Five Stories for the Dark Months by Katherine Traylor

 
    Five Stories for the Dark
Months
    Katherine Traylor
     
    Smashwords Edition
     
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    Copyright 2013 Katherine
Traylor
     
    Cover image is
" Window ,"
by Lucrecia Beatrice
     
    " Under
Glass ," " Warmth
in Winter ," and " Over
the River " can also be read online at
the author's blog, Among the Goblins . "Sans Merci" and
"Boon" have never been published before in any
format.
     
    Visit the author's Smashwords page!
     
    License Notes
    This ebook is
licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share
this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy
for each recipient, or refer them to the free stories at the author's homepage . If you’re
reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased
for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own
copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
     
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    Table of
Contents
     
    1. Under Glass : A girl discovers the danger of
being rude to a mirror.
    2. Warmth in
Winter : A
young border guard and a foreign spy must avoid pursuit while
traveling through a forest full of hungry ghosts.
    3. Sans Merci : During a stolen coffee break, a
young father meets a beautiful stranger who is much more than she
seems.
    4. Over the
River : A young
woman wanders to the riverbank on Halloween and is invited to a
strange party.
    5. Boon : A very dark Thumbelina retelling, inspired by
zombies and Norse mythology.
    6. About the
Author
     
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    Under
Glass
    October 2011
    Table of Contents
     
    “But you said I could
go!”
    “I said you could go if you kept your grades up, young lady, and I told you what would
happen if you didn’t.”
    “But Aunt Laurie—”
    Adie’s mother
folded the report card and set it down on the pristine kitchen
counter. She clearly would rather have thrown it on the floor. “I
will call Aunt Laurie myself and tell her why you’re not coming,”
she said. “Or you can explain to her why shopping with your friends was so much
more important to you than your visit next
month.”
    “That’s not —”
    “Don’t you raise your voice to me, young lady, or you’ll
regret it.” Her mother pointed out the door. “Now go upstairs and
do your homework. Dinner’s in an hour.”
    Adie glared. “I’m not hungry.” Her
stomach rumbled as she spoke. The air was heavy with the aromas of
baking bread and homemade tomato sauce, and she hadn’t eaten
anything since lunch. But some things were more important than her
mother’s spaghetti, and New York was one of them.
    Adie’s mother looked heavenward,
took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “All right. Then go
upstairs and go to bed. I don’t want to see you until morning.”
With that she turned back to the cutting board and began dicing
celery with harsh, uneven strokes. Adie knew that the conversation
was over.
    She grabbed her
backpack and stormed from the kitchen, down the hallway and up the
towering stairs. She made sure to stomp hard on each beige-carpeted
step. All right, she would go to bed—and then she’d get up early tomorrow,
eat breakfast and leave the house before either of her parents woke
up. Right now she wasn’t sure if she wanted to see them ever
again.
    The trip to New
York was a long-delayed birthday present from her Aunt Laurie, who
had been one of Adie’s dearest companions until she’d moved away
last fall. The thought of calling to tell her aunt that the trip
was off was enough to make her gut clench. Tears blurred her vision
as she opened her bedroom door. She threw her backpack on the
floor, then went back down the potpourri-scented hallway to the
bathroom to brush her teeth. She would go to bed. Right now she’d
rather be dead than face the knowledge that her own stupidity had
lost her New York.
    In the bathroom, Adie squeezed a
healthy glob of toothpaste onto her toothbrush and shoved it into
her mouth. She winced as it rammed the