my darling can you hear it? something's lurking in the leaves
I can feel its preying eyes on us from somewhere in the trees
I can feel its preying eyes on us from somewhere in the trees
“Those were fears I had when I was pregnant with my first child. They are questions that weigh differently for each parent at different points in their lives.” She had dreaded it mightily with Arya, so young was she when she’d conceived, but now it hardly scared her at all. “But I will not stop being Hotaru just because I’m a mother. I will still have friends and family, and they will happily provide me time to be myself if that is what I need.” Babysitting was not only for the baby’s benefit. “I was terrified to be changed into something I didn’t want when I first became a mother. But what I found after she was born was that I was still myself. Simply more.” Taking a bolstering breath, she turns her sad smile towards Seren. “And when I lost them, I was still me. Just a little less.”
As Seren curls into her instead, she wraps an arm around the girl and cradles her, heedless of their differences in stature. “Then so you shall be, until you yourself decide you want to change.” Change was inevitably externally, but Seren’s will could prevent those changes from becoming internalized if she desired.
Hotaru closes her eyes to envision the plant, Lakota’s gentle murmur in her ear as it always was and forever would be when she worked with herbs. “It’s a lily, white with prominent black spots on its petals. It is very poisonous, you must not touch it. Contain it somehow if you can, even disrupting the pollen can be dangerous.” Opening her eyes, she looks down at Seren. “Wear something over your mouth and nose, and take root and all into the container if you must. Be very careful, Seren.” Her tone a ghostly imitation of her aunt’s, who had said similar words when sending Ru off to harvest her own poisonous plants.
As Seren curls into her instead, she wraps an arm around the girl and cradles her, heedless of their differences in stature. “Then so you shall be, until you yourself decide you want to change.” Change was inevitably externally, but Seren’s will could prevent those changes from becoming internalized if she desired.
Hotaru closes her eyes to envision the plant, Lakota’s gentle murmur in her ear as it always was and forever would be when she worked with herbs. “It’s a lily, white with prominent black spots on its petals. It is very poisonous, you must not touch it. Contain it somehow if you can, even disrupting the pollen can be dangerous.” Opening her eyes, she looks down at Seren. “Wear something over your mouth and nose, and take root and all into the container if you must. Be very careful, Seren.” Her tone a ghostly imitation of her aunt’s, who had said similar words when sending Ru off to harvest her own poisonous plants.
my dear don't let it catch you - all that's left to do is run
Hotaru
