In a small cabin, hidden in the woods on a mountain, giggling could be heard. Moon, at only 3, was hidden under the dining table.
“He’ll never find me here!” she thought, oblivious to the fact that her giggling was giving her away.
Her older sister, Petal, was hidden behind the couch in the other room. Silence, their brother, was silently creeping through the house, knowing exactly where they were, but not letting them know.
Silence walked into the dining room, first checking all the cabinets, then just walking around a bit, pretending to contemplate what to do next. In one swift movement he ducked and looked Moon straight into the eye. She giggled and threw herself onto him. He smiled, picking her up and twirling her around.
“Bwoder!” she screeched as he let her go, only to catch her before she hit the ground.
Moon was placed on Silence’s hip as he walked into the living room. Silence put his finger to his lips as he snuck up on Petal.
“Dinner in 15!” their father called from the kitchen as Silence and Moon looked over the couch at Petal’s big, bright blue eyes.
They all fell onto the couch after the second squealing and giggling fit that day. Haven walked into the living room.
“Have you washed your hands yet?” she asked in her soft tone.
“NOPE!” Petal and Moon yeled at the same time.
“Come then, we must hurry before Forest finishes setting the table.” She led them all to the bathroom, making sure each of them washed their hands properly.
They all sat down at the table when the door opened.
“I’m home!’ their mother called.
“Mommy!” the girls called, rushing off to greet their mother. Silence followed them, silent, as was his usual manner. All the girls jumped at their mother, hugging her, not caring that she still had a deer sling over her shoulders. When they parted, Wren took the deer to the kitchen, Forest helping her.
“I haven’t even changed!” their mother, Onyx, laughed. “Now, go back to the table and wait for me, I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?”
“Okay!” the little girls giggled, as the older just walked off. They sat at the table, and when Onyx arrived they dug in. It was a loud, bustling dinner. Only one stayed quite the whole time, Silence. He never made any noise.
“Tomorrow,” their mother started. “I will go to the village at the bottom of the mountain, see if I can get a good deal of some deer pelt. If we’re lucky I might even bring back some chocolate.”
The girls cheered, for all of them loved chocolate.
The next day they did the same thing as always, except now Onyx was gone.
The next day went the same.
And so did the third day. And, if everything went well, their mother would be back on the fourth day, just in time for lunch.
But that’s not what happened. As they were preparing for bed a loud crash came from the living room. The oldest, Wren, Forest, and Dash, went to see what it was about. When Dash came running full speed back into the bathroom, they knew something was wrong.
“Haven, Arrow, take the others to the basement, okay?”
“What happened?” Petal asked, clutching Sailor’s leg.
“Nothing important, sweetie, but I need you to listen to Haven and Arrow, okay?”
“Mhm.”
“Good, now hurry.”
