Story Scenes and Oneshots

Not all the Blue in the world

This was inspired by the Lucler_Lucifer animation "Fundy's Lullaby". It's quite precious.

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The sunlight glowed on dewy grass and tall rustling trees as a small child scampered towards a clump of bushes, giggling and glancing behind him as he ran. He crouched, hiding among the scrubby leaves, his bright eyes darting about in search of his playmate. It didn't take long before his father stepped out the trees just a few feet away, looking dramatically around.

"Come on, Fundy, where are you?" He said, dropping into a crouch and walking slowly towards his boy's hiding place. "I just know you're...under these leaves!" And he pounced on a tiny pile of about six or seven leaves, which flew about in all directions as he landed on them. "Aw, not here? Where'd he go, then?"

Fundy pressed both hands to his mouth, giggling again but trying to repress it. He watched, fascinated, as his father moved with an odd smooth grace from the scattered leaves to the thick trunk of a tree just a few feet away. "Oh, so Fundy's a dryad now, is he?"

The boy's little fox ears trembled and he stamped his feet as he tried so hard to hold back his laughter. Wilbur shot a glance around the tree before leaning against it and shaking his head. "No. No, he isn't. Hm. Where'd he go?" He ran both hands through his disheveled hair as he pondered aloud. "I swear, I have no ideas left in my tiny brain. My tiny, tired brain is all out of thoughts."

Fundy bolted from his hiding place and ran straight into his father, cheering with merriment. "I win! I win!"

Wilbur picked him up and twirled him around twice in the air. "Yes, yes, you won! Aren't you the cleverest? Who's my smart boy?"

Fundy crowed happily and snuggled onto his father's chest. "Me. I'm the winner. I'm the cleverest." His ears flattened forwards, for Wilbur was petting them, and it felt very nice. "Daddy, let's go again."

Wilbur nodded. "We'll go again. Just give Daddy a moment to rest. He's a bit tired from running around all day, alright? I'll play with you in a minute."

"Okay." Fundy lay his head on his father's shoulder and gazed at the way the leaves of the trees shone in the sunlight. They waved or trembled in the breeze that wafted past them and every scent that the little boy could smell was tinged with the sharp odor of dry leaves and wet grass. Wilbur sat carefully down, holding his son close. One of Fundy's ears twitched as a bird twittered in a nearby bush. He yawned.

After a few minutes, Wilbur looked over at the small child. "You ready? Daddy's all rested up now."

"Yes! Let's go play again!" And Fundy scrambled down from his father's arms and darted into the trees to hide. They played hide-and-seek for hours, each round leading them further and further into the woods until Wilbur finally called, "Time to go home, Fundy! Sun's getting low."

He smiled as his son stumbled out from the clump of ferns where he'd been concealed. "Not fair!" Fundy cried sleepily. "I was still hiding!"

Wilbur knelt and held out his hands to the child. "We'll play again tomorrow, okay? Come on. Let's go home." Picking up his weary boy, Wilbur started off back to their house.

"Daddy?" Fundy murmured, turning his head this way and that, trying to find a comfortable resting place on Wilbur's shoulder. "When is Mummy coming back?"

Wilbur swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat. "I-uh-I don't know, Fundy." He admitted quietly. "She didn't tell me." She just left. He kept petting his son behind the ears, receiving as much comfort from the action as Fundy was. "I hope she comes back soon."

The little boy's breath tickled Wilbur's ear as he mumbled, "Me too," in response. Wilbur kept walking, holding his child a little tighter, and hoping against all odds that when they got home Sally would be there, making some kind of exotic food for dinner, just as she used to do. He wouldn't even care if she scolded him for letting Fundy run about for so long in the sun, as long as she was back home.

They had barely been walking for more than half an hour before it began to rain. Wilbur looked about for shelter, hoping to be able to keep Fundy dry at least, and soon located a shallow cave where they could wait out the storm. But the pair were both drenched by the time Wilbur had gotten into it, for the rain came down heavy and fast, and poor little Fundy's clothes were all soaked through. Wilbur laid his sleeping child on the soft earthen floor and pulled off his coat, turning it inside out. He stripped the boy's wet shirt and pants and laid them aside to dry, covering Fundy up with the coat. Then he sat down to wait.

It was peaceful, really, he thought to himself as he watched the drops patter all over the world outside. Rain was the closest he'd ever get to living in the kind of world Sally was accustomed to, with just enough air around him that he could still breathe, but just enough water so that he was able to stretch out his imagination and pretend he was in a river or lake. Wilbur stared sadly at it all. Rain was beautiful.

Fundy murmured in his sleep, something about Mummy, and Wilbur laid his hand on the little boy's chest. "I'm here." Fundy muttered again and his tiny hand also reached out, settling on Wilbur's. He breathed easier.

Patter-patter-patter. The rain showed no sign of slowing after Wilbur had been waiting almost an hour and Fundy was still asleep. It was just as if time did not exist, so still did the whole world feel in this moment to the usually active young man. Wilbur sighed, wishing the one song that came to him wasn't Sally's favorite.

"Kiss me once,
Then kiss me twice,
Then kiss me once again.
It's been a long, long time.

Haven't felt
Like this before,
Since can't remember when.
It's been a long, long time..."

He didn't really want to finish, but his voice lingered quietly over the last few lines in a hum that trilled and thrummed just the way Sally had always liked to hear him psing. He missed her so badly. But all he could do was stare at the rain and wish.

A little snore from Fundy broke his train of thought and Wilbur glanced down at the small, delicate form of his son with a tiny smile. Fundy was precious, owning the deepest core of Wilbur's heart, and he would never regret it. If he didn't have Sally...at least she had left Fundy with him. He didn't think he could have taken it if Sally had vanished with his son too. Wilbur rubbed his thumb across Fundy's chest. Oh, but he loved his boy.