Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 3)

Ky was glad to see they all seemed interested, so she went on.

"Lich -- as with all broonies -- was created to be a helper; and help he did. He cared for all the small mice and woodland fairies that passed by his mushroom, and his table always had one more seat, for friend or stranger alike.

"One day, he was strolling along a small brook, on the way to the very tip-top of the spring, to get pure, ice-cold water straight from the source. As he walked, he came upon a very small, very sad little alga, all by itself on a leaf in the edge of the water.

'Why are you sad, little one?' Lich asked it.

'I'm all alone in this world,' the alga answered miserably. 'I have no one and nothing and I don't know how I could possibly go on, all by myself.'

'Ah, but you're not by yourself,' Lich answered, plopping down on the ground beside the alga. 'There's you, and there's me, and there's the earth and the sky and the water we sit by now. No one is ever alone, so long as they don't wish to be. There will always be someone who cares.'

"The alga regarded him for a long moment. 'Do you care about something as small as me?'

'Why, certainly!' Lich answered brightly, offering a warm smile. "If I didn't care, well -- well, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.'

"They sat in comfortable silence for a moment.

'But, I do know what to do with myself,' Lich continued. 'And that is caring -- and helping -- you, and everyone else. Will you allow me to help you, little one?'

"The alga thought for a moment, then shyly admitted, 'Yes, please.'

'I think you and I are going to be great friends,' Lich said to the alga, scooping it up -- ever so gently -- in his hands.

(Lucky for me, I was writing up my own story at the same time you wrote yours aha)

(It's lovely! You were smart to prepare ahead of time; I just wrote mine off the cuff like a fool.)

Lyra smiled at this, as did Tomhas and Anneke. A piece of wheat cake fell out of Peter's mouth onto his father's lap.

(Aha thanks! And not at all, your story was quite good! I spent like, literally all the time you were writing your story coming up with my own xD
~ e f f i c e n c y ~ xD)

"After they'd gotten their drinks of water, they headed back towards Lich's mushroom, and on the way, they found a little fungal spore, drowning in its own tears.

'Small friend,' Lich said, voice filled with concern as he bent and pulled the spore to safety. 'Why do you cry so?'

'I'm a useless fungus, unable to help myself or anyone else,' the spore sniffled. 'I can't grow into a mushroom! I can't even make food for myself.'

'I could help, maybe!' the alga said timidly, deciding that it, too, would like to be a helper like Lich was. 'I can make lots of food... but I have no place to live or store anything that I make.'

'I could be strong enough to support the two of us, maybe!' the spore said. 'Once I eat and get older and stronger. I'm so very hungry.'

'See?' Lich said, smiling at them both. 'Neither of you felt like you had a role to play -- but now you have someone else who needs your help! We can always be helpful, if only we try.'

"The alga and the spore both shyly agreed.

'I hope we'll be okay,' the spore said timidly. 'We're both so small.'

'You'll be strong one day!' Lich encouraged. 'And until then, you will both live on the long next to me and my mushroom. And I will watch over you until you're big and strong.'

"The three of them made it back to Lich's humble home, and together they all kept their promises. The alga kept itself and the spore well-fed. The spore protected the alga and drew in water for them both to live. And Lich watched over them, all the days of his life.

"The alga and spore grew to care for one another very deeply, and began to have children, who went on to spread across the log and up the nearby trees. Before long, their descendants had spread far and wide. In forests all across the continent -- on trees, and logs, and rocks, even. Growing together in peaceful harmony.

"The story of Old Lich's compassion is fondly told across all the colonies that have ever lived and his legacy will never be forgotten. The alga and spore now call themselves Lichens -- a permanent tribute to the small broonie who dared to show compassion to even the smallest creatures that existed in the forest."

Ky shifted her weight, glancing up with a slight blush, hoping the ending of her story didn't sound too cheesy.

"What a lovely story!" Anneliese exclaimed. "I hadn't ever thought of lichen like that before."
"I hadn't heard that one before," Tomhas said thoughtfully. "I quite liked it!"
"I want to hear more!" Oscar said, clapping his hands together and scattering crumbs. Tomhas handed him another wheat cake.

"Thank you!" Ky beamed, delighted that they'd liked her story. Then she looked at Oscar playfully. "Why don't you tell us a story, then?"

Oscar chewed, frowning to himself. "Once upona time, there was a wolf called Shadow Night. He was eatin' up all the animals and the rabbits and the birds, and everybody was hidin' from him in a cave. The caracal was hidin' in the back, an' he snuck out a hole to go fight the wolf. He tricked the wolf into followin' him up a tree and the wolf couldn't get down cuz he's a wolf, so the animals lit a fire under the tree and the caracal jumped down and they all watched the wolf catch fire and then they ate him up like he was eatin' them up, the end!"

Ky laughed, grinning at him. "The end, indeed!"

"A rousing tale of bravery," Tomhas said seriously, tousling his son's hair. "And wonderful symbolism!"

Ky grinned, watching them, then finished off her wheat cake.

"Who's next?" Tomhas asked.
"Me!" Anneliese raised her hand. Tomhas nodded for her to go ahead. Anneliese took a deep breath and began the tale of a troll king many lands away who had fallen in love with a human rogue. The rogue had been out to steal the king's lands but had grown to love the king as much as the king loved him. They married, but the rogue had made a deal with a witch to bring a hair from the king's daughter's tail in exchange for a trick that would earn the rogue the king's trust. This was all before the pair fell in love. He obeyed the witch, and the daughter died. The rogue fled in shame, and the troll king died a decade after, leaving his other daughter to rule the kingdom in his stead.

(The actual story is nineteen pages long and that's a terrible summary but I didn't want to burden you with reading a long-ass post.)

(ahaha that is many pages, but it sounds like an interesting story!)

Ky listened to the story, contentment settling over her. This was such a delightful way to spend an evening: surrounded by good people, in a safe home, telling each other stories and getting to hear brand new lore that Ky hadn't heard, yet. It was nice.

(It still needs some workshopping since I did it for NaNo but I really enjoyed writing it!)

Anneke went next, telling a short tale about how she and her brother had ridden a mad bull through her village. It had thrown her brother into a market stall, resulting in several broken ribs, but before that they'd been able to direct it toward a local bully as a joke. The boy hadn't been harmed, but Anneke said he'd wet his pants the second he saw the bull thundering towards him.

(oh gosh my NaNo stuff is such a hot mess xD)

Ky listened to Anneke's tale with wide eyes. That seemed far naughtier than Anneke was these days -- it was a nice thought, to imagine her young and mischievous. But the thought still sent a shudder down her spine. An unruly bull was what had crushed Papa's legs and taken away his ability to walk. She'd always been a bit scared of cattle -- but became terrified of them after that point. And bulls, doubly so. It seemed like that was about the only thing they were good for -- producing calves and hurting people. "Did your brother heal okay?"

(Just word vomit for many, many pages)

"He's fit as a fiddle now," Anneke said cheerily. "It gets sore every now and again, so it made him more sensitive to binders. He designs his own to account for the broken ribs, and he tells me they're far more comfortable than any others he's tried."

(Oopsies Anneke bringing back some indirect trauma)

(Aha, protagonists really are such a minefield xD)
(Is her brother trans?)

"That's really neat!" Ky said with a smile. "Is he a tailor, then?"