Tag: promises

Mira Morganstein: The Pink Lemonade Club 017

The Pink Lemonade Club (Episode One)“Mira,” her mother fastened her gaze on the table cloth, still pristine and white, “I’m going to tell you a story. I need you not to interrupt me until I’m finished. All right?”

Not liking the sound of that, Mira nodded. How was she supposed to figure things out if she couldn’t ask questions?

“Once upon a time—”

“I thought you said this was a real story.” Mira folded her arms and raised a brow.

“It is.”

“Then why did you—”

“All the very best stories start with ‘Once upon a time,’” her mother said in her usual no-nonsense voice. “This one is no exception. May I continue?”

Read More


The Curious Leaf: Voyage to the Sea 005

TCL#2 Cover“Where I come from, people help each other because it is the right thing to do, not because there is payment involved.”

“How little you know of the mortals you lived among,” Hearthorne said.

Kya shook her head. “I saw for myself, the many times my keeper helped those who came knocking and had nothing to pay her with.”

“You’re thinking too small,” Hearthorne said. “Even the mortals are wise enough to do what they can to keep the balance of their Realm from tipping too far one way or the other. There are plenty of despots and kings, plenty who harm without thinking or those who find joy in it. The mortals like your keeper are simply evening out the balance. Just because she took no reward doesn’t mean there was no debt left to be paid.”

Read More


The Faerie Thief: The Ruby Queen’s Garden 014

The Ruby Queen's Garden (Episode One)Gwyn wasn’t ready to leave the Otherwhere quite yet, she never was, but the binding pulling her back to the garden was getting stronger now. She rubbed her hand against her ribs where it pinched her. “I guess.”

She reached forward to dive into her window, but Lyra put a hand out to stop her.

“Before you ever go through a door you’ve made, you need to be sure that it can bear you. Put your hands along the edges,” Lyra positioned her hands for her, “and strengthen it first. That’s important.”

“Strengthen it how?” Along with the delight and wonder came a spark of impatience. She’d lived in the garden her whole life, had paid strict attention to everything her parents did when they visited, and she’d witnessed enough of Robin’s pranks to know that magic should be easier than this.

“The same way you created it. Focus. Think. Believe.”Read More


The Curious Leaf: Voyage to the Moon 007

TCL Cover“One is enough to quench any hunger,” the dragon said, its voice strained as though it had been burned away. And rather than the fire Kya had been expecting, great pearly dragon tears welled up in the corners of its eyes and dripped down its cheeks.

Kya shifted nervously in place. She glanced down at Hearthorne, but the faerie-flower still had her petals wrapped up tighter than a locked door.

Tears were better than fire, weren’t they? At least they meant that she wasn’t in any immediate danger of being roasted and eaten, so long as she kept ample distance between herself and the dragon’s teeth glittering like a path of freshly sharpened sword grass. She managed to scoot back a little down the dragon’s flank before it collected itself and the tears stopped falling.

“That leaves one last apple,” it rasped.

Read More


The Curious Leaf: Voyage to the Moon 003

TCL Cover“The moon is a mirror, as it has ever been. What is below, must be above. And what is above, must shine down below.” He glanced at the sky and stiffened. “Already I have lingered longer than I ought. The night is nearly gone. Eat the cheese or not, it is your choice. Only remember that what is promised must be given, one way or another.” With one last quiver of his whiskers, the mouse scampered off, his silken robes flapping behind him.

“The stories my keeper used to read to me,” Kya said, eyeing the bit of cheese that was beginning to melt in her hand, “were filled with dire warnings against eating food from Faerie.”

Hearthorne brightened at the mention of her home. “Really?”

Kya let her nervousness seep out in a small laugh. “Yes. They said that eating the food of the Folk would steal your soul, bind you to the Realm, and empty you instead of filling you. Of course, I’m not sure how that works with plants.” Kya furrowed her brow. At her heart, she was still a small flower of only three seasons who was not content to stand upon the windowsill. And yet, there was something else. Something small and foreign nibbling at the corners of her heart. Different and strange and . . . lovely.

But the stories had things to say about that too.

Read More