Curses and Thimbles (chapter 1)
Why, hello, g/t community :)
This is my first time posting one of my g/t stories, a big thanks to @ratcatcher0325 for helping me settle on a title for this story
This story takes place in a world where borrowers and other mystical and magical creatures wander the same world as the other humans, though the public is unaware of that. For now, at least.
This chapter mainly acts as a prologue to ease you into the part I really want to tell the story of, the first part acts as the backstory of my OC Jon and the second one is a time skip 20 years forward
Anyway, here is a link to my Masterlist
Jon has been doing better, to say the least.
Well, that wasn't completely the truth…
He had been doing better when he still was back home, able to live under a safe roof, safe from all the dangers he hasn't even known of before and able to have a proper warm meal prepared by his mum.
Then again…the situation with his father wasn't ideal…
That was the only thing that he didn't miss, hearing him scream at his mother and constantly fearing that one day it would hit him too.
Being hit by the strong, reeking smell he'd have whenever he'd come home in the evening.
Feeling so terribly small and worthless under his sharp and judging gaze.
He never thought he could feel more pathetic than back then, and yet…here he stood at roughly one inch in height, desperately stuck in the same ally he got cursed in.
If it wasn't for the food in the many knocked over trash cans Jon never could've been able to survive for so long.
True, the food was disgusting…but it was better than starving…
This was just one of the few compromises he had to make.
Instead of a proper roof over his head and his usual bed all Jon had for cover was a tilted over cardboard box, which was withered and close to falling apart with how often it had been outside in the pouring rain.
Rain…
Jon missed the rain he used to be able to play in for hours…now all the rain was to him was a death sentence.
He had to learn that the hard way when a few weeks ago he almost got swept into the sewers after he got dragged along by the stream of rain.
A sigh escaped him as he sat in the same old box he has been using as his shelter for the past few weeks.
He longingly looked at the exit of the ally, unable to gather up enough courage to leave.
It already was a problem to be outside on his own with people around, but with him being this tiny, the world looming over him for miles to no end?
The thought alone made him shudder.
No, he couldn't go out there, as much as he wanted to…
Subconsciously his hand reached for the piece of bread he had fished out of the trash the other day, a small wince escaping Jon when he hit nothing but air.
Right…he had eaten all of it already…and to his dismay the trashcan wasn't exactly getting any fuller, food was harder to find before the racoons already have plundered them before him.
"I miss home", he quietly admitted to himself, rubbing at his eyes to wipe away the tear that has formed.
He knew he shouldn't cry as a boy…but he was just a toddler, there wasn't much else he could do…and his nerves started breaking.
A startled gasp escaped Jon when he suddenly heard a loud crash, his hand flying up to his mouth out of habit to suppress a scream.
"Nononono, please no, please not dad", he begged in his head, curling in on himself as much as possible in hopes of comforting himself.
"Please, oh god, oh no, don't find me!"
His breathing started to pick up in a panick, Jon screwing his eyes shut in hopes of stopping himself from hyperventilating…but to no avail.
A shiver ran down his spine and he shuddered when he suddenly felt a shadow falling over him, signifying that something had found him, if the sound of surprise from above him was anything to go by.
Slowly Jon dared to open his eyes, his breath picking up once more when he saw a person looming over him, making direct eye contact with him.
He tried to scramble back in a panick to get as far away as possible, only to -thud- hit his back at the wall of the cardboard box.
"Easy, there", the MUCH taller man told him, remaining in his crouched position and raising his hands in mock surrender.
Jon couldn't help not tearing his eyes off of the man, he was HUGE to him.
He wasn't exactly the size of a human, but the fact that Jon could see how he himself wasn't taller than just the man's knee left him unsettled.
"Deep breaths, ok, boy?"
The man held up a hand, counting to five seconds as he took a deep breath in, holding it for another five seconds, and then released it once more after five seconds, repeating the action on loop until Jon finally caught on, repeating as the man did with shuddering breaths, but, eventually, able to calm his breathing.
"There we go…", the man spoke in a soft voice.
"What's a kid like you doing out here in the middle of an ally at brightest day?
Where are your parents?"
Jon just coiled up in himself in response, not daring to say a word.
He was met with the softening and concern warping gaze of the man.
"You're lost out here, aren't you?"
Jon had to admit, he was lost, in a sense.
He couldn't go anywhere without getting overwhelmed, he was stuck in one place.
A slow nod from him confirmed what the man dreaded as an answer.
"…What's your name, kiddo?"
"…Jon", he hesitated.
"I'm Gael Lynch", the man said while giving him a tiny reassuring smile.
"And how old are you?"
"Four…"
Gael's face dropped at that.
"Four?"
He looked at Jon in disbelief.
"I never have seen a four year old your size", he mumbled to himself.
A cold breeze swept by, causing Jon to shiver under it and the man's complete attention.
Gael noticed, shrugging the cloak he was wearing off of his shoulders and carefully draping it over Jon.
"There you go, now you won't have to freeze."
Jon's confused gaze was met with a small smile.
"Come with me, you'll just freeze out here."
"But I don't know you! I can't just go with a stranger!"
"You are just as much of a stranger to me as I am to you.
Come on, kiddo, you'll just catch a cold out here and we don't want that to happen, now, do we?
Don't worry, I'll look after you."
Jon paused at what Gael said.
…Should he really go with this stranger?
And did he really have much of an other choice?
Food was starting to run out…and the weather won't get better any time soon…in fact, winter was approaching and Jon knew for a fact that staying outside won't do any good for him.
…He had the funny feeling that he wouldn't make it much longer on his own…
Hesitantly Jon slowly rose from the spot, Gael giving him a small smile and spreading out his arms.
Without thinking twice Jon ran up to him, burrying his face in the man's chest and clinging onto the fabric of his shirt.
"Let's get you home, hm?"
And with that Gael rose, carrying Jon in his arms as he made his way home, concluding with confidence that he would look after Jon until he'd be ready to take care of himself.
_
Jon took a deep breath, collecting himself and calming his nerves.
"Alright", he mumbled, looking up from where he was standing underneath the desk of the busy office.
"Just grab some of the coffee and get out of here, easy as that."
If ONLY he knew how terribly wrong this entire borrowing mission would go…