Alea
would you like to play a game?
Concealed in the Barrows' underbrush, Alea peeked out at the gathering. She hadn't used her human form in a while, and it felt strange; her clothes were tattered, and she hadn't been able to get most of the tangles out of her hair. But you had to have fingers to make dolls and lanterns, so she had to be human tonight.
"There's a lot of people out there, Ludo," she whispered to the crudely-made doll in her own hand, holding it up to her face. Nothing more than a few sticks and a scrap of black cloth -- there was nothing special about it, and the event's participants had already made better ones. But Alea would fight any attempt to replace this one with her life. "And they're tall. Why are they so tall?"
In the last few years, the only humanoids Alea had laid eyes on were the Fae. She'd gotten used to the idea that people didn't come much taller than she was. This gathering disproved that belief.
After a moment's silence, she sighed and tucked the doll into her thick hair so that it stuck out near the crown of her head like a barette. "If you say so. Don't fall, OK?"
Then Alea walked barefoot into the group, watching the adults to see what she was supposed to do. First she filled a plate of food, her movements confident and business-like. Mostly meat; she didn't know what a lot of the flora on the table was, and treated it with suspicion.
With her plate, Alea walked over to the doll-making station and sat down next toNephele. She felt a little more kinship with the Fae than the rest of the strangers: she knew that they were also small, and also came from the Greatwood. Still, Alea made no attempt to greet or speak to Nephele, just began wolfing down her food as if she hadn't eaten in days.
She paused three bites in as the flavor of actual cooked food hit her tongue. "Oh!"
"There's a lot of people out there, Ludo," she whispered to the crudely-made doll in her own hand, holding it up to her face. Nothing more than a few sticks and a scrap of black cloth -- there was nothing special about it, and the event's participants had already made better ones. But Alea would fight any attempt to replace this one with her life. "And they're tall. Why are they so tall?"
In the last few years, the only humanoids Alea had laid eyes on were the Fae. She'd gotten used to the idea that people didn't come much taller than she was. This gathering disproved that belief.
After a moment's silence, she sighed and tucked the doll into her thick hair so that it stuck out near the crown of her head like a barette. "If you say so. Don't fall, OK?"
Then Alea walked barefoot into the group, watching the adults to see what she was supposed to do. First she filled a plate of food, her movements confident and business-like. Mostly meat; she didn't know what a lot of the flora on the table was, and treated it with suspicion.
With her plate, Alea walked over to the doll-making station and sat down next to
She paused three bites in as the flavor of actual cooked food hit her tongue. "Oh!"
"Forgotten Teddy Bear" by Walt Stoneburner is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
