Day 28: 49,186 Words

 One way or another, this story will end tomorrow. There is still a lot to happen, but I am confident I can wrap it up! Today a couple of short excerpts... First, a bit about the Neighbourhood Historical Society

“James! Josh! Eyes on me!” they both turned toward him, but he could see his grasp on their attention was tenuous. It would have to be quick. “Remember when I explained that liminality is a temporary state?” they nodded. “Well, we are inside the liminal space, and it has been in a state of chaos for some time. Eventually, the system will start to make attempts to stabilize and impose order. This can happen in many ways… a corrupt mayor can turn a city into a tyrannical police state, with forced clapping and liquor sold in corner stores, for example. But the most terrifying imposition of order comes from the Neighbourhood Historical Society. They come in with their suggestions for beautifying the neighbourhood, for uniformity in storefronts and outer home décor, but before you know it, you are slaves to their ever increasing and completely insane demands for complete control. They are monsters.” James and Josh looked appropriately terrified. “And if they succeed in getting Jackie to agree to even one of their suggestions, we will all be trapped in this particular hellish version of reality forever.”

James and Josh turned toward the group lingering at the door. Josh brushed aside all thoughts of Danae and Maeve, and focused his attention on them. At first glance, they looked like kindly, elderly women, with stiff, unmoving hair and an array of cardigans and floral prints. Any one of them could have been his grandmother. But as he looked closer, he could see the monsters hiding beneath the masks. They were not grandmothers at all, but wolves in grandmother clothing. And they had to be stopped at any cost.

Second- an ode to Ellie and the love of daughters! This was inspired by the video of Ellie clapping:

Maeve. She set her mind to the girl. Twinkling blue eyes and shining dark hair, a smile you could live inside. Dimples, chubby little hands, clapping. Perfect joy, a perfect moment, frozen in time. If she could she would live forever there. But little girls don’t stay little forever. Maeve wasn’t a baby any more. Years flashed behind Dylann’s eyes, the little girl growing taller, becoming leaner and more angular. Her girl. Her Maeve. 

And she appeared, just like that. Just as Dylann had imagined her. Dylann’s heart broke at the sight of her, just as every mother’s heart breaks for the loss of chubby cheeks and a laugh like bottled sunshine. There is a time in every mother’s life when she must accept that she is not the sun of her child’s sky any more, when she releases that child into the wildness of a dark and dangerous world, hoping for the best and fearing the worst. That time was coming for her Maeve, had already come, perhaps. 

“Mom!” Maeve cried, and ran to embrace her. Maybe not just yet, then. She had a little time left. Dylann hugged her daughter, held her tight, and wished the moment could last forever, but she knew in her heart that it could not. Dylann did not yet know herself, but she knew her daughter, yes, she knew her very well. And as she looked, she noticed something new. Something that made her feel less afraid for the time that they both knew was coming, barreling toward them. Time, with its relentless cruelty, marched ever forwards. She could see that her daughter had a new wisdom, a new steel in her spine. She had been tested by the world and proved her mettle. Dylann’s heart swelled with pride. She could see that her daughter was her very own person, and that person was magnificent.