tips of her talons. Gently, she dried his eyes as she said, “You’re welcome, Celly. I’m sorry I went into your house and bedroom without asking.” The group chuckled as she stepped back and offered it to him.  

Faustus reached out and patted his shoulder affectionately and said, “I missed you, Wolfy.”

As the word left his mouth, Celly turned and grabbed Faustus in a hug, burying his face in the crook of his neck. Tristan stepped forward, his eyes still wet. Faustus raised his left arm as tears fell down his face, “C’mere Kitty, I missed you too.”  The lion-man opened his arms tucking under Faustus’ elbow and Celly’s shoulder. Faustus looked up at Doug and said, “get over here, Teddy. I missed you just as much.” The bear-man towered over them all, his light blue eyes swimming in tears. He buried his face in the free crook of Faustus’ neck. Wrapping wide arms around them all. 

 Verd had quietly stepped back up a few steps up the stairs to give them space. As they released each other, they laughed together, their faces shining with the relief and joy of reunited brothers. She couldn’t help smiling herself. She wasn’t looking as she stepped down and didn’t realize her foot was ahead of the step. She saw the floor rushing at her again and squawked in alarm, unsure how to stop her fall. The landing was full.

Doug barely moved as he swiveled his hips and flung out his arm, curving his angle to catch her in the crook of his elbow. His broad arm was shirted and inside a jacket sleeve, but it didn’t hide the cords of muscle that flexed against her soft abdomen. Their eyes met, their gazes fixed on each other as he righted her. “Thank you, Doug,” she said, smiling sheepishly as her feet touched the floor. 

He’d not broken eye contact as his massive hand brushed against hers. He hooked his index and middle finger gently around the four fingers of her hand, and he bent at the waist lowering to her chest height. He watched her face as he kissed the back of her hand.  “My pleasure, Verdy,” he looked up at her from where he hovered over her hand before he rose to a height that made her feel little.

Tristan reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sprig of dark blue flower buds shaped like bells. He extended the stem to her and dipped his head to her as he said, “I found these on the path to Uncle Rick’s house. I didn’t know if you liked the color blue, but the dark golden centers remind me of your hair color. I’ve often wondered what your favorite color was.” He watched a delighted smile light her face as she took the tiny bunch of flowers pinched in his paw.

She laughed as she said, “Wouldn’t you know it? My favorite color turned out to be blue.” She gestured to the dress she wore. “Thank you, Tristan, this is truly sweet,” she raised the flowers to her nose and looked up at him as she smelled their sweet musky scent.

“Not anywhere near as sweet as that sugar and spice smile of yours,” Tristan said and winked at her. 

 Verd blushed from neckline to hairline, unable to look away from Tristan’s green eyes. She bashfully squeaked to Faustus, “Will you please thread this through the base of my braid?” 

Faustus stepped up to her left shoulder and threaded the draping bluebells between the ropes in the braid’s base. When he pulled back, he realized they’d been staring at each other in enamored silence. He chuckled at them and gently squeezed Verd’s arm, breaking the smitten gaze. 

“Is that how you wound up in their kitchen?” he looked up at the walls on both sides of the staircase as he said, “You tripped, and there’s not a railing, good Father Rod.” Letting go of her arm, he turned to the door. The boys stepped back as he tapped the carved symbol at the bottom of the door with the toe of his boot. The light under the door went out, and he pushed it open. Sure enough, there was the boys’ kitchen. Faustus pulled the door closed. “Well, I’ve not had a chance to ask Richard himself, but my suspicion is that he is responsible for it being in the door,” he said to them as he turned the knob again and pulled open the door on the empty hallway at Richard and Jenie’s.  He reached toward Verd with his hand out, “Come on, Verdy darling, I promise there’s a treat in the kitchen if you go with me.”  

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 24 Full Moon Run

Full Moon Run

The late autumn breeze ruffled the fur on the back of the grizzly that sat on the large boulder overlooking the meadow. He watched the lion and the wolf roll a few turns in the grass before the lion pinned the wolf with his paws and roared in his face. In response, the wolf shoved his hind legs upward, planting his feet on the insides of the lion’s thighs and tossing him over his head. The lion landed paws first, hissing and spitting at being thrown. The wolf raised from the ground until he stood on his hind legs and howled with laughter. The bear couldn’t make out what the lion was saying, but he flipped the bird at the wolf as he walked away. They were playfully shoving each other as they turned toward the direction of the bear on the boulder and began walking that way. 

The bear slid off the boulder, his feet hitting the ground and rattling the earth around him. He stood to his full height and crossed his arms, he had enough insulation on him to keep warm, but he still felt the nip in the air. He leaned back against the boulder and waited for them to draw closer.

“Doug, did you see what I did? Did you see Tristan fly over my head? He was completely airborne!” the wolf-man said as he skidded to a halt from the jog he was in to reach Doug first. His goofy grin made his friend laugh.

He chuckled as he said, “No shit Celly, for a second there, I thought he wasn’t gonna land on his feet.”  Doug winked at Tristan.

Tristan huffed and rolled his eyes, “I was in no danger of landing on my ass, you buttholes,” and smirked.

“You ready to go home for the night, Doug?” Celly asked. 

Doug looked over at him, “Yeah, I’m all run out for the night. A hot soak in the tub and bed is where I want to be right now.”

Tristan asked, “That sounds good. Do we have any steaks in the fridge?” 

Doug nodded his head affirmatively, “Yeah, I went by Da’s shop on the way back from city hall. The fridge has been re-meated.”

The three of them turned and walked into the woods, headed in the direction of home. They followed a worn path dappled with bright moonlight, the trees swaying slightly above in the intermittent gusts. They walked in silence together, each lost in their thoughts. As they stepped out of the tree cover, they passed a forked path with one well-worn trail on the left. In the distance was a lake, taking a left took you to Doug’s Ma and Pa’s house at the top of the lake. Taking the way to the right led to a place no one had been inside for 33 years.

They slowed in unison without exchanging a word and looked in the direction of the overgrown path and the house they couldn’t see due to the tree cover.  None of them had to say out loud how much they missed the people that once lived there. They’d spent a lot of time talking about the missing people amongst themselves. Their amount of grief from the loss was much the same as their parent’s. Telling the stories they remembered together assuaged the ache, but it never disappeared. 

As they neared the gate to the privacy fence around their backyard, Celly sniffed the air. He caught the faint scent of fowl nearby. Lost amidst the thoughts of missing people in his life, he dismissed it. Lifting the latch on the gate, he stepped onto the sealed stone path.

Tristan and Doug followed him around the pool to the back porch. As Celly approached the sliding glass door, the scent of fowl was more fragrant. He frowned as he looked through the transparent surface ahead, his claws scratched against the glass as he stuck his index finger into the indent that served as a handle. The outline of a woman rose from the desk chair in front of Doug’s computer. When she saw him, she fled toward Tristan’s room. Celly stepped through the door, and the smell of her arousal filled his nose. 

Celly’s tail wagged in delirious excitement as his mouth watered. He chased her, throwing open the bedroom door and lunging into the kitchen. His paws skittered across the floor as he slid on the tile. She suddenly appeared out of his bedroom doorway, leaping to the open back door on a staircase lit by starry light. The short lacy blue nightgown she wore rode up her curves, exposing her full moon in the turn of the jump. She landed gracefully in front of him with a victorious grin on her face. A joyous screech erupted from her as the door clicked closed.

Celly crashed against it in a heap. Doug’s booming thunderous laughter echoed in the room, quickly joined by Tristan’s baritone. They held their stomachs and slapped their knees as Celly stood. He laughed as he brushed his hands over his fur and shook his head. 

Tears were in the corners of Tristan’s eyes as he said between gasps, “The roadrunner got Wile E. Coyote again, folks!”

Doug put his hand on Celly’s shoulder and said, “you may’ve not caught that leggy bird, but you’re still a friend of mine,” as he continued chuckling.

“Bro, who was that?” Celly said as the laughter died down. He raised his nose and sniffed the air as he walked back to Doug’s bedroom door.  He went through the doorway and grabbed the back of the desk chair, spinning it around. In the middle of the seat was a wet spot the size of his hand. He dropped down with his hand on top of the desk and looked under it. 

Doug stepped into his room and stopped at the desk chair, “Looks like some honey leaked out of Goldilock’s pot,” he said. Bending down, he swiped up some moisture with his index finger and sucked it off.  A deep rumble of approval vibrated his chest as the divine flavor hit his tongue. Celly looked up at Doug while his were eyes closed, then glanced at the chair seat.     

“Celly! Don’t lick Doug’s chair seat. Dude,” Tristan exclaimed as he walked in, his face creasing with disgust. 

Celly rose, licking the sides of his mouth. “You’re just complaining since you didn’t get a taste. Besides, we all know your favorite way to bathe,” he said as he stuck his tongue out and winked at him. He lifted his nose and continued sniffing the air, pausing at the doorway to Tristan’s room. “She was in your room too,” he said as he went inside. 

“Hey, you stay out of there buddy, all those surfaces are mine. I don’t want your puppy cooties on my stuff,” Tristan said, quickening his pace after him.

Celly was sniffing the bed, “She laid here for a second,” he said. As he stood at the foot of the bed, the scent led across to the wall, where two dark holes served as handles to the doors that hid Tristan’s adult toy collection. “She touched these,” he said, pointing to the holes as he continued walking until he stopped in front of the desk. He squatted down and pulled the roller stool out from under the desk. He hovered his nose above the seat, closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply. “She sat here too,” he said as he rose to his feet. 

Tristan looked up at his friend, and he crossed his arms as he shook his head, “Ok, cool, bro.” He pinched the space between his eyes with his right paw before he gestured with his left at Celly’s state of dress. “Now, when you see her again, you’re going to apologize for acting like a dog, right?” he said.

Celly looked down at himself, aware now that he stood undressed and at full mast. A sad look filled his puppy brown eyes. He flattened his ears against his skull, his face ashamed, “Ah fuck, you’re right.” He shook his head regretfully as he looked down at the floor,  “Shit, I lost my head over her scent,” he murmured contritely.

Tristan nodded silently in agreement, “happens to the best of us. I’m glad you owned up to it.”

“Fellas!” Doug called from his room. 

Tristan followed Celly as they walked back into Doug’s room. He was sitting in front of his desk, and the screen in the middle was playing a video. He moved the cursor and rewound the footage to the beginning, “Who wants to watch our scantily clad house guest wander through our bedrooms?” he said and clicked play.

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 23 An Unknown Door

An Unknown Door

Verd sat up suddenly, blinking awake as she tried to make out where she was. The shapeless, vague dark frightened her. Her hand shot out, searching for the smooth round base of the lamp. The darkened room was filled with simulated starlight and the sound of ocean waves after she pressed the button. Her memories flooded back, and she sighed in relief. Throwing back the covers, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She looked around and realized she was alone, which meant that Faustus was probably with papa downstairs. 

Standing, she stretched, scratching her lower back as she tapped toward the stairs.  Her sleepy eyes misjudged a step halfway down, and she slipped. She chose to lunge forward, unintentionally hopping past the remaining stairs. Unprepared for the speed with which her new legs moved, she skidded as she landed. Two of her talons smashed into the bottom of the door as it stopped her. Swearing at the sharp burst of pain, she held onto the doorknob to steady herself. Stepping back from the door, she turned the knob as she looked down at her foot while limping a few steps over the threshold.

When she looked up, she was bewildered. She was standing in a kitchen she’d not seen before. An icebox stood next to her elbow. On the other side was a wall lined with cabinets and a countertop divided in the center by a window above a deep sink basin. The curtained window overlooked a tall grassy field blowing in the wind under the moonlight. A stovetop with an oven stood dark and cold under a shiny metal vent hood. Standing to the left of the stove was a rectangular table with five chairs. There wasn’t a dirty dish or filthy surface to be seen. The kitchen was immaculate. 

She turned back to the attic loft doorway and saw the star lamp was still on. As her gaze swept to the stairs, her eyes stopped on a faint light coming from the cracked door to her right. Looking down the rest of the wall to her right, she saw two more doors. Both were closed. There was a doorless doorway beyond the last door, but all she made out was the back of a sofa.    

Nibbling on her bottom hip, she clasped her hands behind her and nudged the door open with the talon that wasn’t throbbing. Whispering out loud to herself, “If I keep my hands to myself, I’m merely observing my surroundings.” Unable to stop herself from grinning.

She waited till the door had swung open enough for her to slip inside. Poking her head around the door, she spotted a lamp with a lampshade made of ivory-colored tassels with a sparkling beaded crystal fringe. It sat atop a nightstand next to a four-poster queen-sized bed. The headboard stood under a curtained window ledge. Swirling patterns of gold threads accented the rich burgundy of the matching pillows and bedding. An open doorway was across from the bed, and beside it was a dresser. Sitting on top of it were two upright freestanding photos. Hanging on the wall next to the dresser was a framed picture, but she wasn’t able to make out what the picture was. 

 Verd took a step inside and noticed a shadow on the floor in front of her. Installed across the width of the ceiling was a black bar with a grate in its middle. Dangling from the center of the bar was a wide, thick metal ring. The reinforced steel cables it hung from were fastened with wire rope clips. Her eyebrows raised as she recognized the suspension setup and shibari ring. She covered her mouth with her hands, trying to muffle her giggling.  

She looked back to the image hanging on the wall and walked up to it. After a few moments of staring at it, her eyes picked out a bound female silhouette suspended from above in a spread-eagle position. Intricate patterns made of rope were tied taut, exaggerating the curves of her form. A glittering gold collar encircled her neck as a matching leash dangled between her breasts. 

Verd’s clit twitched as an involuntary shiver raced up her spine, hardening her nipples. She licked her lips, biting on her bottom lip as she felt her face grow warm. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the steamy thoughts the image inspired. 

Looking over at the dresser, she decided to examine the photos that stood side by side. The picture on the right was of a dark-haired woman with mismatched eyes holding a smiling, dark-eyed little boy with a matching flop of hair. Verd’s head cocked to the side, puzzled. She recognized the woman’s identical seafoam green and coral pink eyes from her dream earlier. 

 Frowning, she turned her head to look at the picture beside it. The dark-eyed little boy with the same flop of dark hair was also in the image on the left. He was older now, his grin missing a tooth. He kneeled next to a baby with a crown of honey-colored hair wrapped in a sky blue blanket. In his left hand was the small ceramic songbird from the trinket box. On the other side of the baby was a boy with a shock of red wavy hair. The baby’s tiny pink right fist grasped around the index finger of his left hand, his green eyes shining behind his silver glasses with his smile. A third boy was kneeling in front of the baby. His grin was missing two front teeth, and in his outstretched palm was a thimble. His tousled mop of brunette ringlets surrounded his head in a fuzzy halo. The orange, square-framed glasses he wore magnified his light blue eyes. As her eyes traveled to the top of the photograph, her jaw dropped open in astonishment. She knew to whom those golden serpent’s eyes and pointy-toothed smile belonged. 

A soft gasp escaped her, and her hands flew to her mouth as she put together where she was standing. Her gaze swept the room with fresh eyes. An unexplainable giddiness washed over her as her stomach fluttered with happy butterflies. She clasped her hands together in front of her and rested her chin on the tops of her knuckles. Spinning slightly back and forth enough to make the lace bounce on her thighs. 

Verd leaned forward, trying to identify which boy was who. Confident the boy holding the bird whistle was Celly. She assumed the boy with the thimble was Doug, which meant the one holding her hand had to be Tristan. This bedroom must be Celly’s. Wondering if they lived together now, she leaned around the doorframe. There was another open door on the other side of the next room. 

Verd tip-toed through the threshold, and an orb light blinked on from the ceiling. There wasn’t a single accent color in the whole space. The entire room was the same matte white. To the right of the room, an arrangement of glass beakers, vials, and containers of various sizes lined the surface of a workspace, all holding different colored liquids. In the center was a microscope surrounded by papers. There was no way to distinguish the table without the objects on the desk; it was the same shade as the walls. A single picture was affixed on the wall behind the microscope and below the bottom of the cabinets above.  

Eager to see more of the trio, she took two long strides before falling over a knee-high mattress between her and the desk. The momentum of her fall caused her to slide toward the floor. She threw her hands out in front of her, catching herself with outstretched palms. The slapping sound echoed in the minimalist space. The hem of her chemise slid up, the fabric gathering in her armpits and exposing her bare bottom. She laughed in spite of herself as she rolled onto her back and sat upon the edge of a twin-sized mattress. Still laughing at herself, she stood and straightened her nightgown.

She leaned down with her hand and found the edge of the mattress, walking around it carefully. As she approached the front of the bed, she saw a pair of square plates bolted to the floor with a loop of metal welded into the top. A corresponding pair of plates with a loop was bolted on the floor by the wall on both sides at the head of the bed.   

A bemused look crossed her face as she continued to the ledge of the worktable. She was now close enough to see the entirely white stool with castor wheels sitting in front of it. Verd tugged at the fabric of the skirt before she sat down on the round seat, but it was too short to go under her as she sat. The leather was cold against the warmth between her legs, making her squirm. She scooted the stool forward to the edge of the table. 

The picture tacked to the wall was of the three boys in the season of late adolescence. Their arms were around each other’s shoulders as they stood on the pier she recognized from the backyard at papa and mama’s house. The features of their appearance were different from their younger selves. Tristan’s nose and mouth looked lionish. His wavy red hair was now a mane from which the curves of two furry ears poked out. Celly’s grin was wolfish. His dark eyes and floppy hair didn’t hide his pointed ears or the snout-like slant to his face. Doug’s teddy bearish face had the same light blue eyes, round-framed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He was now the tallest of the three with his gangly height. Protruding from his halo of brunette ringlets were a pair of bear-like ears. Their smiles were a candid moment of the three of them frozen in mid-laughter as they clinked the tops of brown bottles together.     

Smiling, she rose from the stool and pushed it under the desk before turning around. She ran her hand along the flat white wall and walked back toward the doorway. When she was parallel with the foot of the mattress, her middle finger dipped into a hole she hadn’t noticed on her way to the desk. She stopped and turned toward the wall. Two identical holes were bored into the wall next to each other, separated by a barely noticeable crevice. 

She put her two index fingers in the holes and pulled them apart. Two doors slid open on silent tracks, revealing a thoroughly organized bondage tool collection. The crevice between her thighs dampened with slickness. She crossed her legs and squeezed them together, and cleared her throat. She noted each piece of equipment. She’d only seen tools of this nature in adult videos or read about their uses in erotic literature. Reluctantly, she slid the doors closed with an unfathomable yearning in her heart.

She stepped back from the wall and crossed her arms. It had been a source of painful rejection in her past. Jess wasn’t interested in what he labeled as deviant behavior. She’d spent countless hours daydreaming privately of scenes that required the kind of equipment in these two rooms. It was the only thing she thought about that aroused her. The meticulous attention to detail and amount of work they’d invested was apparent. Where her thighs met had become slippery with moisture, it was hard not to have a crush on them both. Her smile was wistful as she wrapped her arms around herself and walked toward the last open door.

As she stepped into the room, an aromatic sweet sugary smell wafted under her nose, making her mouth water. A sliding glass door had its drapes withdrawn on the left, letting in enough moonlight to see. Inside the room, there was an open dark doorway just to the right of the gathered drapes. Between her and that door was a bed that was chest-high to her. The size of the mattress itself was larger than a California king. Serving as the supports of the solid wood bedstead were four posts thick as telephone poles at the corners. 

At the foot of the bed was a piece of lopsided leather furniture. The two curved sides were drastically different heights. In the saddle of the lowest curve was a pillow. Running her hand over it, she discovered it was sheepskin. A matching one was also laid on the tallest widest left side. The shorter side didn’t have a pad but was still wide enough for someone to lay or sit on it.    

Stepping back to get a look at it from further away, the curve of her rump bumped into something that rolled forward. She turned around saw that it was an office chair, and it sat in front of a desk with three computer monitors on it. The screen in the middle blinked on, and a scrolling banner crawled across the surface made of two words. “King Nerd,” she read aloud and couldn’t help giggling. To the right of the desk was a closed door with a round doorknob. 

The sweet sugary smell was fragrant over here, but this wasn’t where the source was. Verd turned her head back toward the sliding glass door and dark doorway. She wandered up to it and paused. Leaning through the doorway, she sniffed the air finding the scent strong enough to fill her nostrils as she stepped inside.

A row of orb lights blinked on in unison, framing the top edge of a mirror the length of the wall. Below the mirror were four sinks with shiny brass faucets in an inky stretch of countertop that stood at the same height as her shoulder. Charcoal-hued honeycomb-shapes tiled the bathroom walls and floor. Tucked under the counter’s far end was a blue step stool beside a dark doorway.

On the opposite side of the door was a glass-paneled wall taller than she could reach. Four brass showerheads with corresponding knobs beneath them lined the wall on the left. She stepped over to the chest-high wall of the charcoal tile and looked down into an empty tub deep enough for her to stand in and not be able to see over the top of the ledge. A closed door with a brass doorknob stood to the left of the tub, and as she turned to look behind her noticed she’d walked past four bathroom stalls the same charcoal color as the tile.      

The closer she moved to the dark doorway between the counter and the shower, the more perfumy the sweet scent became. Verd deeply inhaled as she hurried over the threshold. A kaleidoscope of neon rainbow light filled the room. She heard the tinkling echoing intro to the song “Daddy’s Home” by Shep & The Limelites and turned to her left to see a brightly lit jukebox crooning into a powder blue room. 

The lid of a waist-high toy chest was open and leaning against the wall on her right. Toys filled it to the brim and were scattered around in front of it. A round bubblegum pink table of regular height with six chairs around it was to the left. A silver tea service tray with a sky blue tea set for six was sitting on the surface. There was a wall of bookshelves across the room. It was as tall as she was, and as she looked up, she saw a flower-patterned sheet attached to the top and across to the wall. 

There was a space wide enough for her to crawl through between the side of the wall and shelf. Squatting down, she hopped forward and leaned in. A lamp on the floor came on, and the shade slowly began to spin, casting star-shaped shadows all around her. Thin strings of lights dangled down the back of the bookshelves. The floor of the space was filled with blankets and pillows. She smiled, wishing she could spend time inside this blanket fort with a few books from the shelves.

Hopping back, she stood up and sighed heavily. She paused on the threshold, lingering with a longing that made her feel almost silly. Gazing around the room once more before she continued. The bathroom lights went out as she crossed into the bedroom. There was a part of her that didn’t want to leave. Knowing she needed to go back to the attic loft, the desire to sit for a minute and think won over. 

She walked over to the desk chair and stepped in front of it. Her thigh rubbed against the edge of the desk, and the screensaver appeared. Smirking at the message, she said aloud to the room, “more like King Daddy Nerd.” Curious, she jostled the mouse, and the screensaver disappeared. Her knees went weak, and she sank into the chair. The computer’s background was a photo of the trio, and they no longer looked like boys. Adulthood had matured the features of their animalistic natures hinted at in the picture before. They were dressed in smart slacks and jackets, standing on a balcony overlooking a glittering city skyline. Their intelligent eyes and the confident unspoken commanding authority in their posture was her undoing.    

 Sitting back in the desk chair, she stared at the screen. The urge to slide her fingers down and satiate the wet throbbing had become wild. Parting her thighs, she scooted down in the seat just enough to allow her to open her legs wider. Her hand went up under the chemise, teasing and pulling at the stiff, tender nipples. Biting her lip to muffle herself, she licked the first three fingers of her right hand before sliding them into the top of her cleft. As her fingers grazed her exposed swollen clit head, her mouth opened. Her lips parted, and a soft moan escaped.       

The sound of something sharp scraped against the glass sliding door. She jumped up from the desk chair and looked toward the source of the sound. Three silhouettes stood outside the doorway as the door opened. Verd sprinted toward the open door across the room and didn’t look back. As she was halfway through the white room, she heard the sound of a door banging open somewhere behind her. She’d made a tight turn around the dresser when the clatter of paws scrambled ahead, and a light came on. 

Verd leaped across the threshold toward the safety of the loft. Turning into the jump, she grabbed the doorknob as she passed it. As she sailed through the air, she saw the wolf-man from the desktop background, with no clothes on, just out of arms reach of the door. His flop of dark hair covered one of his eyes as his tongue lolled out of his open mouth. A clothesless redheaded, green-eyed lion-man was close on his heels. He was shouting for the wolf-man to stop as he reached his hand out toward him as he ran. Above the lion-man’s head, her eye hung on a hefty swing below the waist of an absolute unit of a bear-man. Her eyes traveled upward and met his light blue eyes, and he grinned. As her talons touched the floor, she made eye contact with the wolf-man, and an unbidden smile lit her face. A triumphant screech erupted from her throat as the latch clicked closed on the wolf-man’s surprised face.

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 22 Dungeoneering 101

Dungeoneering 101

Richard was still for a moment sitting on the edge of the puddle he had just come through. As his eyes adjusted in the dark, he scooted back from the edge and rolled to his knees. He crouched, watching the blanket-wrapped body shiver violently. Standing, he stepped around the puddle and toward the figure. He gently rattled his staff until a pale greenish-gold light lit the stone cell. 

A dark, tangled mass of hair spilled out of the blanket burrito that rolled over to face the source of light. Her coral pink and seafoam green eyes were glazed with fever but still sharp in their sunken sockets. She frowned and sat up, swinging her legs over the ledge of the stone slab. She grunted from the effort it took to stand.

“Windi? It’s me, Richard. I’ve come to take you home,” he said as he extended his hand to her.

She clutched at the blanket as she neared him, “Richard? How are you here?” she asked, her drawn to face a mask of confusion. She shook her head, “No, never mind,” now awash with concern, she looked back up to him, “My daughter, I had a daughter, her name is Tori. She’s in the cell across the hall. I won’t leave unless you fetch her first.” The last few words she spoke drained the last of her energy, trembling as her knees buckled.

Richard’s staff hovered where he let go as he stepped forward and caught her, “She’s in a cell across the hall? And her name is Tori?” He confirmed, processing she’d had a daughter since he’d seen her last. “I’m going to fetch her and bring her to you right away.” He looked into her eyes as a smell wafted under his nose that frightened him, “Windi, I’ll bring Tori to you, I swear on my own life. But, please, first, I have to lower you through the portal I’ve connected to the puddle of water on the floor. You need healing. You’re not ok, Windi.” 

“You promise, I’ll go through, and then she’ll be right behind me?” Tears rolled down Windi’s face as she tried to will her shaking to stop.  

Richard looked down at her. “I promise,” he said as he reassuringly squeezed her shoulders. But her eyes had already slid shut, and she went limp in his arms.  

Richard wrapped his arms under her legs. He shoved his anger down as the depth of her mistreatment became evident while he held her. Crouching down with her in his arms, he supported her in a semi-seated position. Then dipped her waist-deep into the water and waited. When he felt her legs gently tugged on, he let go and watched as she disappeared through the surface. 

Richard stood from his crouched position and walked over to the floating staff. He rattled it again, and the light went out. His feline eyesight made the dark simple to see through. Crossing to the cell door, he stood examining it. There didn’t seem to be any invisible barriers. It was a lock that required a physical key to unlock. He snapped his fingers, and the door swung outward on its hinges. 

Peering through the crack, he saw the light coming from far down at the end of a hallway. A doorless doorway led to a spiraling staircase. The light source was a wavering flame from a torch affixed to the wall. As he opened the door to step into the hallway, he paused. The pungent stench of an aftershave he hadn’t a whiff of since his Academia days filled his nostrils. He shuddered in disgust and gritted his teeth as he opened the door wider and stepped out into the hallway.

He approached the door directly across from the one he came from and leaned his ear down to it. “Tori,” he said in a calm tone as he lightly rapped on the door below the handle. He waited silently, straining to pick up the hint of any sound. He snapped his fingers under the lock and stepped back as the door opened slowly. He spoke into the shadows ahead, “My name is Richard. I sent your mom home to Starland through a portal on the floor of her cell. I promised her you were right behind her.” He stepped back, opening the two doors until they met where she’d have a clear line of sight to the puddle on the floor. 

A barefoot, hairless young woman emerged wearing nothing but an oversized jacket. “Mom told me about you. You’re the guy she went to Academia with. Did you say you sent her through a portal?”

Richard nodded in confirmation as he held the light from his staff aloft and walked to the puddle. “Yes, she’s in my lab on the other side of the puddle with my wife Jenie and best friend, Faustus. All you have to do is step into the puddle, and they’ll guide you out.” As he extended his hand, he paused and said, “Tell Faustus I said to wait for ten minutes before expecting me to return, ok?” He nodded encouragingly as he continued, “You’ll feel hands on your feet or ankles, but it's just them, don’t worry. Are you ready?” 

Tori nodded her head and said through chattering teeth, “Yes, I’m ready never to see this place again.” She took his hand to help steady her. Then stepped from the hard floor and disappeared feet first through the puddle.

Richard turned to the hallway and shook the light on his staff out.  He swung the cell doors closed enough to pass between them and headed for the spiral staircase. Tapping the bulb of the onyx crystal until a blue-green beam of light glowed from its center. He swept the threshold with the shaft of light, checking for any traps before stepping over it. 

He blew out the torch’s flame and waited on the first step in the dark. His mind wandered to the years of endless, silent isolation he’d sat in, wondering what had happened to his tiny pink baby. Today he was going to find out precisely what Qarl was up to. Richard wanted to understand what Qarl was responsible for and how he’d managed to accomplish it. The only reason Qarl graduated with the highest honorable distinctions was due to Richard’s expulsion. Most likely, Qarl had the advantage over him in Under City due to his sleep-deprived and hysteric state. 

Thanks to the feline qualities Richard inherited from his father, Amos, his olfactory sense were hypersensitive. He activated the enchantment of his boots to silence his footsteps as his dark vision adjusted. Then he began to ascend the stairs. Two turns around the staircase, and the smell grew stronger as he reached the first landing. He walked right up to the threshold of an archway taller than he was but didn’t cross it.

His eyes watered from the stench’s concentration that saturated the domed space. There was a double set of closed doors from across the archway.  If the fool was asleep, there’d be ample time to gather any relatable research to what knowledge Qarl now possessed before confronting him. The kitchen and living areas looked empty. Richard looked up the darkened spiral staircase and leaned around the landing. Hopefully, there was a study or lab somewhere above to give the clues and answers to Richard’s curiosity.  

He continued upward, climbing the staircase silently through two more turns of the stairs before noticing how the aftershave stink was fading as he reached the next landing. There wasn’t a door here, but the landing itself was the width of three steps. He tapped the side of the staff's onyx crystal, and the blue-greenish light shined in a beam. Sweeping the light over the wall on both sides revealed nothing but the crawling insects deep within the walls.

Satisfied he wasn’t missing anything, he blew against the glowing crystal, snuffing the light out again before continuing to ascend. He walked up three turns of the staircase before he rounded the corner above and felt the temperature of the air fall drastically. He crouched down and ducked as he watched above him warily. No sound or movement came from above. He waited until he was sure it was just a thermal shift in the atmosphere and not the warning of an attack. 

Raising incrementally from where he kneeled, he crept up a few more steps. A faint light came from above, outlining the few remaining steps ahead. As his head drew level with the landing, he craned his neck to see in the doorless archway. He sensed no one within the room. Tapping the gem on his staff once more, the sweep of the beam revealed a skewed grid interwoven in threads of a burning red that emanated waves of heat in the blue-greenish glow.      

   He approached the door and frowned at the grid as he tightened the corner of his mouth. His eyes searched for the splinter stroke of Qarl’s signature seal as he stared at the scarlet ribbons of the tangled mess. Richard leaned toward the grid until his eyesight blurred out. Focusing in the distance, he moved backward, slowly searching the luminescent veins. His sight snagged on a thin pale thread sticking out from a snarled red knot.  

He stroked his thumb and index finger across the surface of the onyx crystal and took a deep breath. Holding it in as he reached forward, he used his left hand to steady his wrist. The shimmery heatwaves from the cherry red grid were hot enough to feel scalding against the ridge of his knuckles as he aimed his pinched fingers just to either side of the wispy thread. His fingertips closed around the cool stiff fiber, the texture of which was pliable but firm as wire.

      Richard yanked it straight back, torquing his hips and throwing his shoulders into the swing. The splinter came free in his hand, glowing a blue so pale it was almost white. The heat vanished as the lines of the grid zipped apart. He waited until the energy had no glow left before he stepped across the threshold.  Freestanding shelves packed with books filled the room. At the end of the center aisle, to the far right, was a nook with a simple desk littered with pieces of paper. A pedestal stood beside it with a closed book laying on its tilted surface. The dim light came from a lamp affixed to the wall above. 

He stretched his arm out in front of him and tapped the top with his palm downward, twice. A 360-degree pulse of the blue-greenish light flashed, pulsing throughout the entire space of the room. It didn’t reveal any other red grids or unseen traps. 

Richard entered the center aisle between the bookshelves and glanced at the titles as he walked toward the pedestal. There were several familiar tomes on the top toward the end that he recognized. Even a couple that Windi, Qarl, and himself used to study for year one finals with. 

As he neared the lit book on the pedestal, he could tell it was closed. Wrinkles of a leathery texture covered a spherical raised knot. The cover’s hue was a deep royal blue-green with a purple sheen. Raising his left hand, he reached out to touch it. As his fingers hovered above the edge of the upper right corner, the center quivered. A slit appeared in the center of the raised knot, now he saw the long curled lashes framing a slate blue eye. It peered at him before swiveling in the direction of where he intended to touch. 

Richard recoiled, and the eye watched him as he gawked at it. He heard a popping noise that sounded like cracking his knuckles. His eyes widened as the cover lifted of its own accord. The spine creaking as the book sprung open with a thud, falling open in the middle. He leaned forward and watched closely as a shining red ink flowed from the tip of an invisible calligraphy pen in precise, although embellished print that said, “TAKE ME TO THE LIVINITY.” 

Richard straightened and frowned down at the words in shock. They flashed on the page three times before they began repeating themselves a letter at a time. Increasing speed until they flickered, then back to the initial pattern and stopping. 

Richard said, “ Yes, the Livinity is my child. I will take you to her.”

Words scrawled across the page that read, “Provide a drop of blood for proof your word is truth.”

Richard tapped the tip of his ring finger on his left hand and felt a prick. He squeezed the end of his finger before pressing it to the page. The blood was absorbed cleanly from the page and faded from sight.   

The page was blank for four seconds more before a new message appeared, “Salutations, papa Richard. I am she and he; any pronoun will do. One blink is NO. Two blinks mean “OLL, KORRECT,” abbreviated “OK.” I read sign language. I also speak. Please end all written, verbal, and oral communications with OK, prevents time waste. OK?” The message stayed written on the page for eleven seconds before it faded a letter at a time. 

 The front and back covers of the book slammed shut and thudded back down with the slate blue eye staring directly at Richard. He swallowed and licked his lips before leaning down. He looked back at the eyeball and said, “Who are you? OK.”

The book cracked back open, its pages flipping before stopping on a blank one and wrote, “I am Gondul, The Livinity from before the fall of the Sanctuary. The Graven placed my consciousness within the pages of this book to preserve the wealth of my knowledge. I will help the next Livinity ascend to the Tower of Life.”

The book closed again, and the eye fixed on him. “Gondul, may I pick you up and carry you? OK,” he said, gesturing with his hands.

Gondul blinked twice. As he picked her up from the pedestal, he saw the book’s spine was made of vertebrae. An ear was at the top of the spine, while a pair of plump lips with a defined cupid’s bow was on the bottom. Holding her spine up, the eye rolled around the room curiously as he tucked her under his arm. 

Richard turned around and headed back down the center aisle. As he neared the end of the aisle, his armpit vibrated violently. It tickled and made him feel squeamish as he pulled Gondul away from the crook of his arm and held her cover eyeball side up.

She opened silently, just enough for him to read a line scrawled on the edge of the page, inside the margin. “The wizard is not asleep,” the fine cursive script read. The book closed slowly as the tiny hairs raised on the back of his neck. He tucked Gondul under his arm as he haltingly turned. 

The path behind him had disappeared into a shadow he’d usually anticipate Faustus walking out of. Richard’s eyes narrowed as he rattled his staff.  The blue-greenish glow revealed a pasty man’s lank dishwater blonde hair and patchy beard. His eyes were brimming with sheer terror. A burst of light so pale it was almost white blotted out Qarl’s face. 

A solid shield formed from the gleaming blue-greenish glow as the point-blank shot of pale energy made contact with it. The spell shot ricocheted against the shield, and the petrification spell Qarl cast hit him square in the chest. He fell directly backward to the floor. His stiff body bounced, sounding like hollow driftwood as it came to a stop.

Richard smirked at the fool and waved the onyx crystal over him until it glowed brightly, swirling with a storm of blue-green light under the surface.  He watched Qarl shrink to the size of a ping-pong ball before picking him up by the leg. Fishing the breathable habitat jar that he’d tucked into his pant’s pocket,  he’d unscrewed the lid and dropped Qarl into the bottom. 

He put the jar back in his pocket as he walked back to the desk that stood in the study nook. Perching on the chair in front of the desk, he fanned the papers out with his hand.  Several papers down was a handwritten note that Richard read with an increasing sense of alarm. He stood from the desk and turned on his heel. Running down the center aisle of the shelves and down the staircase.    

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 21 Through the Well

Through the Well 

Richard’s mind raced as he hurried down the basement stairs. When he’d last seen Windi, she was with her husband Alfred and son Celly in his living room. Dread for her filled him as he reached the floor. He had a feeling Qarl was responsible for the situation and condition she was in. 

Richard put his hands on his hips and paced around the room. As he passed the exam table and the tall pantry, he paused. There was a bit of fractured memory that needled at him. He approached the cabinet and pulled both doors open.  The two expired seals sat within their individual containers on the top shelf. He reached up and took one of the lockable, small, breathable habitats and stuffed it in his pocket.

The other three shelves were jars, bottles, vials, and some unusual container solutions, all full of different spell components. On the left side of the pantry wall, the shelves connect to a separate narrow compartment. A short wooden staff stood leaning against the pantry wall in the hands-width space. Richard swore. It was here the whole time. He’d left it behind in his hurry to leave for Nycropolis. 

He’d spent a lot of time trying to fill in his memory between leaving the house and nearing Nycropolis. They’d gone through The Crossroads in Starland, the only travel hub connected to Undercity.  He was worried over the safety of using the city’s transportation system to arrive in the busy metropolis of downtown. There wasn’t much room to run in those underground tunnels, and self-teleporting was controlled and monitored thoroughly. The only way to travel without a trace was to walk. Once there, they were on foot, and his memory goes blank. 

Richard regretfully admitted that he’d clearly been blinded by his pride, believing himself to know better than everyone in the room. He dismissed all of their advice, logical or not. He didn’t tell anyone he was terrified of becoming a father, let alone the father of a divine being sent by a god Richard didn’t know how to believe in. 

He’d lost himself in preparation for an attack he’d made up in his mind. In his hysteria, Richard had left the one defense tool behind that could’ve prevented the suffering his decisions caused his loved ones. Now, he grappled with the realization that his foolish behavior had hurt his one friend at Academia made him sick to his stomach.   

He tapped the face of his ring, and the recent recording of Verd’s dream popped up on a tiny screen. He pinched the image and tossed it to the countertop of the workspace at the center of the lab. It bounced across the surface and stopped upright once it reached the center and then enlarged to the size of the countertop itself. Richard leaned against the counter and waved his finger in a circle until the playback fast-forwarded to the words the woman spoke. He listened again and then waved counterclockwise until the footage showed the room and mouse’s reflection in the puddle on the floor. 

He caught the sound of talons on the lab stairs and turned to see Jenie tapping across the floor toward him. He smiled, holding his arms out, pulling her into his embrace as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their lips met, and he was lost in her kiss. 

Jenie pulled back breathless and looked up at the paused scene and asked, “What are you watching, Richard?” she asked, bobbing as she tilted her head. 

Richard fast-forwarded to the speech from the woman huddled in a blanket. He watched the recognition dawn on Jenie’s face as she gasped and said, “Who did this to Windi?”

“I want to find out. I can attach a portal to the puddle of water in the cell from the well here,” Richard said. He walked over to the tall pantry cabinet and removed a short wooden staff. As his hand wrapped around it, blue-green and gold threads brightly radiated from the grain in the wood. The onyx crystal at the top swirled with a cloudy mist. He turned it over in his hands, checking it over.

Jenie came up beside him, her eyes wide with surprise, “Is that where it’s been all this time?” she said.

“Humiliatingly, yes. It was here the entire time,” Richard said as he shook his head, a penitent look on his face.

Jenie took a deep breath and then said calmly, “Windi will need a familiar face on this side of the well. I assume she’s been surviving like this for some time. Hopefully, seeing us will steady her, and then we can go get Alfred and Celly.” She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

Faustus emerged from a shadow by the well across the room, “Richard, that’s Windi in Verd’s dream. She’s praying to Verd as the Livinity.” He stopped short, “Wait, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Jenie and I were just talking about rescuing Windi,” Richard said as he nodded toward the well.

“I’m going to stay here and wait for Windi to come through,” Jenie said.

“Good, good, I’ll stay here too with you,” Faustus said, nodding as he turned back to the well. He bent toward the waist-high cover and unlocked the doors. Pulling them open released a bright kaleidoscope of fizzing lavender- pinkish light tinged with gold and orange. The brilliant glow of the water’s surface reflected on the white walls around it.

 “Look what Richard found,” Jenie said as she pointed toward the staff.

Faustus turned around and frowned at first, then let out a scoff of disbelief. He put his hands on his hips. His silhouette cut a solid shadow as the reflection of the undulating water the walls glowed behind him. “It was here? The whole time?” he exclaimed as he shook his head. Jenie giggled at him and bobbed yes. “Well, I was feeling reluctant to agree, but now. Richard, I’ll see you when you get back with Windi, ” Faustus said and laughed as he walked over to the side of the pantry and picked up the step ladder that leaned against the outside. 

 Richard kissed Jenie then said, “I’ll be gone long enough to convince Windi to step through the puddle and be free of that place.”  

Jenie let go and stepped back as she watched him oscillate the wrist holding the staff until the water swirled in sync with his motions. It turned into a milky fluid as it spun, then the surface cleared, and a stone ceiling swam into focus. 

Richard hooked the staff through a pants loop on his right hip and stepped up on the short ladder Faustus had fetched. “Thank you, my friend,” Richard said as he was now eye-level with him.

 Richard climbed up to the top step, clapped his hands together, and dove headfirst into the water. As he surfaced, he threw his arms outward, searching for the ground around the puddle until his palms found the stone floor. He pulled himself through until he was seated upright on the edge of the puddle. A huddled mass on a stone slab in the corner shivered under a threadbare blanket.  

Jenie and Faustus saw the soles of Richard’s leather boots before he completely disappeared. Faustus produced two folding chairs from under the countertop workspace and set them in front of the well. As Jenie sat, they exchanged a silent look and settled in to wait. 

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 17 Peter Pan and his Lost Boys

Peter Pan and his Lost Boys

After the front door closed, Verd was suddenly aware of her physical exhaustion. She wanted to crawl into a bed and sleep until she woke on her own. Faustus handed her a cheese danish from the basket. Steam wafted from its center, it was warm to the touch and the buttery crunch flaked as she took a bite. “Where is your room?” she asked him. 

 Faustus gestured toward the dark doorway. “It’s right through the hallway. The door on the left as you walk in.”

She looked in the direction he pointed and asked, “Do I have a room?” as she walked towards the hallway. Faustus followed, already half-finished with the danish he’d chosen for himself. 

“Well, your room is still a nursery,” Richard said, choosing a cherry strudel from the basket on the table. “I haven’t attached a door to the nest yet. Right now, it’s an unfurnished loft,” Richard said as he followed her at a distance, scooping his arm around Jenie’s waist as they pursued after them.

Verd walked down the carpeted pathway while she tore bite-sized strips of the pastry and popped in her mouth. She turned the knob on the door to the left, past the doorway. It opened on a staircase that led to a dark landing above. 

“My room’s in the attic,” Faustus said as he put the last piece in his mouth. “The nursery is the door on the left next to Richard’s room,” Faustus said as he pointed to the door he meant.

Verd turned and looked down the hallway in the direction Faustus was pointing. She finished the danish as she walked toward it. Brushing the crumbs from her hands onto her skirt, she reached out and turned the knob. A floating orb blinked from above, revealing a nursery themed in sky blue. The carpet on the floor was a puffy patchwork of what felt like cotton balls. They were shades of wood arranged in a bark-like pattern. A bassinet stood to the right of a rocking chair in front of a window. To the left of the rocking chair was an egg-shaped incubator box in the right corner with half of a verdigris patinaed eggshell still sitting inside. 

“You hatched right over there,” Jenie said from Richard’s side as they stood behind her, “I sat in that chair and rocked you to sleep afterward. I wasn’t prepared for the human part of making milk, and boy it made me tired. Faustus and Papa took turns taking care of you so I could sleep.”

Richard smiled as he and Jenie stepped into the room, and said “It was a breeze, as long as you were held. The moment we set you down, you’d screech like a demon was clawing its way out of your throat. Didn’t stop you from being the cutest humanish-owlet I’d ever seen,” he said playfully, bumping his hip against Verd’s. 

Faustus walked across the room to the changing table and reached a shelf above, taking down a small hinged box. “Your uncles and papa’s friends were over every day. Papa’s friends had three sons altogether. Their boys and I became friends while their dads were visiting. The trio loved to play pretend and often ran around as lost boys from their favorite story. Which is how I became their Peter Pan, and you became our Verdy darling,” Faustus said with a nostalgic look in his eyes as he smiled. He turned to Verd as he unlocked the latch and lifted the lid, raising it back until it rested on his chest. 

Inside the top of the box was a wood-burned symbol. Nine consecutive peaks were carved evenly and separated by a straight line at the end of every third peak. A straight line framed the bottom as the horizontal support for the shape’s four lines. 

Verd traced the rough blackened grooves with her finger, “What’s this Faustus?” she asked, looking up at him. 

“That is the rune of the counsel of three,” he said as he looked down at her and smiled. 

“It looks like three crowns joined together. Are you sure it’s not three kings?” she asked, arching an eyebrow as she narrowed her eyes at him.

A smile quirked the corners of his lips as he said, “When Father Rod gave me my second chance from my cursed eternity in the pits of the GoDen. He said I had to agree that my priority while living is to be the Livinity’s caregiver and guardian. I agreed, and we shook on it. When He grasped my hand, I felt my palm burning as if I had touched a hot brand. When he let go, this symbol was seared into my palm.” Faustus put his left hand under the box and extended his right hand to her palm up. He manipulated the light to reveal a scarred pattern matching the rune on the underside of the box’s lid. “It healed within seconds, and Father Rod pointed to it and said my second task was to find the counsel of three. He said the rest was a mystery in progress that’ll work itself out.” Richard and Faustus exchanged a look and laughed, rolling their eyes as they shook their heads.  

Richard chuckled, “Thinking back on it, the boys were the three brightest kids I’ve ever talked at length with or spent an extended period of time observing. Their creativity and humor knew no bounds.” Richard reached forward and traced the grooves of the shape with his fingertips, “They whole-heartedly believed you were one day going to be the winged goddess from the stories Faustus told.” He tapped the finger on his chin as he said, “You know, it’d not surprise me one bit if this rune were carved into a door that it’d take you directly to the counsel of three.” He glanced at Verd, his tone teasing as he continued, “I’d not be surprised if  Peter pan’s lost boys waited on the other side of that door either.” He laughed, watching his daughter’s face blush a deep shade of pink at the mention.  

Faustus chuckled, amused at her reaction. He drew her attention back to the box, “This is the chest that holds the lost boy’s collective treasure trove. At first, the collection was of found objects.” He grinned, “One cold rainy day after you hatched, I was holding you while Jenie was resting, and Richard was visiting with his friends and brothers. It was pouring rain, and the boys had to play inside. They kept telling me how bored they were, entirely dissatisfied with any suggestion offered, which annoyed me to no end. I finally shushed them and began to act like you were whispering. I called you Verdy darling and carried on a conversation between us that turned into a story about the Livinity and the counsel of three. They were captivated, and it was all they wanted to talk about for the rest of the day. I pretended you answered their endless questions until it was time for them to go home. I thought nothing of it until the next day when they asked if their Verdy darling felt like telling another story.” He smirked, “They’d decided you were so after that first afternoon you spent cradled in the crook of my arm, unknowingly entertaining them.  She sent them on a quest to buy me thinking time and promised to tell them a new story as a reward when they returned. The next day they started to bring extra trinkets with them and told me they were offerings for the Livinity and “kisses” for Verdy because she was so good at storytelling.” Faustus hugged Verd around the shoulders as the four of them laughed. 

He gestured to the three labeled separate compartments, each filled to the brim with tiny objects. Faustus said, “The knick-knacks meant for you were brought in multiples.”  Verd leaned down close enough to read the names on the compartments, noticing the small folded paper squares separating the number of objects crammed into the small spaces. “They’d also write little notes and then tell me I wasn’t allowed to read them since they’re “secret prayers” for the Livinity only.” 

Tapping the long nail of his index finger on the name to her right, Faustus continued, “Doug is the youngest of the three. He brought the most thimbles. I have a suspicion his Ma had to steer him away from her sewing supplies.” Chuckling as he dug his finger around amongst the objects to show her more than several shiny thimbles. Among various buttons and sparkly beads, most of the items in Doug’s compartment were a variety of tiny toys, bouncy balls, marbles, and a miniature princess tiara. 

Faustus pointed to the name in the middle and said, “Now, Celly, he may have taken things from his mom’s jewelry box,” he chuckled as he fished out a ring made of three delicately intertwined gold laces and a broken gold bracelet chain. He tilted his palm until they slid back into the compartment as he said, “I’m not sure where the ribbons and lace came from, but he always brought something he was wrapping around his fingers.” He moved the soft textiles aside to reveal a ceramic songbird, “And blowing through this mini-ocarina he won at a game booth during the Autumn Equinox Festival that fall. He was pretty good by that spring.” Faustus made enough room to set the little bird back into its nest of lace and ribbons.         

He smiled as he pointed to the left compartment before he picked up a golden four-fingered leaf, “Tristan is the oldest of the three and was always bringing a piece of nature he thought was interesting. He’d have me preserve his gifts and shrink them so he’d not run out of room.” Faustus tucked the little leaf amidst the others, all in various shades fallen from autumn branches. “He took it seriously though, he also had a knack for spotting a pretty stone or sparkly pebble,” Faustus said as he picked up a pea-size rose-red rock and held it out for her to see. “He found this in the flower garden one morning when they were over for brunch.” He placed it back and held the open box out to her. 

 She took it from him and held it in the crook of her elbow as she flipped through the small folded paper squares separating tiny bunches of brightly colored flowers in Tristian’s compartment. She picked one of the two-inch squares of paper and unfolded it. As she read the question written there, her face turned red. She stared at the note as she nibbled at her other thumbnail. Looking up incredulously at Faustus, she said, “How old was this boy when he wrote this?” 

Richard laughed and said, “He was quickly nearing the end of what you’d call his childhood days. Age isn’t measured in numbers around here. He was getting curious about how individuals found mates. Why? What’d he say?” Richard leaned to look at the unfolded paper, and Verd refolded it.

“It's my “secret prayers,” not yours, besides aren’t most of these Verdy’s “kisses”?” she giggled as she looked down into the box. Curiosity consumed her as she wondered what each of those little pieces of paper said. There was no way she was opening anymore in front of her parents.  

Faustus smirked as he passed her and whispered, “maybe I already know what they all say little bird.” He winked at her as he walked back out the doorway.

Richard smiled as he said, “Yeah, you were an anomaly out here. None of the boys have sisters. You were the first female born on the property since great-grandfather Millsap’s mother. After everyone feels up to it, I want to see my brothers and friends across the lake. I’ve missed them all. Hopefully, we’ll be in visiting shape soon. But now, we need to rest. Verd, do you feel that you can sleep?”

“Yes, papa, I want to sleep next to Faustus. I don’t want to be alone.” Verd said as she wrapped her arm around her papa’s neck and pecked him on the cheek. 

He wrapped her up in his arms and picked her up in a hug that lifted her from the floor, returned her peck, and whispered, “Sweet dreams, little Verdy darling. I’ll see you when you’re back from Neverland. Promise you’ll tell me about all your adventures?”

Verd smiled, pulling back enough to look into his eyes, and asked, “Even about the mermaids?”

He sat her back down on her talons, “Especially about the mermaids, those are slippery bishes.” He lisped the “ch” sound and laughed, winking mischievously, “Pa’s too tired. I’ll see you when you wake up kiddo,” he kissed the top of her head and hugged Faustus goodnight. He came up behind Jenie and wrapped his arm around her waist as she released Verd from her embrace. Then steered her toward their bedroom door to the right. 

Verd heard the low laughter of the two of them before their door closed as she turned to make her way down the hallway. Faustus had already opened the door to his attic loft and was at the landing waiting for her. She turned as she walked through the open doorway and saw the light go out from under her parent’s closed door. 

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 16 First Drink With Papa

Peter Pan and his Lost Boys

After the front door closed, Verd was suddenly aware of her physical exhaustion. She wanted to crawl into a bed and sleep until she woke on her own. Faustus handed her a cheese danish from the basket. Steam wafted from its center, it was warm to the touch and the buttery crunch flaked as she took a bite. “Where is your room?” she asked him. 

 Faustus gestured toward the dark doorway. “It’s right through the hallway. The door on the left as you walk in.”

She looked in the direction he pointed and asked, “Do I have a room?” as she walked towards the hallway. Faustus followed, already half-finished with the danish he’d chosen for himself. 

“Well, your room is still a nursery,” Richard said, choosing a cherry strudel from the basket on the table. “I haven’t attached a door to the nest yet. Right now, it’s an unfurnished loft,” Richard said as he followed her at a distance, scooping his arm around Jenie’s waist as they pursued after them.

Verd walked down the carpeted pathway while she tore bite-sized strips of the pastry and popped in her mouth. She turned the knob on the door to the left, past the doorway. It opened on a staircase that led to a dark landing above. 

“My room’s in the attic,” Faustus said as he put the last piece in his mouth. “The nursery is the door on the left next to Richard’s room,” Faustus said as he pointed to the door he meant.

Verd turned and looked down the hallway in the direction Faustus was pointing. She finished the danish as she walked toward it. Brushing the crumbs from her hands onto her skirt, she reached out and turned the knob. A floating orb blinked from above, revealing a nursery themed in sky blue. The carpet on the floor was a puffy patchwork of what felt like cotton balls. They were shades of wood arranged in a bark-like pattern. A bassinet stood to the right of a rocking chair in front of a window. To the left of the rocking chair was an egg-shaped incubator box in the right corner with half of a verdigris patinaed eggshell still sitting inside. 

“You hatched right over there,” Jenie said from Richard’s side as they stood behind her, “I sat in that chair and rocked you to sleep afterward. I wasn’t prepared for the human part of making milk, and boy it made me tired. Faustus and Papa took turns taking care of you so I could sleep.”

Richard smiled as he and Jenie stepped into the room, and said “It was a breeze, as long as you were held. The moment we set you down, you’d screech like a demon was clawing its way out of your throat. Didn’t stop you from being the cutest humanish-owlet I’d ever seen,” he said playfully, bumping his hip against Verd’s. 

Faustus walked across the room to the changing table and reached a shelf above, taking down a small hinged box. “Your uncles and papa’s friends were over every day. Papa’s friends had three sons altogether. Their boys and I became friends while their dads were visiting. The trio loved to play pretend and often ran around as lost boys from their favorite story. Which is how I became their Peter Pan, and you became our Verdy darling,” Faustus said with a nostalgic look in his eyes as he smiled. He turned to Verd as he unlocked the latch and lifted the lid, raising it back until it rested on his chest. 

Inside the top of the box was a wood-burned symbol. Nine consecutive peaks were carved evenly and separated by a straight line at the end of every third peak. A straight line framed the bottom as the horizontal support for the shape’s four lines. 

Verd traced the rough blackened grooves with her finger, “What’s this Faustus?” she asked, looking up at him. 

“That is the rune of the counsel of three,” he said as he looked down at her and smiled. 

“It looks like three crowns joined together. Are you sure it’s not three kings?” she asked, arching an eyebrow as she narrowed her eyes at him.

A smile quirked the corners of his lips as he said, “When Father Rod gave me my second chance from my cursed eternity in the pits of the GoDen. He said I had to agree that my priority while living is to be the Livinity’s caregiver and guardian. I agreed, and we shook on it. When He grasped my hand, I felt my palm burning as if I had touched a hot brand. When he let go, this symbol was seared into my palm.” Faustus put his left hand under the box and extended his right hand to her palm up. He manipulated the light to reveal a scarred pattern matching the rune on the underside of the box’s lid. “It healed within seconds, and Father Rod pointed to it and said my second task was to find the counsel of three. He said the rest was a mystery in progress that’ll work itself out.” Richard and Faustus exchanged a look and laughed, rolling their eyes as they shook their heads.  

Richard chuckled, “Thinking back on it, the boys were the three brightest kids I’ve ever talked at length with or spent an extended period of time observing. Their creativity and humor knew no bounds.” Richard reached forward and traced the grooves of the shape with his fingertips, “They whole-heartedly believed you were one day going to be the winged goddess from the stories Faustus told.” He tapped the finger on his chin as he said, “You know, it’d not surprise me one bit if this rune were carved into a door that it’d take you directly to the counsel of three.” He glanced at Verd, his tone teasing as he continued, “I’d not be surprised if  Peter pan’s lost boys waited on the other side of that door either.” He laughed, watching his daughter’s face blush a deep shade of pink at the mention.  

Faustus chuckled, amused at her reaction. He drew her attention back to the box, “This is the chest that holds the lost boy’s collective treasure trove. At first, the collection was of found objects.” He grinned, “One cold rainy day after you hatched, I was holding you while Jenie was resting, and Richard was visiting with his friends and brothers. It was pouring rain, and the boys had to play inside. They kept telling me how bored they were, entirely dissatisfied with any suggestion offered, which annoyed me to no end. I finally shushed them and began to act like you were whispering. I called you Verdy darling and carried on a conversation between us that turned into a story about the Livinity and the counsel of three. They were captivated, and it was all they wanted to talk about for the rest of the day. I pretended you answered their endless questions until it was time for them to go home. I thought nothing of it until the next day when they asked if their Verdy darling felt like telling another story.” He smirked, “They’d decided you were so after that first afternoon you spent cradled in the crook of my arm, unknowingly entertaining them.  She sent them on a quest to buy me thinking time and promised to tell them a new story as a reward when they returned. The next day they started to bring extra trinkets with them and told me they were offerings for the Livinity and “kisses” for Verdy because she was so good at storytelling.” Faustus hugged Verd around the shoulders as the four of them laughed. 

He gestured to the three labeled separate compartments, each filled to the brim with tiny objects. Faustus said, “The knick-knacks meant for you were brought in multiples.”  Verd leaned down close enough to read the names on the compartments, noticing the small folded paper squares separating the number of objects crammed into the small spaces. “They’d also write little notes and then tell me I wasn’t allowed to read them since they’re “secret prayers” for the Livinity only.” 

Tapping the long nail of his index finger on the name to her right, Faustus continued, “Doug is the youngest of the three. He brought the most thimbles. I have a suspicion his Ma had to steer him away from her sewing supplies.” Chuckling as he dug his finger around amongst the objects to show her more than several shiny thimbles. Among various buttons and sparkly beads, most of the items in Doug’s compartment were a variety of tiny toys, bouncy balls, marbles, and a miniature princess tiara. 

Faustus pointed to the name in the middle and said, “Now, Celly, he may have taken things from his mom’s jewelry box,” he chuckled as he fished out a ring made of three delicately intertwined gold laces and a broken gold bracelet chain. He tilted his palm until they slid back into the compartment as he said, “I’m not sure where the ribbons and lace came from, but he always brought something he was wrapping around his fingers.” He moved the soft textiles aside to reveal a ceramic songbird, “And blowing through this mini-ocarina he won at a game booth during the Autumn Equinox Festival that fall. He was pretty good by that spring.” Faustus made enough room to set the little bird back into its nest of lace and ribbons.         

He smiled as he pointed to the left compartment before he picked up a golden four-fingered leaf, “Tristan is the oldest of the three and was always bringing a piece of nature he thought was interesting. He’d have me preserve his gifts and shrink them so he’d not run out of room.” Faustus tucked the little leaf amidst the others, all in various shades fallen from autumn branches. “He took it seriously though, he also had a knack for spotting a pretty stone or sparkly pebble,” Faustus said as he picked up a pea-size rose-red rock and held it out for her to see. “He found this in the flower garden one morning when they were over for brunch.” He placed it back and held the open box out to her. 

 She took it from him and held it in the crook of her elbow as she flipped through the small folded paper squares separating tiny bunches of brightly colored flowers in Tristian’s compartment. She picked one of the two-inch squares of paper and unfolded it. As she read the question written there, her face turned red. She stared at the note as she nibbled at her other thumbnail. Looking up incredulously at Faustus, she said, “How old was this boy when he wrote this?” 

Richard laughed and said, “He was quickly nearing the end of what you’d call his childhood days. Age isn’t measured in numbers around here. He was getting curious about how individuals found mates. Why? What’d he say?” Richard leaned to look at the unfolded paper, and Verd refolded it.

“It's my “secret prayers,” not yours, besides aren’t most of these Verdy’s “kisses”?” she giggled as she looked down into the box. Curiosity consumed her as she wondered what each of those little pieces of paper said. There was no way she was opening anymore in front of her parents.  

Faustus smirked as he passed her and whispered, “maybe I already know what they all say little bird.” He winked at her as he walked back out the doorway.

Richard smiled as he said, “Yeah, you were an anomaly out here. None of the boys have sisters. You were the first female born on the property since great-grandfather Millsap’s mother. After everyone feels up to it, I want to see my brothers and friends across the lake. I’ve missed them all. Hopefully, we’ll be in visiting shape soon. But now, we need to rest. Verd, do you feel that you can sleep?”

“Yes, papa, I want to sleep next to Faustus. I don’t want to be alone.” Verd said as she wrapped her arm around her papa’s neck and pecked him on the cheek. 

He wrapped her up in his arms and picked her up in a hug that lifted her from the floor, returned her peck, and whispered, “Sweet dreams, little Verdy darling. I’ll see you when you’re back from Neverland. Promise you’ll tell me about all your adventures?”

Verd smiled, pulling back enough to look into his eyes, and asked, “Even about the mermaids?”

He sat her back down on her talons, “Especially about the mermaids, those are slippery bishes.” He lisped the “ch” sound and laughed, winking mischievously, “Pa’s too tired. I’ll see you when you wake up kiddo,” he kissed the top of her head and hugged Faustus goodnight. He came up behind Jenie and wrapped his arm around her waist as she released Verd from her embrace. Then steered her toward their bedroom door to the right. 

Verd heard the low laughter of the two of them before their door closed as she turned to make her way down the hallway. Faustus had already opened the door to his attic loft and was at the landing waiting for her. She turned as she walked through the open doorway and saw the light go out from under her parent’s closed door. 

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 18 Guardian’s Loft

The Guardian’s Loft

 Verd glanced back up at Faustus in time to see his face light up in a merry grin that made the worst parts of the day feel far away. She closed the attic door behind her. Noticing there wasn’t a railing to grab onto as she walked up the stairs, she placed her hand on the wall to her left. Glancing up to find that Faustus was no longer on the landing, a sofa back served as the banister to the right. Picking her way carefully, she ascended the staircase and stepped up on the landing. A second sofa was set against the wall on the right, the sofas connected, making an “L” shape.

 Faustus stood near the window in front of a queen bed on a simple wooden frame on the left. A laundry hamper stood next to a short dresser across from the bed. She took the chest out from under her arm and sat it down before continuing to the window to stand by his side. 

The first streaks of dawn’s morning light shone through the branches rustling with orange and brown stragglers of the late fall foliage. The trees had lost most of their leaves, the yard scattered in bold autumn colors.

“Such a beautiful time of year, and it also means your birthday is soon. The first birthday at home, finally,” Faustus said as he placed his hand on the small of her back and patted it excitedly. 

Verd beamed at him, “I feel like all the shitty birthdays in the past are made up for already. I don’t know how it can get much better,” she said. 

Faustus wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her against his chest.  He kissed the top of her head and whispered, “thank you for believing in me, little bird.”

She pulled back from their embrace enough to look up into his face, “What you promised Rod, does that mean you’ll always be with me and protect me?”

Faustus looked at her seriously and said, “Yes. There is no doubt in my mind, little bird.”

Her brows drew together in a frown, “But what if you fall in love?” she asked.

He laughed and swung her around to sit on the edge of the bed and sat down facing her. “I’m in love with you, Verdy darling. No one will exist to take the place you have in my heart.” He took both of her hands and looked into her eyes, his sincerity genuine.

A bashful smile flushed her cheeks, “But like, what about sex?”

Faustus laughed and clapped his hands. He crossed his legs and wrapped his hands around the knee on top, “When Rod asked if I wanted reproductive options, I told him I didn’t have any personal interest in genitalia or a biological legacy. I had those privileges the first time I was topside in my life on Earth, and I didn’t miss it after that lifetime came to a close.” He patted her knee fatherly before he said, “One day, I’m sure the right time for love and sex will occur in your life. I’ll enjoy being friends with the person or people from those relationships with you. I’m part of your support system. We’re life companions, and I’m here for you every single day. That is a satisfying existence to me.” Faustus brushed the hair from her face and cupped her cheek with his hand. He then stood and said, “It’s time to rest, little bird. We can talk all about anything you wish when you wake up.” 

Verd exaggeratively huffed and crossed her arms, “Ok fine, but only if you cuddle with me.”

Faustus’ smiled as he straightened the sheet and blankets to pull them over her after she laid down and made herself comfy. He tucked her in and bent down, kissing her temple. He straightened, leaning to the right to click the button on the base of a squat round lamp. The light dispersed through the lampshade, visually suspending the bed in a sea of stars. The sound of ocean waves filled the room as Faustus slipped under the covers on his side of the bed. He curled around Verd as she rolled over and snuggled into him, fitting into the curve of his big spoon. His arm wrapped around her waist as she listened to the waves and closed her eyes.

The Guardian’s Loft

 Verd glanced back up at Faustus in time to see his face light up in a merry grin that made the worst parts of the day feel far away. She closed the attic door behind her. Noticing there wasn’t a railing to grab onto as she walked up the stairs, she placed her hand on the wall to her left. Glancing up to find that Faustus was no longer on the landing, a sofa back served as the banister to the right. Picking her way carefully, she ascended the staircase and stepped up on the landing. A second sofa was set against the wall on the right, the sofas connected, making an “L” shape.

 Faustus stood near the window in front of a queen bed on a simple wooden frame on the left. A laundry hamper stood next to a short dresser across from the bed. She took the chest out from under her arm and sat it down before continuing to the window to stand by his side. 

The first streaks of dawn’s morning light shone through the branches rustling with orange and brown stragglers of the late fall foliage. The trees had lost most of their leaves, the yard scattered in bold autumn colors.

“Such a beautiful time of year, and it also means your birthday is soon. The first birthday at home, finally,” Faustus said as he placed his hand on the small of her back and patted it excitedly. 

Verd beamed at him, “I feel like all the shitty birthdays in the past are made up for already. I don’t know how it can get much better,” she said. 

Faustus wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her against his chest.  He kissed the top of her head and whispered, “thank you for believing in me, little bird.”

She pulled back from their embrace enough to look up into his face, “What you promised Rod, does that mean you’ll always be with me and protect me?”

Faustus looked at her seriously and said, “Yes. There is no doubt in my mind, little bird.”

Her brows drew together in a frown, “But what if you fall in love?” she asked.

He laughed and swung her around to sit on the edge of the bed and sat down facing her. “I’m in love with you, Verdy darling. No one will exist to take the place you have in my heart.” He took both of her hands and looked into her eyes, his sincerity genuine.

A bashful smile flushed her cheeks, “But like, what about sex?”

Faustus laughed and clapped his hands. He crossed his legs and wrapped his hands around the knee on top, “When Rod asked if I wanted reproductive options, I told him I didn’t have any personal interest in genitalia or a biological legacy. I had those privileges the first time I was topside in my life on Earth, and I didn’t miss it after that lifetime came to a close.” He patted her knee fatherly before he said, “One day, I’m sure the right time for love and sex will occur in your life. I’ll enjoy being friends with the person or people from those relationships with you. I’m part of your support system. We’re life companions, and I’m here for you every single day. That is a satisfying existence to me.” Faustus brushed the hair from her face and cupped her cheek with his hand. He then stood and said, “It’s time to rest, little bird. We can talk all about anything you wish when you wake up.” 

Verd exaggeratively huffed and crossed her arms, “Ok fine, but only if you cuddle with me.”

Faustus’ smiled as he straightened the sheet and blankets to pull them over her after she laid down and made herself comfy. He tucked her in and bent down, kissing her temple. He straightened, leaning to the right to click the button on the base of a squat round lamp. The light dispersed through the lampshade, visually suspending the bed in a sea of stars. The sound of ocean waves filled the room as Faustus slipped under the covers on his side of the bed. He curled around Verd as she rolled over and snuggled into him, fitting into the curve of his big spoon. His arm wrapped around her waist as she listened to the waves and closed her eyes.

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 19 Darling In The Wind

 Darling In The Wind

The cold stone was slightly damp as the tiny paws pattered past the puddle that had formed from the leaky in the ceiling above.  Thin whiskers twitched in the reflection on the surface as the mouse’s round ears caught sound from a huddled mass in a corner in front of it. Quiet weeping shook the blanket shrouding the creature.  The mouse crept behind a rock and watched unnoticed as a human nose appeared under an old blanket covered in pilling. 

The cupid’s bow of her mouth trembled as tears ran into the corners. She whispered words too softly to make out as she drew the blanket back from her face enough to show the closed lids of her eyes fanned with long curling lashes. She sat up, holding the blanket around her; the top fell back to reveal skin stretched tight over bony shoulders. Shifting it back on until the only skin exposed was her gaunt face. A pair of starkly mismatched eyes blinked open; the iris colored the polar opposite of the other. She was gazing woefully out from underneath a mop of unruly, disheveled jet-black hair. Her lined face creased as she struggled to muffle a sob. Her lips hadn’t stopped moving, and as her crying calmed, and her words became clear.

“I beseech the Livinity of the Sanctuary on the Mountain of Rod. I am a living creature in need of rescue from evil seeking to take my life from me. Hear my cry from your tower on high, and come to my aid. Please, my Livinity, liberate me,” she moaned the last words into the dark before laying back down on the stone slab and curling back up as she faced the wall, her voice falling to a whisper again.

The mouse smelled nothing tasty enough to keep their attention and headed for the sill of the door. They squeezed their way through the small space into a hallway that looked endless in both directions. Directly across from the mouse stood an identical door and in that direction was the scent of something edible. The mouse quickly scurried towards the door and into the room. This room was much smaller than the first. There was a barred window facing the entrance, and underneath was a stone slab that seemed to be a bed.  On it was a girl, her back against the wall, knees to her chin.

She heard the tiny paws of her little friend and held out her hand, tutting encouragingly. As she sat up, the light illuminated her figure, revealing a head without a single hair. Digging into the pocket of her oversized jacket, she withdrew a small handful of breadcrumbs. The mouse crawled up into her offered hand and ate from her open palm as she petted their furry back.  Finished with their meal, they wandered around her hands and arms until they scampered away, most likely to their burrow from which they had ventured.

The wizard locked the girl and her mother in the dungeon for their most recent escape attempt. As long as she did everything he told her to, he promised to keep her mom alive. She’d grown up in the wizard’s keep with the man she’d called father her entire life. In all that time, she hadn’t left because her father had not only forbidden it but prevented it and refused to explain.  

Her mom had become desperate to find a way out of the keep and free them of his tyranny. When Father had found them attempting to repel down using an extension and reinforcement spell on her ankle-length braid, he’d caused all her hair to fall out, including her eyebrows and pubic hair. Her mom had attacked her father for committing such a violation of “my daughter’s autonomy.”  When father reacted, he attempted to emphasize she was “our daughter.”  To which her mom replied with venom in her voice that she was never his daughter. Mother finished by insinuating he was nothing but a cheap magician violating another man’s daughter. He’d kicked her down the stairs for insulting his pride until he’d locked her in the damp dungeon across the hall. 

She missed her ankle-length jet black tresses and how she used to braid them and brush them when she was bored. She’d cried the entire first night he’d thrown her in here. It was cold in the dungeon without her hair. She might discern her head and face matched the shape and beauty of a full blood-orange moon if only she had a mirror.    

           She was unsure of how long they’d been down here. Enough time had passed that she had begun to accept that her hair wasn’t going to grow back. Her mind often wandered to her mother across the hall. In the last couple of moons, there was a lot of crying and mumbling. A coherent sentence hadn’t passed between them from under their respective doors in what felt like ages. She also had a gnawing suspicion that her father had stopped feeding her mom. The last time she’d seen her father, she’d refused to call him anything other than his first name. He’d thrown the bowl of food at her for her disrespect, which she found herself satiating her hunger with later as she picked up the cleanest grains of rice from the floor. 

In the days before, they’d managed to dispel the protective magic in the windowed roof of the keep. Mother told her of a legend she learned from talking to a shadow sent by a god before Father had trapped her here. The world was more significant than the thirteen colonies she’d read about, and the shadow was a guardian of an entity known as The Livinity. There was a whole other world above the capital of Nycropolis called The Sanctuary. Shortly before this Livinity person had been born, Mother conceived Tori herself. The craziest part of the story her mom told was how she went to university and was close friends with the father, Richard, of this magical baby. Tori’s real dad was a werewolf who went by Alf, and this man, Richard, was his best friend. The wizard that imprisoned them in the keep was a spurned lover that Mother deeply regretted celebrating with one night after finals while heavily intoxicated. 

There was a whole community of people waiting for their return. Her mom’s certainty solidified her faith that a home without stone walls existed. Home had the potential to mean freedom and love where she’d known fear. 

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 20 Papa‘s Breakfast

Papa‘s Breakfast

Verd sat on the edge of the bed and stared out the window that overlooked the backyard where the oddly shaped tree stood in the middle. The sun was setting, filling the rafters above with pink and orange light.  Faustus swung his legs around and sat beside her. She leaned her head against his shoulder as she watched the breeze outside rustle more leaves from the trees.

Faustus wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her close, rubbing her arm. He pressed his lips to the top of her head. Then rested his cheek there as he stared out the window with her. “How’d you sleep?” he said. 

Her brows furrowed together in a frown, “I had a bizarre dream. It wasn’t a nightmare, but it was sad. I was like seeing everything through the eyes of this mouse. It looked in a puddle at its reflection before it saw this bony lady crying and talking to “The Livinity.” She said a bunch of stuff and then laid down, and I woke up.” 

“Hmm, that does sound sad,” he said as he straightened and stood. “You know, papa is downstairs making breakfast for us. I bet he’d have some insight if you want to share,” he offered her his hand.     

She took it as she stood, squeezing it gratefully. Following Faustus down the stairs, she noticed a dark scribble on the bottom of the door that she was sure wasn’t there before she went to sleep. She didn’t slow him to get a closer look and followed him across the carpeted pathway to the breakfast nook. As they entered the kitchen, she saw papa standing over the stove managing three cast iron skillets with a sizzling ribeye searing in each. When he looked up and saw her, a smile spread across his face, “Good morning, sweetie. I’m making steak and eggs. Mama wanted some owl time to herself. She’s out hunting and flying until daylight. It’s the three of us for breakfast.” He looked down at the meat before looking back up at her to ask, “How was your rest?”

“It was good. I still feel like I could go back to bed and sleep till sundown tomorrow,” Verd said as she stood trying to decide where to sit at the U-shaped seat around the table in the breakfast nook.  Faustus sat down on the right side and scooted inward until enough room for her to sit beside him. “I also had this strange dream.”

 As the steaks rose in unison from the skillets and plated themselves, Richard said, “Oh yeah?” He picked up the plates and set them on the table, snapping at the skillets on the stove until the three became one. He grabbed the butter dish and tossed a couple of thick pats into the single skillet. Reaching for the carton of eggs to his left, he cracked nine of them open with one hand as they splashed sans shell into the bubbly butter. “Tell me what was strange about it, hun,” he said encouragingly.

“My point of view was seen through the eyes of a mouse. I saw it look at its reflection in a puddle of water room of stone. There was a sad lady in the corner, and as the mouse drew closer, I could hear what she was saying. Papa, the weirdest thing was the color of her eyes. One of them was seafoam green, and the other was coral pink. She was distraught and crying. Talking to “The Livinity,” which I’ve gathered is me. But it sounded like she was praying. You pray to a god, right? I mean, the best I can do is a rosy-colored light from my wrist.” Verd frowned as she tightened the corner of her mouth quizzically and shrugged. 

Richard had stopped watching over the eggs and was staring curiously at her. He smelled the eggs in time to flip them as he shook his head. “Verd, do you mind if you show me a visual and audio playback of the dream? It won’t hurt. I’d cast a projection spell, and you’d think about the dream, and we’d watch it like, say, a film at the cinema downtown. A home movie, so to speak,” Richard said as he carried the hot skillet over to the table and dished the eggs out onto the plates, returning the skillet to the coolest burner. Richard set silverware in front of them and passed them each a plate before sitting down opposite them and forking an egg apart. He grabbed the bottle of hot sauce from the middle of the table and sprinkled it liberally over his eggs, then passed it to Faustus. 

“Watch the dream like a movie?” Her face dawned with understanding, “Yeah, that sounds interesting. I’d like to watch it over again. Maybe we’ll be able to hear what she’s saying?” Verd said as she took a bite of her eggs.

Faustus finished chewing a bite and looked up at Richard, then said, “Yes, the dream will replay exactly as you saw it. We’ll be able to see and hear everything the sad lady said.” He cut into his steak again and gave Richard a look that Verd wasn’t paying enough attention to catch. 

Looking up from his half-finished plate, he caught Faustus’ look.“But other than the strange dream, you slept well?” Richard said as he micro nodded in confirmation toward Faustus. 

“It was the most peaceful I have ever felt while asleep. I know it may sound silly, but waking up next to Faustus was comforting in a way I didn’t realize I needed.” Verd looked up at him and smiled. 

Faustus paused from consuming his meal to kiss her on her forehead. “You’re telling me. I slept in a bed with enough room for my whole body to stretch out while holding you.” He winked as he said, “I was on cloud nine.” 

Verd giggled and blushed, bumping her head playfully on his shoulder. As she straightened to lean back,  she stretched and yawned. Her eyes were still droopy with sleep. 

 Richard chuckled and said, “I’m glad it was delicious. Do you want me to take your dishes to the sink?”

“Thank you, papa,” Verd said, passing him her empty plate.  “It was so tasty. I appreciate you cooking for me.”

Richard grinned at her heartfelt gratitude and set the dishes down in the sink as he replied, “You’re welcome, sweetie.” He stood over the dishes and rinsed them with the water from the tap before picking up the dishtowel hanging from a handle on the front and drying his hands. “Ok, so, all I’m going to do is take my ring on this finger here,” he said as he walked up to Verd. He extended his left hand and showed her the thick gold band on his ring finger. He twisted the ring around until the gemstone faced her, glinting in the light from the orb above.  He stroked it with his thumb and murmured words she didn’t understand until it glowed.  “The next thing I’m going to do is wave it over your third eye. That’ll make it open and allow us to project the dream.” Richard took his open hand and passed it over her forehead. In the space between her brows, an invisible lashless lid raised, exposing an obsidian eye. “Ok, all you have to do is look at the space between the fridge and the stove. Then think about the dream.”

Verd swung her legs around and turned until she faced the empty space. A bright pinpoint of light appeared where she stared and grew to a wavy, static-filled screen that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The static began to clear as the outlines of a scene began to draw themselves, filling the screen with the scene of a dim stone room. The outlines of whiskers and round ears came into focus in a reflection that rippled from a drop of water from above. Richard folded his arms across his chest as he watched intently. He struggled to remain calm when the eyes of different colors appeared on the screen. He listened to the words she spoke and realized far more than he knew had gone wrong for the people he loved since he’d been kept away.     

The playback faded, and Richard rose, murmuring to the ring before hovering it over Verd’s third eye. Once the glow from the gem had faded, the lid closed and disappeared. He cradled her face in his hands, “Thank you, I’m going to store a copy of it to transcribe what she said. I’ll start researching while you go back to bed and get some more rest. I’ll have something figured out by the time you wake up. ” He kissed her on the forehead before he stepped away and stomped on the floor next to the lab door. The handle slid over, and the door raised open. Richard stepped down and descended the stairs as he waved at them. 

Verd stood from the seat and took Faustus’ hand as he rose from the seat behind her. “Are you sleepy, Faustus?” she said, looking up into his face. 

“Not entirely, but I do want you to rest,” Faustus answered matter of factly as he led her around the lab door and toward the hallway. 

“Will you cuddle with me until I fall asleep? If you don’t feel like sleeping, will you please check on papa? I think he might need your assistance in his research,” she smirked as she turned into the loft doorway and began climbing the stairs.

As Verd reached the top of the landing,  she was swept off her feet. He carried her around to her side of the bed, facing the window. The full moon had risen enough to show above the trees. He sat her down and then walked over to a short dresser against the wall at the end of the bed. Opening the top drawer, he retrieved a sky blue cotton chemise with a satiny texture, edged with lace. He hooked his thumbs through the straps and let it dangle between them, “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to change out of the dress you’ve been wearing before you went to sleep. This is a nightgown of Jenie’s left behind in the drawer when Richard and I moved it up here from his room. I kept forgetting to take it down to her.”

Verd nodded eagerly and took the proffered pajamas. Faustus turned away from her and faced the stairway while she pulled the dress she was wearing over her head. She slipped the chemise on, adjusting the shoulder straps and straightening the skirt as best she could. The solid fabric fell just below her mid-thigh. While the two inches of lace extended the hem, it didn’t provide more cover.  She and Faustus exchanged a look and laughed. Verd jutted her hip out and extended her leg, letting the skirt ride up until it nearly exposed the curve of her rump and shimmied her hip as she batted her lashes. 

Faustus wolf-whistled while clapping in approval, “Very sexy little bird,” and winked at her. He smiled as his voice took on a playfully authoritative tone as he clasped his hands and said, “But now it’s time to go to sleep, come on, into bed with you.” 

Faustus shooed her onto the bed until she laid her head on the pillow. He covered her up with the sheets and blankets, tucking her in before he kissed her forehead. He walked to the window and drew the curtains, darkening the room further. Snuggling in between the covers, he held her until she fell asleep.

[ramorkin]

FWOK:  15 Stained Carpet

 Stained Carpet

Richard led the way with his arm wrapped around Jenie’s waist. He stepped from the top of the stairs first and swung Jenie up with him. As his boots touched the kitchen tile, the lights came on. Windows opened, letting the cool morning breeze in the house, chasing out the stale air. Richard looked around, his gaze falling on the bloody footprints he missed on the way up.

Richard frowned and let go of  Jenie. He followed the trail of blood in reverse to the puddle in front of the door. Opening the front door, he saw the blood-covered doorknob. Jenie had followed him close at his heels. He looked down at her as she stopped near him. They exchanged a look with their eyebrows raised. Richard glanced toward the kitchen doorway, “Faustus, did someone die?” he said. 

Faustus shut the lab door and locked the latch, “Yes, his name was Scotty, and I dusted him below in the lab, rinsed him down the drain.” He stepped forward through the doorway, looking down at the carpet. 

“Then whose blood is this?” Richard said, pointing accusingly at the puddle as he shut the front door.   

Verd peeked out from around Faustus’ elbow and said timidly, “It’s mine. I’m sorry papa, did I ruin the rug?”

Richard’s eyes blinked rapidly as he shook his head, “What? Cleansing spells are easy. No, you didn’t ruin the rug.”  He and Jenie walked back around the carpeted pathway, their faces creased with concern. Richard’s mouth had gone dry, the sound of his tongue unsticking from the roof of his mouth sounded like velcro as he said, “What happened, Verd? Did this Scotty do something to you?”

Verd bit her lip and felt Faustus’ arm around her waist, squeezing her comfortingly. His silent support made her feel brave. She looked up from her talons and said, “The blood is from a miscarriage I had. There was enough pooled in the toe of my shoe to draw the rune that brought me here. But I messed up and forgot to close the door when I came in. That’s how Scotty got in the house. He followed me.”  She swallowed, “To be honest, I don’t remember when he hurt me, but I’m sure he was responsible. He was the only one close enough to me that was capable of doing it.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek before she looked up at Faustus and said, “I have a feeling you know the details I don’t have memories for?” Faustus nodded his head in confirmation. Verd grimaced as she nodded in return. “I don’t feel like today’s the day to go into those details.” She shook her head as she stared into the distance. 

Faustus pulled her to him in a hug, and he kissed her temple then whispered in her ear,  “As my Livinity wills.”

Richard and Jenie wrapped their arms around them. Jenie whispered to Verd, “When you want to talk about the details of anything, we’re here to listen.”

“Everything you feel like talking about is more important than whatever is going on. We will be here when you need us, and we won’t judge you. No matter how you feel,” Richard said. 

Verd was touched. “Thank you, papa and mama,” she said as she let go of  Faustus and hugged them both, pecking their cheeks with multiple kisses that made them laugh. 

As Verd stepped back, granny opened her arms and pulled her into a hug. She squeezed her tight. Amos stepped forward and wrapped his arms around both of them, kissing the tops of each of their heads, “Sweetheart, we’re here for you when you need us,” Amos said.

Evelyn pulled back far enough to cradle her hands around Verd’s face, “You want to talk to me anytime you come on through my door. All you have to do is touch the top middle symbol on the outer door. Looks like a three-hump letter “S” with a line through it.”  Evelyn looked up at Faustus and said, “you watch over her good like you always do, Guardian.” She turned back to Verd, “How do you feel about grampa and I getting you some grub?”

Verd laughed, “Yes, thank you.”

“Ok, sweetie, we’ll be right back,” Evelyn twittered again as she pecked Verd on the cheek.

Amos was at the door, holding it open for Evelyn. As she walked around the carpeted pathway, she motioned like she was washing her hands. All the bloodstains in the room faded until they disappeared as she stepped through the threshold of the front door. Amos waved to the room before following her through and closing the door behind him.

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 14 Be Careful What You Wish For

Be Careful What You Wish For

As Amos’ slippers touched the floor, all the lights in the lab came on. Verd was unaware the space was much larger than the table she’d come around on. Amos set the snow globe down on the exam table. He clapped twice and waved his hands as he walked up to the cabinets lining the walls. An invisible domino effect opened them all around the room. The specimen container holding the seal Faustus removed earlier sat on the top shelf of the open pantry in the middle. An identical empty container sat next to it. Amos lifted it from the shelf and set it down on the table. Waving at the lid, it unscrewed itself and flipped over onto the table next to the globe. Evelyn stood next to him, her face pinched with worry. 

Faustus brought Verd to the end of the table said to her, “All you have to do is hold your wrist in the same position. The light will do the rest.” He guided her right-hand palm down and let go as the rosy glow reflected in the glass.   

Verd’s eyes widened in surprise as she moved closer, and the glow suddenly became a beam. She watched vapor wafting from the top of the seal. Encouraged, she hovered her wrist closer. The legs retracted in unison from their anchored places in the glass, shattering the dome. Faustus swept Verd’s wrist back to her chest and hugged her to him protectively. Amos caught the dead seal midair in the open container and buttoned the lid down. 

The base of the snow globe bounced across the floor as clear fluid dripped from the toes of a barefoot full-sized stone statue. A bearded man with a barn owl perched on his shoulder sat on sat motionless in front of them on the table. Evelyn stepped forward, tears running down her face, her hands caressing the face of the man and the owl. She searched their faces for any light of life as she softly called their names. Amos stepped forward and put his hands on his son’s stony shoulders lowering himself to eye level, but Richard remained unmoving.    

Verd moved from Faustus’ embrace and tapped up to the table between the two as they hovered over the frozen faces. She raised her right hand and pressed it to the side of Richard’s bearded face. She heard the birthmark’s surface on her wrist scuff the cold stone of his cheek as she murmured, “Papa?”

Cracks in the stony veneer darted out from where her wrist touched the skin of his face. His left eye winced, and when the eyelid opened, a brilliant emerald green eye with a feline iris stared at her and then winked. Startled, Verd pulled her hand back and hopped backward. 

As he stretched his neck, a piece fell away from his jaw, and part of his bearded mouth appeared. He drew his shoulders together, bursting the remaining brittle hold on his upper body. Jenie picked up her foot, extending her toes as she stretched, shaking the flakes from her feathers until her wings flapped freely. She lifted from her perch on his shoulder, the remaining flakes falling from her as she soared in a tight circle around the room. 

As Jenie neared the floor, her form enlarged to a human-sized owl twirling into a landing, pirouetting on the tips of the first talon to touch the floor. A filmy blurry shimmer bloomed from her neck down as her feathers fell away, revealing human skin. The feathers slid downwards, expanding into a dress. The bodice was laced with gold while the skirt was patterned to her wingspans’ color scheme. It swished around her heels as she went to Richard. He stood from the table, brushing the rest of the peeling flakes from him. His eyes left Verd’s face for a brief moment to turn and catch Jenie in his arms as she rushed toward him. 

Verd lifted her hands, but they were no longer there. Feathers covered where arms were seconds ago, wings now replacing them from shoulder to fingertip. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a screeching sound came out. The click of her beak snapping shut was loud in her ear holes. Her head bobbed on a neck that changed her distance from the floor. Panic seized her. Instinctively, she flapped her arms, unintentionally lifting from the ground. Flying backward, she crashed into the wall behind her and fell to the floor. Faustus ducked under the gust as Evelyn drifted a few inches off the floor from the gusts of wind. Before falling, Richard failed to dodge and was knocked backward, luckily caught by Amos. They used the table at their backs to stay upright. 

Faustus approached the anxious human-sized barn owl, her talons scrambling against the slickly coated floor. She screeched at him, snapping her beak and expanding her wingspan to its entire length. The heart-shaped face bobbed on an oddly elongated neck in a threatening manner. 

Faustus raised his hands and took another step forward, “You’re alright. This is just part of your form,” he said. Verd screeched, clicking furiously, thrusting her talons out at him as she flapped her wings until she’d backed herself into the far right corner of the lab.    

  Jenie spun in a circle that shimmered. Now a human-sized barn owl herself, she glided to her frightened owlet, chittering soothingly. Verd’s wings came down, tucking closely to her sides as her mama landed near her. Still screeching, Verd huddled in the corner. Jenie moved slowly, edging toward her with an outstretched and closed beak. The screech died out in Verd’s throat as her beak snapped shut. She watched Jenie curiously. When Jenie was close enough, she hooked her beak around her daughter’s and brushed against it with her own, nuzzling her affectionately. 

Involuntarily chitters excitedly bubbled out of Verd’s throat as she bobbed her head. She awkwardly attempted to mimic Jenie and wound up booping her mama’s beak in return before clumsily hooking her beak around Jenie’s. Soft laughter murmured across the room as Jenie stepped back and tossed her head from side to side.  

Long, honey-colored hair shook loose from Jenie’s feathers as her human face emerged. Her dark eyes looked into Verd’s and said, “All you have to do is want and decide.” She lifted her right wings out. Verd watched the feathers fall away to reveal her human arm down to her hand. 

Jenie closed her eyes, and the feathers fell away. Rearranging themselves into a sweetheart neckline that covered Jenie’s now human torso and formed a sweeping skirt at her heels. She giggled and said, “The dress part is papa’s magic since he doesn’t want anyone to see my human parts. It makes him jealous,” her giggles overcame her, and she bumped into the wall, causing one set of talons to slip on the floor. She screeched in surprise and covered her mouth with her hands, now laughing in earnest at herself.  

Verd’s shoulders were shaking with laughter as the feathers fell from her head. The same honey-hued hair loosened and framed a younger face resembling Jenie uncannily. Verd’s human torso and arms appeared as the feathers' absence revealed her skin. Looking over her shoulder, she was relieved the dress she wore was still on and in one piece.  

Jenie leaned forward, cupping her right hand around the side of her mouth, and whispered, “Isn’t that swell? He made sure all my clothes don’t shred or fall off regardless of form or transformation. They just disappear like our feathers do when we’re humanish.” Her dark eyes sparkled as she smiled. She reached out and took Verd’s hands in her own as she said, “You’re going to be a fantastic flier once you fledge. You knocked papa plum over. He’d have hit the table if grampa hadn’t reacted as he did. We’re going to have so much fun in the sky. I can’t wait to show you.”  

“Verdette, is that you?” Richard said, standing two strides away with tears shining in the corners of his eyes. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath, “But I don’t know if that’s the name you know yourself as…” his voice broke as his face crumpled, tears spilling from his eyes. Struggling, he inhaled in a gasp and shook his head, “I’m so sorry.” He pressed his palms together, touching his fingertips to his lips before gesturing in a supplicating manner as he said, “I failed you. I was an arrogant, dumb, prideful asshole, and my behavior has cost you more than I’ll ever know.”  Tears continued to roll down his cheeks as his lips trembled, and his voice died out. Sliding to the concrete floor on his knees, he sobbed. It took him a minute to compose himself before he looked up at Verd and said, “I’m so fucking proud of you. You overcame Father Rod knows all, and by your resilience, you’ve made it back here.” He rubbed his palms into his eyes, wiping his damp nose and cheeks.  “I don’t deserve to be forgiven for my failures as your father.” 

Richard looked over at Faustus, who had drifted to Verd’s side, “I was wrong. I treated you like you weren’t who you said you were. I mocked you as I did my dad for believing in Father Rod, and you’re living proof sent by Him. I didn’t listen to you, and in the end, I chose not to trust you.”

Verd looked up into Faustus’ face and saw tears slip down his cheeks before he stepped forward and picked Richard up under the arms in a bear hug. They were both audibly crying as they held onto one another. Faustus pulled back far enough to look into Richard’s face, “You big idiot. I’m so relieved to see you,” he sobbed. 

Richard had begun to full-on ugly cry as he said between sobs, “I don’t deserve it but please, forgive me, Faustus. I’m so sorry.”

Faustus wrapped his hands around Richard’s skull and brought their foreheads together, and then whispered, “Of course I forgive you. You owned your shit and admitted what a big, dumb fool you were.” He chuckled and patted Richard affectionately on the cheek. 

Richard’s sobs became laughter that shook his shoulders. He flapped his right hand, and a hanky slipped from the cuff of his sleeve. He wiped his face as he turned to Jenie. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. He saw in her eyes what was coming, but that knowledge did nothing to numb the bite of the sting of her palm, slapping him across the face. Biting his lip, he nodded his head.

“You didn’t listen to me once. The whole time before and after Verd hatched. I may not have been human for very long before she came, but what I thought about everything mattered just as much as your own opinions,” Jenie said in a firm low tone.

Richard looked up at her and nodded his head in agreement. “You’re completely right, my love. I dismissed and discounted you at every turn. I even took your trust for granted. I am so sorry. I lost us the privilege of witnessing our baby’s childhood. I can’t undo that damage. Oh, my Father Rod, how can you ever forgive me” He sobbed, holding himself as he bent at the waist.

When he was low enough to her, he felt the tip of Jenie’s nose bump against his own. Their lips met as they pulled one another close. When their lips parted long enough for Jenie to speak, she pulled back and said, “I forgive you, Richard,” she said as they rubbed the tips of their noses together.

“Thank you, my love,” he whispered as he cupped his hands around Jenie’s heart-shaped face. 

Verd had been watching Richard closely. Their eyes met as he looked up from Jenie’s face. “All I want is a chance for me to earn your trust enough to call this home someday.”   

  “I’m willin’ to try, papa,” she said as she bobbed her head “yes.”

Richard held out his hand, tears falling down his face as Verd took it, and they met halfway in a hug. The satiny fabric of the vest he wore pressed against her cheek as she heard the steady thump of his heartbeat beneath. She wondered at what a strange day this had turned out to be. Papa’s lips pressed against the skin at the top of her forehead as Jenie’s arms were wrapped around the both of them, followed by Faustus. A few footsteps later and grampa and granny joined them. Verd laughed out loud. Hours ago, she was trapped in a room with no exit and a dismal future.  

“Alright, children,” Evelyn said. She gave a final squeeze to the group hug before straightening. “It’s morning, and I know Amos is ready for breakfast by now. I’m sure you’re all getting hungry. How does going upstairs to the nook sound? I’m going to run back to the house and grab a meal from the kitchen. What does everyone think?” she said, looking at the group. 

“That sounds good to me, mom,” Richard said. He pulled away enough to look down at Verd, “Are you hungry?”

Verd laughed and stepped back, “yeah, I’m feelin’ peckish,” she looked up at all of them and smiled as they laughed.  She felt Faustus brush up against her elbow and say excitedly from above her shoulder, “I can’t wait to taste food again,” as they made their way up the stairs.

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 13 Bluebirds and Blackcats

Bluebirds and Blackcats

An incredible shadow filled the room, followed by an echoing howl of fury. Faustus vaulted over the sofa, brandishing a pitchfork and yelling angrily in a language Verd didn’t understand. The tines of the fork rang against the cracks in the stones as he ran the clown through.  He allowed it a single shriek as he manifested his hand sickle from the air. The clown’s body sagged as its head bounced to a stop on the floor. 

Verd stood frozen where she was as a man strode in after Faustus, dressed in peppermint striped pajamas. He wore a full sleeve on his right arm, but his left was a half-sleeve with no arm. His shoulder-length dark hair was streaked with gray and swung as he turned his head to the Jester.  He raised the rounded end of his left arm, and an explosion of spinning light erupted from the rounded end of his left arm. Five light projectiles streaked across the room, blasting gaping holes through the Jester’s face and center body mass. He spun to face Verd as the Jester collapsed to the floor. 

The irises of his hard light-green piercing stare were like a cat’s eye. His gaze never left her face as he drew closer. A majestic bushy beard brushed his chest, curled upward on either side of his nose were thick matching whiskers. It was wild with pale threads. He tossed his jet-black hair to one shoulder. “Verd?” he said. He saw her jump back a little when he spoke. He stopped in front of the back of the sofa that faced her.

“Grampa?” Verd squeaked.

Amos’s face softened, and a Cheshire cat’s grin spread across his face. He laughed heartily and slapped his thighs, “I’ve waited a long time to hear you call me that,” he said.  

An anxious voice filled the foyer, “Where is she? Where’s Verd? Is she alright?” A pair of clear sky blue eyes peered from around the door, followed by a lady wearing a pink dressing gown. She saw Verd standing in front of the bookshelves. Relief washed over her face as she shut the door. Her single braid was gray at the top of her head and brightened in hue to a bright blue. Its length. It brushed the backs of her knees as she surveyed the carnage in front of the hearth. Then she turned, her face full of concern. She came around the sofa to where Verd stood and said,  “Oh honey bird, that must’ve given you quite a fright. Are you ok?” 

Verd opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was completely caught off guard by the evident concern on this lady’s face. Evelyn asked, “Do you want a hug, Verd?” 

Verd nodded her head yes and cried quietly. Evelyn pulled her into her embrace and held Verd against her shoulder as she calmed. “You can call me Evelyn if you want or Granny. It’s up to you and what you feel comfortable with,” she twittered. 

Verd straightened and sniffed. She took the hanky Granny offered. “I’d like to call you Granny,” she said as she wiped her eyes and nose before continuing. “It’s nice to meet you both again,” she twanged, and the three of them chuckled. 

Faustus’ hand squeezed Verd’s shoulder, “Are you ok?” he said. 

Verd looked up at him and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. They just scared me.”

 Amos had sauntered over to the side of the room where the hearth was. He stepped down from the raised pathway and asked, “Is this what they were guarding?”  Walking in front of the mantle, he pointed at the snowglobe still there. As he drew closer, his eyebrows shot up as he picked the snowglobe off the mantle, “Evelyn, look!” he held the snowglobe out to her as she drew near. 

When she saw the face of the figure inside, her hands clapped to her face as she gasped.  “Jenie and our boy were cursed, sitting on a stump in this damn snow globe on his mantle this whole time?!” she shrieked.

Faustus’ crossed the room. His eyes grew wider as he neared, recognizing the obsidian seal with the luminescent green fluid at the top. This one served as the stopper for the snowglobe. Within the glass, eight spindly legs were anchored individually. 

Faustus said, “I removed a similar one that was embedded in Verd’s chest. With nothing other than a rose-colored beam of light from her wrist. The bugger seized up and died the moment the light touched it.” His brow creased, and he rubbed his chin as he continued, “Richard is the same color as the stony flesh around the seal embedded in Verd’s skin. I’d wager it will peel and flake as soon as we release him.” 

“Aye, excellent, down to the lab then,” Amos stepped back up onto the pathway and headed for the kitchen. Evelyn followed close at his elbow.

 “You removed what, with light from my wrist?” Verd asked as Faustus guided her to the staircase below the kitchen floor. She raised her right wrist and found the gemstone a cool pale pink. 

Faustus nodded his head quickly, “Yes, I think you have a natural defense against whatever this corrupt magic is. My guess is that your divine nature prevented you from turning to stone. Which might be why you were abandoned to the Earth plane. The party responsible for this mess only managed to curse you enough to be mistaken as a human. The partial polymorph spell was good enough to hide your legs, but now I think that was just a measure to make up for an underestimation,” he said they reached the floor of the basement lab below. 

[ramorkin]

FWOK: 12 Stealing The Wheel

Verd heard the sharp tap of her talons on the kitchen tile as she stepped into the cozy kitchen lit by the first rays of dawn. The great bay window of the breakfast nook overlooked a picturesque garden in late autumn. She didn’t recognize any of the flowers that filled the frame. Their petals and vines covered every space except where stones from a wall peeked out. The gradient of their colors matched the season it was. A sturdy wooden bench stood empty at the end of a stone path sheltered by a lattice arch. A place she’d get to enjoy now that she was home.  

 Faustus lowered the lab door and slid the handle into the locked position. The flower garden was quite pretty in the sun’s early light. He opened a cabinet above the sink and retrieved a short glass tumbler that he filled with cold water from the tap. He handed it to Verd, who drained it in a few gulps. She marveled as the glass refilled itself once emptied. Faustus smiled at the wonder on her face and said, “Richard hated having to refill glasses. Anything he felt was a waste of time he found a shortcut for. The house is full of those kinds of fixes.” He walked to the icebox on the left of the sink and pulled the silver handle to open the door.  The shelves were empty, except for four glass bottles of soda on the shelf in the door. He grabbed two sodas out, flicking the lids off with the nail of his thumb. He handed Verd one, “cheers to making it home alive,” he said.

Verd grinned as she clinked her bottle to his, “cheers,” she said. 

“Now we just have to find out what happened to those kind parents of yours,” Faustus said between gulps. “We need something to eat, and the safest place I know to go is your grandparents, Amos and Evelyn. I know they’ll have food to share. Hopefully, they know something about Richard and Jenie. What do you think about a bath and clean clothes while I go see what Grampa and Granny know?” He finished the rest of his soda and set the bottle on the counter by the sink. 

“That sounds lovely,” she replied. 

“I’m sure there’s something suitable amongst your mama’s things,” Faustus said as he walked through the doorless doorway and into the living room. 

Verd looked out the back windows, hoping she’d have the chance to explore outside soon. Faustus turned right into the hallway with four doors on either side. He passed all of them before stopping at the door at the end and turning a delicate gold handle. Pushing the door open, he walked inside the master bedroom. Orb lights came on above and rotated slowly below a still ceiling fan. He walked around a wooden four-post king bed with a chiffon canopy and through a dark doorway that lit after he stepped through. 

   A nightstand stood between the bed and the doorway Faustus had just walked through. On its surface was a framed picture of a couple with their cheeks pressed against one another. Smiling from ear to ear, holding each other close. Verd stopped and picked up the picture, “Is this, are these my parents?” she stuttered. She heard the water running before Faustus’ shadow hovered in front of her. 

“Yes, that’s Richard and Jenie,”  Faustus said. He leaned around the doorway, looking up at the wall above the nightstand, and reached for a framed picture on the wall that he placed in Verd’s other hand.  He tapped the smiling young man’s face, “this is papa when he was 16,” he said.  Then pointed to the barn owl perched on the young man’s shoulder and said, “and that’s your mama, Jenie, before she became part-human.”

“Whoa, wait a minute, you’re serious. My dad fucked a bird? What!” Verd looked up at Faustus in revulsion. 

“Well, that’s what your papa’s enemies say, sure. I can guarantee you the transformation was spontaneous, nothing your mama had control over. Definitely not a choice Richard made for her. Jenie was his companion from the moment she landed on his outstretched finger. His affection for her was noticeable. Especially since he didn’t have any lovers. It was used as an insult against him, but Richard isn’t the type to give a fuck about what other people say. These two are absolutely inseparable, and that didn’t change even after she was no longer a bird,” Faustus smiled.

“How’d she go from being a regular owl to evolving into being part-human?” Verd asked.

Faustus took the picture frame back from Verd and hung it on its hook. Verd sat the other picture frame back on the nightstand. “Richard suspected she’d eaten tainted meat on the night of her last hunt as an owl. He had no way to prove it, but it wasn’t long after they moved into this house. One morning your mama wasn’t in her nest box,” Faustus pointed to a wooden nest box affixed on the wall near the window on the left side of the room. “Instead, she was asleep face down on the shag rug, her naked fanny in the air and her feathered legs splayed out. Right over there in the floor, in front of where Richard slept.” Faustus laughed as he turned and walked back to the bath to shut off the water.            

 The bath was waist-high. Faustus picked her up and set her on the ledge before helping her down into the hot water. She sighed as the water reached her lower back. There was a wide bench on the opposite side from where she stood. As she sat down, the water covered her up to her neck, and she groaned in pleasure. 

Faustus chuckled and handed her a washcloth and a bottle. He said, “Here’s soap and a cloth to wash with. I’m going to find you something to wear, and then I’ll be out the front door, ok?” He turned and walked into the bedroom.

Verd tensed. “You’re goin’ to leave me alone?” she asked. 

His voice sounded muffled as he walked into the closet. “I’m leaving the front door ajar so I can hear you if you need me. I’m not going further than grampa and granny’s living room.”  He found three dresses that might work, brought them out, and laid them on the bed. “If you sit on either of the sofas by the front door, you’ll probably be able to hear my voice,” he said, looking at her through the doorway.  “I’ll be right back, little bird. You’re in the safest place. I won’t be far,” he said to her reassuringly. 

She smiled at his sincerity, “Ok, ok, I’ll be fine. I’ll sit and wait for you in the living room,” she replied. Watching him walk through the bedroom door and turn left toward the living room before he disappeared from her line of sight. She sat back against the warm stone and raised her talons above the water. Flicking water across the surface until she was bored enough to wash up. 

She stood and reached for a towel hanging from a rack to the right after she was done. She used the step under the water to sit on the ledge before swinging down. She tapped across to the bed to choose from what Faustus had laid out for her to wear. 

The blue peasant dress with the half sleeves had varying gradients and gathered layers in the skirt. Verd slipped it over her head and her arms in the sleeves. She stood in front of the full-length mirror in the corner near the closet. The skirt swished with her every movement, and she could help but twirl. She giggled at the woman in the mirror with bird legs. Happiness wasn’t a feeling she’d thought she’d feel again, and it felt good. She tested her gait as she made her way down the hall, she managed to stop fast enough not to hit the wall, but it was close. 

Turning into the living room, she stared out the back window again before turning to the wall of books. Names and titles she’d never heard of lined four wall-length shelves. She ran her fingers along the spines of the books lining the middle shelf. Stopping in front of the guitar on its stand, she strummed her finger across strings that were in perfect tune. Curious, she lifted the lid on the piano keys and ran the C scale. The piano was in pristine condition as well. Looking back down the shelves, she realized she’d passed a stereo with impressive speakers.  A light was blinking in the center of a button that looked to power it on. 

She pressed it, and the stereo came to life, “Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealers Wheel '' blared through the speakers, startling her. She winced as she located the volume knob, turning it down. Laughing at herself, she bobbed her head to the song and danced in a circle. 

As she turned, her eyes stopped on the snow globe sitting at the center of the mantle above the hearth. There were a couple of figurines on either side, but that was all. Verd stepped back up on the raised pathway, skipped a step, and hopped down in front of the unlit hearth. 

“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you,” Stealers Wheel sang as she reached the shelf. She giggled at the song’s lyrical coincidence with the creepy porcelain figures flanking the globe. A purple and black checkered jester wearing a fool’s cap with dangling gold bells stood in an over-exaggerated “shushing” gesture. The clown wore a shiny, baggy white jumpsuit with rainbow pom-poms down the front and oversized red shoes. His white-gloved hands framed his open mouth in a silent scream.

She had to flex her talons to lift herself high enough to see the snowglobe at eye level. Inside the dome was a single bearded figure sitting on a stump. A barn owl was perched on his shoulder. Her fingertips traced his features through the glass. His bushy eyebrows were familiar, as was the shape of the eyes and mouth of the bearded figure.  Her eyes shifted to the owl, she didn’t know for sure, but she’d bet that if she compared the owl in this globe to the one in the picture, they’d look the same too. She stared hard, glancing between the two trying to understand why the man sitting on the stump looked like an older version of the boy with the owl from the picture.

Verd wrapped both her hands around the base, and a pale rosy light began to glow from her right wrist. Recoiling, she stumbled back from the mantle. Her brows furrowed in astonishment as she rubbed at the rosy raised hook. Warmth emanated from it as the light glowed. The surface felt smooth and hard as a gemstone. The surrounding skin was the same as it always had been.  The light and heat increased in the hook until it became a hot brilliant beam. She waved it over herself, and it did nothing, wrapping her left hand around her wrist. The light glowed through her palm like she was holding a flashlight. 

She caught movement from the corner of her eye and flinched. Two pairs of glowing red eyes stared at her from the mantle. The jester and clown animated, jerking their limbs loose from their statuesque positions. No longer figurines, they jumped from their pedestals to the shelf. When their tiny feet landed on either side of the snowglobe, a tone sounded, and they grew to double their size. A consecutively higher-pitched tone rang in her ears, and daggers slid from under the cuffs of their sleeves into their open palms. The final tone was a ringing gong that echoed as the two leering faces grew once more, hovering above her. Their heads turned toward her in unison, their jaws dropped open, and a blood-curdling cackle filled the room. 

Verd let out a screech of terror. Her talons slipped on the hardwood floor in her hurry to flee. She felt twin knife tips graze her back as she jumped onto the back of the sofa and leapt across the pathway between them. She landed in front of the bookshelves and turned in time to see the front door bang open. 

[ramorkin]

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