her fleeting presence, gentle smiles and her refreshing aroma left others in the room be unable to take their eyes off her

But little did they know, right at the center of the flowery exterior harbored an hourglass, concealed by the large sunflower. As the white sand trickled down, the girl's smile faltered and she looked away lest someone catches her distress. If she was to break the curse, she must seek help, and fast.

flowers grew all around and lifted her out of the mud, but whisked away the horse! she would have to learn to ride the flowers or else walk the rest of the way to her destination

seeing the flowers take the shape of her runaway horse, she became at ease and rode her colorful, blooming steed towards the middle of the fray!

He was one of the Boys, and they all lived in the same rooms, played with the same toys, had the same dog. And life was great. The Mothers, took care of them, and the Fathers were never home. That's how life was, and it was great. They went to school every day, where the Teachers taught and the Doctors doctored. No one was left out, no one was happier, no one was better. It was Great.

But this Boy, the Boy from the story, let's call him 18 (He lived in the house 18, so that's how people refered to him), saw a Doctor give 32 one more pill than him on their daily vitamins. He was confused, because Teacher had said the vitamins had to be regularly taken, which he thought meant every day the same, but maybe he was mistaken. He would ask Mother later. Or 32 on the next recess...But 32 went sick for a few days, and when he came back he didn't seem to remeber him. Or anyone. Must be the sickness, said the boy, and when he asked Mother that evening she said he wouldn't get sick if he was exactly like the other boys. And so he was.

But the boy couldn't help wondering whether he wasn't the same as all the other boys after all. Is it something you would just know or was it impossible to tell?

He crept to the mirror, the night dark around him. He couldn't sleep. The thought had been nagging at his mind ever since. What if he wasn't like all the other boys. He didn't want to get sick. He really didn't want to forget everyone. That would be not so great.

The white's of his eyes shone in the darkness, blinking back at him. Was that eye bluer than it used to be? His heart started pounding. Was his face rounder than all the other boys?

The boy began to cry, great ugly sobs that broke the silence of the night. The light flipped on. Mother was there, standing over him, hands on her hips. She didn't look happy with him. He wasn't meant to be crying. Her displeasure only made him cry harder. Who was that behind her. The Doctor? What was the Doctor doing here? The boy didn't know what was going on but he knew that it was decidedly not great.

The doctor drew closer, leaning over him, something gripped in his hand...

The word got out to the worker ants that there would be a competition, but a select few thought they'd have a better chance if they set out before the event! So, on they went, working together to stake out the skin creature's home to see the best point of entrance. This took a few days, but the Queen was still taking her time preparing for the ultimate feat of guts and power, so they had plenty of time. Every day, these smug ants studied the schedule of the skin creatures, and after about 2 days (which seemed like a long time for an ant), they had gathered enough data. It was time to set out on the mission in the morning. As soon as dawn broke, they climbed the brick mountains onto the concrete plains and entered through the cavernous piece of wood block. There were so many obstacles in the way, but their antennas knew exactly where to go! Onward, they trotted, but it lead them to a cliffside that was extremely deep and seemed to have a small lake in the bottom. What are those? These metal discs with the sweet scent on them? They became so wrapped up in the heavenly scent that they didn't even realize a skin creature was coming up behind them! When they finally realized, they stood still, hoping not to be noticed because they would definitely be killed! The creature had something cylindrical and white in the hand coming down on them; oh, this was the end. But, alas! The creature did not crush them but marked something in the ants' way, then walked off. Thank the Queen! We can finish our mission, and one of us will get the crown. As they made their way to pass the mark, they realized they couldn't. They tried to go around, but this substance was surrounding the items withholding the sweet smell. It was a disgusting ring around their mission, and they had failed. Cursed, chalk.

Answering the call, like a moth to a flame, the hero stepped towards the glowing maw. Inside the cave, the metallic smell worsened, it mixed, with the heavy scent of ash and soot. The tang of the polluted air forced a spluttering cough out of the hero. Still coughing, the hero struggled to drag their cape over their nose and mouth. As they advanced further into the cave they were now followed  by the echoes of crackling fire. The sound of scrapping metal added to the symphony of senses that threatened to overwhelm the hero. They secured their cape tighter around their face and with another heavy step, sunk deeper into the hazy tunnels. The hero followed the light for what felt like an enterity and finally  arrived at another opening within the cave. The entrance was lit with an intense hue and roared with the sounds of fire and metal. The hero drew out their heavy broadsword, gripped it with both hands and, as  if carried by a second wind bounded into the belly of the cave. They cried out ready to face their foe only to be met with the roars and creaks of an open forge. At the massive forge worked a dwarf, who on hearing the hero enter, spotted and pulled back her hammer. Her twin braids whipped across her face as she moved away from her forge posed  and ready to fight. However she took one look at the hero’s confused expression and dropped her own eyes to avoid the hero’s gaze. The dwarf, suddenly felt awfully embarrassed on the hero’s behalf. The hero who now stood rather foolishly with their sword hosteled up behind them in the middle of the dwarfs workplace. 

The dwarf shifted uncomfortably. She was rather hoping that the hero would't notice what she was working on in her forge. It was clear that they had stumbled upon her workshop by mistake, as long as she didn't raise suspicion it would be okay.

"Tea?" she asked, subtly shifting to cover the thing that she had been hammering away at.

"Ermm... no I should uh... get going" the hero said, rubbing their neck.

"Thank you for stopping by!" The dwarf waved, releasing the breath that she had been holding. She turned to look at the anvil. Across it lay a great evil, if the hero had known what she was working on they certainly wouldn't have left without a fight. As long as it remained a secret though the doom of the world would come and no one would be able to stop it.

Wiping sweat from her brow the dwarf picked up the slender spiky crown with the tongs and plunged it back into the fire. The metal circlet screamed with the anguish of a hundred dammed souls as she stoked the fire to urge the hellfire hotter.

"Ah-Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaaaaah!"

The girl turned around and found an old lady cackling.

"Oh, my poor sweet child. You've gotten yourself in a real mess, haven't you? Oh, your poor mother! She had slaved away sewing such nice things for you, only to be ruined and stained. Tisk tisk! "

The girl looked ashamed.

"I could perhaps remedy this and spare you from this shame. I think I have a blue potion I could mix with some other ingredients to get those stains out. But you've got to do something for me first! What say you? Can you help an Old Granny out in order to spare you from your mother's wrath?"

The girl nodded eagerly. “Anything.”

The old woman’s smile widened as she handed the girl a small glass vial. “Good. Drink this. It will make the stain.... respond."

The girl drank the potion. For a moment nothing happened. Then, the crimson of her cape began to spread, expanding beyond the fabric and covering her skin. She looked down in horror.

The old woman chuckled. “Didn’t anyone tell you? Those aren’t raspberry stains.”

Perhaps she can meet my Vulpin (fox humanoid) Cinnamon Quillskulk and they can be friends? :D He'll gift her a woodcarving of her standing tall with her weapon of choice <3

Hopefully, she will avoid being told that she looks 'quite cervine this evening' by an unintentionally pushy bluebird.

the storm crashed the party, but they didn't mind

eyes for only the other, their hearts intertwined

yet as seeds the whispers grew

that the storm was Poiseidon's work

and one of the lesbians knew

what the king would do for his blood

A wine cellar! A fine layer of dust covered bottles and barrels of raspberry cordial, dandelion wine, strawberry sherry, and bloopberry brandy. The lanterns lining the walls didn't seem to have been lit in many moons. Ralph inhaled the faint scent of stone, lichen, and the cool dirt floor. Then he heard a scurrying sound coming from one of the barrels...

Oh, it was just one of his rats! What a relieve. Imagine if it was a cat, how terrifying. Ralph caught the rat by the tail and put it in his front pocket, for later, and opened a bottle of wine. Strangely, it was both metalic and nutty. Is it almonds?