The Wonder That's Keeping the Stars Apart


xxxxx


The nest was small and round and tucked away in the back corner of one of the livestock stalls.

If Lizzie squinted her eyes just right against the slash of sunlight spilling in through the weathered slats of the barn, she could barely make out a few wispy white feathers woven into the twigs and straw that housed the little pink cluster of newborn baby mice. They were tiny, smaller than the silver coin Mr. Monroe had snuck into her pocket last Christmas, and Lizzie was half convinced she could fit every last one of them in the palm of her dirty hand. She was seconds away from finding out when her uncle's raspy growl startled her and she whirled around guiltily, her fingers fiddling with the brass buckle of the belt that cinched her pants high around her skinny waist.

"What you into out here, girl? You lookin' guilty as hell. Lemme see."

Her uncle cut a frightening picture in the shadows with his broad shoulders, his strong jaw, and intense blue eyes, but Lizzie wasn't intimidated. Still, she was cautious, and tight lipped, and she read suspicion all over the toothy smile he gifted her with when she hesitated to answer him.

"Your ol' uncle has his ways of findin' things out." He peered down at her with narrowed eyes before casting his attention elsewhere and rubbing his hand over his short crop of curls. "Don't be thinkin' you off the hook now, because I got my eye on you. Y'hear?"

"Yes, Sir," Lizzie dutifully responded. She felt an answering smile tug at the corners of her mouth when his lips gentled into fondness, and a twinkle appeared in his eyes as he plucked a piece of straw from the wild waves of her hair.

"That's Uncle Merle to you, Lizzie Dixon. Now go make friends with a bar of soap, and make sure your brother and sister do the same. Daylight's wastin'." He wrapped Otis's bridle around his hand and gave the reluctant animal a tug toward the open doors of the barn where Lilly was already patiently waiting, harnessed and hitched to the wagon. "You know your papa was aimin' to make it to the Greene farm by nightfall."

"I don't understand why we can't go into town too," Lizzie demurred.

"You know why, now away with you." Otis groaned underneath the heavy weight of the harness and rolled his eyes back at Merle, his nostrils flaring in agitation; Merle grunted right back at the animal. "What you been feedin' him? Bricks?"

Lizzie just smirked slyly and patted Otis's velvety nose. "I'm only telling if you let me come with you and Papa."

Merle sucked on his teeth, a flash of admiration in his shrewd gaze. It took some serious gumption to attempt to manipulate the master, but he was wise to the ways of women, miniature Dixon women in particular. "Ain't the way this works, girl, but nice try. 'Member what I said. Make sure Sam washes behind his ears. Don't want no sunflowers sproutin' back there."

Lizzie heaved a long-suffering sigh in response and hugged her arms tight across her chest before marching toward the house and letting the door bang closed behind her.

"You say somethin' to rile her up?"

Merle glanced at his brother's dusty boots and rose from his squatting position to look him square in the eye. "Don't take much. You know that." He took in the clean but worn pants, the ill-fitting shirt stretched tight over his upper arms, and the stubborn scruff still covering his brother's tired face and had a brief moment of misgiving. "It's not too late."

Daryl cut him off with a determined shake of his head. "Too late the moment you involved my kids. I ain't gonna be the one to tell them they ain't gettin' a new mama. You?"

Merle opened his mouth and promptly closed it, clearly struggling with the effort not to speak his piece.

"You got somethin' to say, you spit it out. No more goin' behind my back, writin' letters to women I ain't ever laid eyes on," Daryl growled, plowing a hand through his spit slicked hair and pacing in a short circle. "Hell, Merle. We was makin' it just fine."

Merle cocked his head to the side in disbelief. "Was we?"

"We was," Daryl stubbornly insisted, running his hand through his hair again and upending it every which way. Merle's expression further deepened the scowl that twisted his lips. "You seen my hat?"

The family dog chose that precise moment to make his presence known, Daryl's hat hanging loosely from his droopy jowls as he loped past them en route to the barn and the promise of shelter from the rapidly heating day.

"Yeah. I seen your hat," Merle grimaced. "Yellow-bellied mutt," he muttered underneath his breath.

Daryl turned flinty blue eyes on him. "The hell you say?"

"Easy Darylina," Merle barked out a laugh. "Was talkin' 'bout the damned dog. Would you look at you? Ain't like you marryin' the Virgin Mary. And even if you was, this ain't your first rodeo."

"S'different," Daryl gruffed out. "Just me before. Weren't Lizzie. Or Sam. Or Mika."

"It's me you talkin' to, Little Brother," Merle whistled faintly through his teeth. "Ain't no secret of yours ol' Merle don't already know."

Daryl squinted into the sun. "That so?"

"You sayin' it ain't?"

Daryl snorted and slapped his palm against Otis's ample rump, barely meriting a reaction from the lazing animal. "Daylight's wastin'." Turning around, he cupped his hands in front of mouth and ignored his brother's knowing grin. "Girls! Sam! C'mon! Ain't got all day!"


So. I'm doing this. I'm really doing this, lol.

Hi. I'm Shae. And I'm addicted to TWD.

So much so that I can't stop thinking about these characters. Or reading about them.

There are just so many good fanfics on this site. ;)

I guess you can say the creativity here inspired my own.

I make no claims this little fic will be one smidgen as good as any of the ones I have read by the many talented members of this community. I'm merely exorcising an idea that has repeatedly popped into my overstuffed and beleaguered brain lately. Seriously, it will not leave me alone.

It's about as AU as it comes, but there are familiar faces rambling around everywhere in my imagination, some of them sometimes used in mysterious or surprising ways (lol. Otis, anyone? Just you wait...). I can't guarantee it'll be the most in character fic you've read either or that I'll be able to do them the justice they deserve.

But maybe, just maybe, somebody else will be entertained by this little story that's squatted in my brain (on the bright side...it's made my long commutes to and from work way more interesting).

I don't own TWD or any of its many lovely characters. If I did, I'd have a laundry list of scenes I'd literally pay some of you lovely writers good money to put to the screen, lol. But alas. I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement.

Go easy on me, guys.

While I'm not a complete newbie to FF, this is virgin territory for me.

I don't know if I'm brave or stupid; only thing I'm sure of is I'm terrified.

But I have to get my feet wet somewhere, don't I? Especially if such hijackings of my imagination continue where this show is concerned.

;)