April Prompts Day 1 - Ladybug

April Prompts Day 1 - Ladybug

Featuring: Fera and a brief mention of Vera, who belongs to @pagesofcursive

Pale and cheery, the sun shone overhead. With her feet spread out in front of her, Fera relished in the breeze that swept her short ginger curls around her face. She tilted her head up, squinting and watching clouds glide lazily by. It was a good day.

Sweet green treetops raced down her vision, followed by dense foliage sprinkled with light buds that were chased down by chocolate trunks, a spread of grass and finally, daffodils that shone brighter than the sun. She giggled under her breath as she ran her hands through the short blades, her fingers catching on shallow roots. Brushing her fingers against the edge of a smooth, boxy wooden planter, something clinked among the birdsong. Turning to face the noise, fuschia snapdragons wheeled around the edge of her vision. A tiny clay fairy lay toppled by her clumsy gestures. Sheepishly, she plucked up the periwinkle figure. She paused with the edge of the base resting in place, a flash of orange catching her eye. Focusing her attention away from the figurine she heard it tinkle back down. She winced, but soon forgot as a ladybug captured her gaze. Two horizontal pyramids of dots mirrored on the centre of its shell. The edges of her lips crept up as she laid her chin on her overlapping hands, catlike, as she watched it climb a normally unremarkable clay pot. Although small, the orange critter made quick progress up the black beans Fera was resetting the planter with. It wound its path around the top third of a pole and Fera's heart twisted, knowing it would leave her soon. She hoped it would remain in the garden at least, to join the others she'd begun to see again. She'd seen a two-spot ladybug a week ago, one she'd met right before winter. This amber friend was new. She resisted the urge to catch it; it would be so simple, just to cup her hands around it and bring it inside. She could show her sister, Vera, who loved orange ladybugs the most. It was almost too late now anyway. It reached the top of one of the support sticks. It stopped, as if to acknowledge its audience, as if saying farewell, as if reassuring Fera she would see it again. Maybe she was imagining things. It parted its shell, exposing delicate, translucent wings that extended into the slowly strengthening sunlight. It took off. Fera watched the ladybug for as long as she could, until the glare of the sun cast it into invisible light. A breeze curled around her ankles and a shy thump distracted her search of the sky for her newly lost friend. She bent down with a bittersweet smile, and righted the pale blue fairy with a red dot on its outstretched hand. A friend for them who would never say farewell. Another ladybug enjoying the pale spring sunshine.

When someone is explaining something to you and you get hit with the realization that you haven’t retained anything that has been said to you and the moment they stop talking you won’t be able to recall any part of it

Oh they're so cute!! I love them

[ID: a happy person with brown skin, vivid green eyes, and dark curly hair poses in an oversized wolf onesie. A jack-o-lantern-shaped bucket of Halloween candy hangs off their arm. end ID]

Every time I draw my beloved gentlethem Aspen, their hair gets longer, and I’m okay with that.

Anywhere, here- have a Halloween-ready Aspen for your evening, loves!

The Stray Spirit Taglist: @crystallized-ink, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @semblanche, @theramwrites, @wordsbycreed, @pretend-im-normal, @mel-writes-with-her-dragons, @wildswrites, @ladywithalamp, @ettawritesnstudies, @mj-comics, @cecilsstorycorner, @write-your-own-stories, @chayscribbles, @storytracks, @lightningmastertrilogy, @magic-is-something-we-create, @authortango, @thegoldenseries, @lunewell, @vellichor-virgo, @writeblrfantasy, @blindthewind, @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables

I love the flower talk. And Aspen's sweet reassurances

Flash Fiction Friday #94: Riveting Revival

Thanks for the prompt, @flashfictionfridayofficial​!

I couldn’t not write about Aspen for this prompt, so have a Stray Spirit post-climax snippet, where Aspen is hanging out at the Karic house. I also somehow wound up in Tessa’s POV (Emry’s mother) for this, and it was a lot of fun.

Winter Garden

Word Count: 488

TW/CW: snow

Tessa Karic chewed on her thumbnail as she stood on the back stoop of her house, squinting out at the withered remains of her winter garden. She supposed it was a blessing that last night’s snowfall hid most of the desolation from view, but the sun glaring against the white banks still made it difficult, almost painful, to look at.

 “I never thought a forest spirit would ever be looking at it,” she admitted aloud. “It’s shameful, is what it is.”

Aspen shook their head.

 “It’s winter, is what it is,” they said, looking at the garden without even a hint of disgust or anger. In fact, they were smiling. “My grove looks just like it this time of year.”

 “Really?” If it were anyone else, she would have assumed it was a polite lie- but this spirit didn’t seem the lying type. “I was hoping at least the pieris would be blooming at this point…”

Keep reading

April Prompts Day 2 - Basket

Featuring: Bella and mentions of Freddie and Zach, Juni, Lynn, Dawn, Nyx, Aster and Violetta, the latter 6 of whom belong to @pagesofcursive

Bella supposed she didn't need to do this. She could ask for help, or do something simpler. But her perfectionist nature won out, and now she was spending the night before the egg hunt finishing the last of the baskets. Juni might have helped, but the bakery was picking up in sales and demanded a lot of time from her. Bella impatiently stuffed a loose end of Zach's plum coloured basket into a more cleanly woven part of it. She grabbed the shredded teal paper that she was almost certain would end up all over the lawn the next day, matched only by Tora's lavender scraps. It would be such a pain to clean up. It would be worth it though. Hopefully.

Maybe Lynn could have helped. Bella grimaced. She hates pulling Lynn away from her work; she'd heard plenty of times, especially during college, how hard inspiration and drive was to come by for writing. She stood up from her position on the floor, stretching out her legs and flexing her toes, which had been jammed under the opposite thighs. Was that a cramp? She groaned quietly and pulled herself up on the table. Glaring down at Zach's basket as if it had personally deleted her work files, she bent over, cursing her endless hours seated at a desk, and carefully arranged it on the table next to Aster's basket. She ran her finger around the edge, marvelling at the craftsmanship. It was the only one she'd bought - it was a bit of a cop out, but Aster wasn't their kid. Technically none of them were, and Aster was almost part of the family, but she was running short on time and figured she wouldn't mind something more plain. Violetta's pink one sat next to it with cotton candy pink and white flowers twisted around the handle.

Freddie and Tora's baskets sat on the floor, begging to be filled. Bella sighed and sat down again. Dawn could have helped. There had been a lull at her theatre and besides, she could never say no to Freddie. Not that she'd admit it. At least she'd assisted her cousin in liberally coating the garden in chocolate eggs in not so inconspicuous hiding places. Shuddering at the thought of the sugar rush the next day, Bella packed Freddie's basket with white paper. He was a simple kid, thank goodness. She glanced at the table and considered getting up to put his basket up but decided against it. She was already down here, she might as well finish. Almost falling over in the process, she dragged Tora's sea green basket over. The edges were a little haphazard, on account of time, but it matched the rough and tumble three year old well. Besides, she made sure to sand off the more severe parts of it, so the kid wouldn't get hurt. Or at least it decreased the chances. Tora always found a way. Sprinkling the last bits of purple paper into her basket Bella seriously regretted not asking for help. The past few late nights working on the baskets were taking a toll. It would be worth it though, to see the five kids' joy the next day. With a huff, she hauled herself up and plopped the last two baskets onto the table. Yawning widely, she rubbed sleep from her eyes. It wouldn't do anyone any good if she fell asleep on her way to bed.

Despite her best efforts to at least maintain some dignity before collapsing, she was asleep before she'd finished lying down.

Hi, can you like or reblog this if you’re a fiction writer on tumblr. I’ll follow you ✒️.