Magic and Spies (200 words)
“But it’s real…I’m telling you, they were just here…”
Agent Z was very unamused and equally unimpressed. “Mr. Gray, thank you. We of course appreciate your handling of the situation, and understand entirely if you need to take a few days off to recover yourself.”
Mr. Gray flushed. “Yes, but, I don’t need—”
“Agent Gray.” Agent Z cut him off. “Good morning. Goodbye.”
It was traditional, not to say required, to be married before the stones. The people of the fields and drops of Little Boulding had kept to this tradition, not at all a requirement, since before anyone could remember. So of course it was expected that if they were to be married, even a goblin and a man ought to be married before the stones.
On this day, the happiest day, Gnarlas was trying to decide why the man wanted to marry her at all.
The Proposal (909 Words)
“Give it back!”
“No!”
“Give it—you!”
“N—ah!”
They fell together on the grass in an awkward tangle of limbs and laughter. Mairi caught the pendant from Ham’s fingers. She fastened it again around her neck, breathless and trying hard to be angry.
“How could you?” she said. “Sneak thief!”
The Flying Elephant (198 Words)
They say that elephants have a long memory. Daffy had the shortest memory I’ve ever seen.
When we found her as a baby, premature and weak, Ehan dedicated himself to that baby elephant’s care like no fairy I know. The hours he spent mixing gallons of nourishing drink from our secret ingredients, patting her with mud to make sure the flies didn’t bother her.
Egg Thief (253 Words)
“You had one job,” said the fairy. “One job! Watch the nest. And did you do it?”
The three trolls squinted at each other. They had watched the nest—sometimes. But they could see how from the fairy’s point-of-view, that perspective could be somewhat skewed.
One Ugly Dragon (155 Words)
A dragon was coming to town. Everyone knew the date, although the time wasn’t certain. A certain trader offered Joey two wooden figures guaranteed, like scarecrows, to frighten dragons away.
Joey believed him. But when his father, Maxie, saw them, he wasn’t pleased.
Finders Keepers (178 Words)
When Farmer Tye saw the dragon guarding a little brambly nest tucked under a bush, he knew what it meant. Baby dragons.
“You leave that nest alone, Farmer Tye,” said his neighbor and friend Jimmy Quinn. Jimmy was a carpenter and very conscious of his crucial role in the village’s upkeep, just as he was very conscious of Tye’s practical usefulness as well. To him, the stonemason was “Stonemason Tim,” the weaver was “Weaver Molly,” and the farmer was “Farmer Tye.”
The Invisible Thief (54 Words)
Ever since she had eaten that magic acorn, Ellie realized there really were perks to being invisible.
The Gifts of the Merking (678 Words)
There was a king, called Oldan, whose power was so great and so feared that it seemed limitless. Land and sea were subject to his will. The source of his power was magic books he had found in the sorcerer’s cave, the sorcerer himself long-dead. Because Oldan was young and unwise, his power became larger to him than himself, and each day he tested it as if he couldn’t believe it was true.
Goblin Tree (92 Words)
Once, a goblin stole whatever he could from a human village, jewels, apples, and buttons. He was lean-limbed with fierce gold eyes, but his hands, though slender, were like talons.
