TITLE: Home

PAIRING: Astrid/Walter, Peter/Olivia, August/Christine, Amy/Nick, Nina/Broyles, A. Mathis/ William Ferguson

CHARACTERS: Olivia Dunham, Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop, Peter Bishop, Christine Hollis, August, September, the Child, December, July, William Ferguson, A. Mathis, William Bell, Nick Lane, Amy Jessup, Rachel Dunham, Ella Dunham, Nina Sharp, Phillip Broyles, Krista Manning, Susan, Nancy

GENRE: Southern Gothic, Scifi, Fantasy, Alternate Universe

RATING: M

SUMMARY: Living in a mountain paradise called 'Home', isolated from the outside world, a handful of characters of the Fringeverse exist in perfect harmony. It is a primitive place without time or sin, where no one ages or dies, and no one has memories past the week before. The live by the unusual word of the Bible in their Church, warning them of the Wild Things that live in the Woods and of The Dreamlands past Lake Reiden.

However, Astrid is initiated into a dark secret about Home that the local recluse Walter has stumbled across, one that hints that the eden they all live in isn't their universe of origin. Faced with the temptation of knowing her previous life, Astrid is given the choice to remain blissfully unaware in their paradise or return to the universe she once belonged to.

Short stories featuring the other character's lives within Home are interwoven throughout the main story all leading up to Astrid's final decision and what it will cost everyone.

SONGS: "Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Bing Crosby, "Concerning the UFO Sightings Near Highland, Illinois" by Sufjan Stevens, "Say Darlin' Say" by Rising Appalachia, "Take Me to the Water" by Nina Simone

WARNINGS: Adult situations

SPOILERS: Season One, Season Two


Home's Schoolhouse sat in the glen of Wide Holler, a small one-room building and as old as the Church. The logs it was constructed from were from the Woods, grey from age and weathering. Miss Amy Jessup had once tried to count the rings, but they were paper-thin, easily in the thousands and she gave up at three hundred eighty-one because the sun was setting. Long auburn hair, tanned skin, and a glorious constellation of freckles across her nose and cheeks made up the young woman, a personality that matched her beauty.

The handful of children that lived in Home followed her after church service every morning to the Schoolhouse—on one occasion Mr Nick had told her "you's lookin' like one of them mama ducks with her little ducklings all in a row, bein' led from the Pastures to the Swimmin' Hole". She was the designated school teacher of Home and she took her job very seriously, trying to nurture the young mind that were hers to mould. Today they would be looking at the leaves of the wild licorice that grew in the Woods, finding round pebbles down at the creek, studying the leaves they found on the ground and other things that corresponded with the land they lived in.

"I like snails!" Ella chirped happily as she picked up pebbles along the path.

"Me, too!" another child named Lucy shouted out happily, prompting other small children to agree.

"Snails is beautiful because they has their own homes on their back," Amy explained to them, hoping that they could see wonder for themselves.

"The Lord God made them as such," the children said in unison.

From the trees emerged a lanky man that made her heart race. "Miss Amy."

"Mr Nick!" she greeted, feeling flustered. The children crowded around her, waving their small hands at the storyteller. "What is you doin' out here? Ain't you busy with the ways and means of Home?"

He gave her a teasing smile. "I's just out wanderin'. Thinkin'."

"Tell us the ways and means of Home, Mr Nick!" one of the children asked and the rest of them began to happily request a story from him.

Mr Nick smiled at her and she blushed, gesturing for the children to sit down on the edge of the path so that they could hear one of the oral histories that they all knew and loved.

"Now, you young'uns know not to go past Reiden Lake, yes?" he asked them sternly.

"Yes, Mr Nick," they agreed.

"Past Reiden Lake is Big Rock Candy Mountain and while its name sounds right fine, it ain't a place you want to go. Big Rock Candy Mountain be the place where the Dreamlands are."

"We ain't supposed to want The Dreamlands," the children replied immediately, the teachings from Church heavily ingrained in their minds.

Mr Nick nodded. "The Dreamlands is the gateway between this world and the next. Many dark, ugly things wait there. Them Dreamlands things look safe and goodlike, but they ain't."

"Not too scary, Mr Nick," Amy warned softly.

She herself was frightened by the stories of what lurked in The Dreamlands and she couldn't imagine small children would be any braver than her.

As Mr Nick continued talking, Amy found herself unable to look away from him, a warm feeling creeping through her body. Out of all the people in Home, there was no doubt in Amy's mind that she was incredibly fond of Mr Nick. There were many things she liked about him and during the times she was alone, she spent a lot of time thinking about him. On his right upper arm he had a large birthmark that looked like a large pine tree and sometimes she wished she had the opportunity to count how many branches were there. And on the left side of his face he had a terrible scar from when he was a child; she couldn't exactly remember how he'd received it, but she thought it brought attention to his eyes, which she believed she could stare into for days if she could. She liked the way he laughed, the way he smiled, the way he talked, the way he walked, the way he told the ways and means of Home—everything.

But most of all, she liked how when he was happy, everyone felt happy. It was as though his feelings were contagious and she knew she could bask in it forever.

Mr Nick's story lasted until the sun was ready to set and she was sad to have him stop so she could usher the children back to their respective homes. Mr Nick of course offered to help her, but she insisted that his thinking of Home was far more important and left him in the Woods.

Amy didn't visit the Swimmin' Hole in the afternoon with the other women as she was busy watching the children, so she took her opportunity to wash herself and her clothing in the evening when the children went home. This was coincidentally the same time Mr Nick came to the Swimmin' Hole. He was already in the Swimmin' Hole this evening when she arrived.

"Miss Amy," he greeted, a slight tinge to his cheeks as he looked up at her.

"Mr Nick," she murmured with a nod. "The water right?"

"Yes. He turned around to give her privacy as she slipped out of her dress and into the water.

"I brought you somethin'," he said, swimming over to one of the large boulders edging the Swimmin' Hole that kept his clothing.

She joined him, treading alongside him as she accepted the small, glimmering stone he handed her. "It's pretty."

"I ain't knowin' much about pretty things 'cept for you," he said.

"I ain't thinkin' of myself as pretty," she said bashfully.

His fingers cupped her chin. "You is."

"You's rather handsome yourself, Mr Nick," she said softly, touching his cheek.

Their silence was enough and they parted to finish their washing, the moon beginning to rise over the mountains. He knew how frightened she was of the stories of the Wild Things he told and as he did every evening, he offered out his arm and asked her if she would like to be walked home. She always accepted.

As they walked together, he told her the stories of the stars above, how there were once three great explosions, the death of three stars and she leaned closer to him as he spoke of their world. Of course, reaching her cabin was always bittersweet as she was happy to be out of the dark, but it meant she had to say goodnight to Mr Nick for the day. They held hands, murmuring gentle words to one another and they shared a chaste kiss before he left.

She took the glimmering pebble and placed it in a jar next to her bed.


The next morning after Church, Nick was mumbling to himself about the origin of the small buttercups that grew along the stream, trying to sound out a possible poem to make for Miss Amy when movement to his left made him glance up. An adolescent stood across the small waterway shyly, flicking his head to move the auburn hair from his eyes. Nick smiled and sat back on his heels, forgetting about the flowers.

"Good mornin', Tyler. How is you doin' today?" he asked.

Tyler nodded. "All good an' fine, Mr Nick."

Tyler Carson was a shy boy, though very clever and admittedly something of a mischief maker, not unlike Nick himself.

"Somethin' I can help you with?" He cocked his head to the side and joked, "You ain't lost, is you?"

Tyler grinned and shook his head which caused his hair to become messy once more. "I want to be a storyteller like you is, Mr Nick."

"It ain't just storytellin', Tyler. It is our history, our ways and means," Nick pointed out, standing up.

"I know!" Tyler insisted. "But I's really wantin' to learn them all, so I'll be a storyteller like you one day."

"Long, long time ago," Nick started, slinging his arm over Tyler's shoulder as they walked along the stream.

"Long, long time ago," Tyler echoed softly, the way listeners were supposed to.

Nick's hands began to move, illustrating the words he said. "The good and greatest Lord God made us this place. He made Home for us, his chosen people. We is his chosen people. He make us this Garden of Eden so we do not have to want. We is given all we could ever want, a beautiful, pure world without sin."

"Do you think I could be a storyteller one day, Mr Nick?"

Nick ruffled the boy's hair, which prompted the younger of the two to duck out of his reach, causing Nick to laugh. "A good one."


Nick walked through Wide Holler along the path way that lead from Pastor Bell's cabin through the waist-high stalks of wheat, his fingertips brushing the tips of the slightly prickly husks. Pastor Bell had wanted to hear the story of the Dreamlands, which seemed funny to Nick, considering the pastor told it to them every morning, but Nick happily complied, doing his best to give any detail he could think of relating to the mysteries of what lie in their forbidden lands.

He was now headed back to the Flats where he hoped to find Miss Amy when he passed one of the cabins located in Wide Holler. Two figures were sitting side by side on the edge front porch of the cabin, the tall man's feet planted firmly in the dirt and the small woman's toes not quite reaching the ground at all. They were talking quietly to one another; her red hair glimmered copper in the afternoon light, swaying slightly as she laughed at something the man said, the corners of his eyes creasing as he smiled affectionately at her and touched his hand momentarily to hers.

"Afternoon, Mr Philip, Miss Nina," he called out, his gait slowed to a halt.

Miss Nina waved to him. "Good afternoon, Mr Nick. You doin' well this right fine day? Come sit an' have some of this here mulberry juice with us."

She gestured to a metal tray that held a third full jar of juice and Nick took the invitation to leave the path for their cabin. He sat down on the porch beside Mr Philip and took a drink of the cool, thick liquid.

"Mighty nice of you, Miss Nina," he said, licking the purple off his upper lip. He looked at the object in Mr Philip's hands that he was sanding. "New mixin' spoon, Mr Philip?"

Mr Phillip nodded. "Miss Nina broke the last one."

"Sometimes I ain't knowin' my own strength." She flexed her right hand and laughed. "I done broke so many before!"

"But I's happy to be doin' it," Mr Philip admitted, smiling at her in an incredibly fond way.

"Mr Nick, could you be tellin' us the story of them Woods? Of them tall trees?" Miss Nina asked, Mr Philip nodding in agreement.

Nick smiled and they did in turn; Miss Nina rest her head on Mr Philip's shoulder contently as Nick thought for a moment, his eyes closing as he pictured the tall trees that populated their beautiful Home.

"Them trees in the Woods is very old and tall so that we may feel small and childlike before the wonders of the Almighty Lord…"


As dawn broke the horizon, Amy prepared herself for Church, standing in the doorway of her cabin; the air was slightly chill and she had poured herself an old jam jar full of tea to warm herself. Her cabin was located in the deep forest, not far from the schoolhouse, isolating her in the beauty of the Woods. She breathed in the wonderful wafting perfume from the wild flowers that had been woven into long hanging vines that covered her doorway and were at the moment draping over her shoulders. She raised the jar to her lips, almost taking her first sip of tea when she saw something at the edge of the Woods that made her heart stop. The jar fell from her hand to the ground below, soft moss cushioning the glass as the warm tea poured out and seeped into the earth. A little boy was crouching at the tree line, eldritch pale and quite obviously not belonging to the people of Home.

A Mandrake Child.

"Hello," she greeted slowly, unsure what to think of what she was seeing. "Right fine mornin', ain't it?"

But the child said nothing, merely stared.

She pulled her cardigan tighter around herself. "C'mere young'un. Ain't you cold? It'd airish right now."

The little boy sat back on his heels, wrapping his arms around himself in the same fashion she had.

"What be your name, young'un?" she asked, captivated by his unblinking, piercing blue eyes. Again he said nothing and she gently prodded, "You don't talk? But you look like you understandin' me."

She took a step forward, which seemed to spook the child, who began to scramble backwards towards the trees.

"Don't be afeared! I ain't gonna hurt you," she promised.

The little boy paused to look to look at her once more then disappeared into the Woods, leaving Amy absolutely speechless. She stood for a moment more, wondering if she'd imagined what she'd seen and then began race towards the Church to find the one person she knew could tell her what to do.

Mr Nick was walking through the Flats with Mr Philip and Miss Nina, talking to them when she came running down the pathway, her bare feet kicking up small pebbles while the ribbons in her hair fluttered helplessly behind her.

"Mr Nick!" she shouted, waving a hand to catch his attention.

"Miss Amy! Everwhat bringin' you here like this?" he asked as she tugged him off the pathway to give them privacy from the two dumbfounded denizens.

"A Wild Thing!" she hissed. "I saw it this mornin'!"

"A Wild Thing!" he gasped.

"It was a young'un," she whispered, feeling both giddy and scared.

"A young'un Wild Thing?" He cocked his head to one side. "Oh, you ain't talkin' about a dream—"

"No, a real Wild Thing! He were about this tall and pale white, like he ain't never seen the sun," she insisted.

"Well, I reckon that Wild Things could be young'uns, too." His brow furrowed. "And you seen one? I'd a-thought that if anyone was to seen a Wild Thing it'd be me."

She glanced up in the direction of the Church. "I'm gonna skip service this mornin'. I gotta find that Wild Thing."

His eyes widened. "But what about the children? Who's gonna teach them their lessons?"

"You can do it!" she called back as she began to run back to her cabin.

For the entirety of the morning Amy spent her time wandering around the edge of her cabin's clearing in the Woods, calling for the Mandrake Child; as the sun reached its zenith she'd nearly given up, feeling it was hopeless for her to seek out one of the Lord God's mysteries when a slight rustle in the ferns caused her pause.

"Where is you, little Wild Thing?" she called out softly.

Out from behind one of the trees peeked a small, pale face.

"Good afternoon," she greeted, unable to fight back her large smile. "How is you, little'un?"

He said nothing, instead leaning down to roll something small towards her, peering at her curiously. She picked up the small glass orb, yellow streaked with white and shimmers of gold.

"You like marbles, little'un?" Her eyes widened as she realised she recognised the small the piece of glass. "Why, this is one of mine! I lost it a long, long time ago."

He gave her a shy smile, rolling something else down to her feet.

"A acorn!" She held the acorn up. "You like them acorns, little'un? Or do you think this is one of them marbles?"

Without warning, the Mandrake Child seemed to fade into the shadows, disappearing completely from her sight.

"No, don't be scared, little Wild Thing!" she called out, pleading for his return.

When it became apparent that the Mandrake Child would not be returning, Amy sought out Mr Nick who'd taken the children down to Wide Holler to listen to the story of the wheat that grew there. Upon seeing her, Mr Nick sent the children off to collect their own stalks of grain so that they could talk privately.

He kept his voice low. "Were he there?"

"He gave me this." She handed him the marble she'd put in her pocket.

"Ain't this that marble you lost…" He bit the inside of his check as he tried to remember exactly when she'd lost it, but when he couldn't place when it was, so he finished with, "a long, long time ago?"

"Long, long time ago!" she agreed and dug out another small object from her dress' pocket. "And he gave me this acorn, too!"

"What'd you give him?" he asked, looking between the marble and the acorn.

She winced. "Nothin'. I ain't even think about that."

"Little'uns like them sweet things," Mr Nick said very wisely.

"Little'uns like them sweet things," she agreed, thinking of the small jar of sugar lumps she had on the shelf next to her cabin's fireplace.

Mr Nick pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, his hand lingering for a moment on her cheek. "You best go back to the Wild Thing. I'll take care of the young'uns."

"Thank you, Mr Nick," she murmured, standing on her toes to give him a kiss on the lips.

He looked as though he wanted to say something, but the children giggling from among the wheat at the display of affection cut the moment short and she left him standing with a bewitched look on his face. Her cheeks burned the entire time she hurried back home, trying not to let her feelings towards the storyteller of Home distract her from the thoughts of the Mandrake Child that had sought her out.

"Little Wild Thing," she called out once she returned to her cabin and before she could count to ten, the little boy appeared at the edge of the Woods.

"I brought you somethin'," she explained, holding out the handful of small sugar rocks. "You likin' it, little'un?"

She offered it out to him which coaxed him within arm's length, trying to prompt him to eat it before he cocked his head slightly and then held one of the sweets up to her mouth.

"Oh, it's for you—" she started to say, but he took the opportunity to put the little candy between her lips before scampering off to hide in the ferns once more.

His little face was lit up in delight and the curiosity in his eyes made her want to share everything she knew with him.

"Come back! I got another one!" she called out.

He peeked out from the ferns again, a beaming smile on his face before disappearing into the shadows once more. Amy burst out into laughter, shaking her head at the apparent miscommunication of intentions. Leaving the jar of sugar candies on the front step of her cabin in case he might return, she went inside to collect the few items she had of value that she could offer for the services she required. In Wide Holler, Amy went to find Miss Annabelle, the draper.

"Afternoon, Miss Amy," Miss Annabelle greeted as she plucked the herbs that grew alongside her cabin.

"I's wonderin' if you had some cloth to spare." Amy opened the top of her basket and began to take out the few objects she had brought with her to trade for the materials she required. "I's got a jar of marmalade and some ribbon and this here bowl and a bag a biscuits."

"Oh, Miss Amy." Miss Annabelle smiled at her, halting Amy and shaking her head. "If you's needin' fabric, I can give them to you." Taking her by the hand, Miss Annabelle led her inside and over to the chest of drawers that held the prized textiles. She opened the bottom most drawer and began to remove large swatches of different colours. "You's makin' a dress?"

"No, no." Amy touched a heavy brown cloth that she thought might make good trousers and murmured, "This be 'bout right."

Miss Annabelle frowned. "You can't hardly make nothin' with that."

Amy was deep in thought, avoiding a direct answer to what she needed the fabric for. "And this is the prettiest yellow…" She glance back at Miss Annabelle. "I can take them?"

"You sure that enough?" Miss Annabelle asked skeptically as she looked at the cloth in Amy's hands.

Amy smiled and nodded. "It's right fine."

"Well, if you's needin' more, then you know where to get it," the other woman offered as Amy began to leave the cabin.

"Thank you Miss Annabelle." Miss Annabelle's beau came walking up the cabin's pathway and she nodded to him. "Mr Will."

"Miss Amy," he acknowledged as she hurried off, leaving the two behind and puzzled.

Her next stop was to Home's seamstress, Miss Krista Manning whose cabin was located in the Flats next to the Dunham sisters'. As expected, Miss Krista was sitting on her front porch, working on a patchwork quilt, her fingers sewing small stitches deftly.

"Miss Krista!" Amy hollered out, catching the young woman's attention as she approached. "Miss Krista, I's needin' you to sew up somethin' for me," she said, hold out the fabric she'd borrowed from Miss Annabelle.

"New dress?" Miss Krista asked curiously as she set the quilt aside to look at what Amy had.

"Clothes for a young'un. Ye high, trousers and a shirt and underthings," Amy explained.

Miss Krista nodded, accepting jar of marmalade that Amy offered her. "I'll has 'em for you in the mornin', before Church."

Amy smiled in relieved gratitude. "Thank you."

Amy didn't see the Mandrake Child that night or the next morning which left her feeling restless, wondering if she'd ever see the child again. And true to her word, Miss Krista gave her a stack of children's clothing the next morning; Amy felt anxious throughout the entire service, unable to keep her mind from flittering to thoughts of the small clothes in the basket tucked under the pew and who they were for.

After what felt like an eternity, Pastor Bell concluded Church for the day and Amy was quick to seek Mr Nick, telling him,

"You be needin' to watch after them young'uns for me today!"

Mr Nick nodded, gesturing for a ginger haired adolescent to stand with him. "Mr Tyler will help me tell them young'uns stories."

"Thank you," she said to both of them, leaving the two to tend to the children once again.

Patiently, Amy sat on the front step of her cabin, waiting for any sign of the young Mandrake Man. The sun moved slowly across the sky, lighting the silent clearing within the Woods; provided with time to think, Amy pondered the weight of her actions, why she was seeking out to care for a being that looked so similar to the people she belonged to but had obvious mystical association with the guardianship of Home. She didn't think of herself as a wise person such as Pastor Bell or Mr Nick, but she knew that if the Wild Thing had chosen to reveal himself to her, it was for a reason.

It wasn't until the edge of evening when the ferns moved slightly and out emerged the child she had become so fond of.

"I done brought you somethin'." She showed him the clothing, which he acknowledged with a touch of his fingers. "I ain't so skilled with a needle, but I picked out them colours." She gestured for him to come closer to her so she could put them on him. "Lemme help you."

His fingers thread through the loose strands of hair she hadn't managed to tie back as she dressed him. She stood up and looked down at him, adjusting the collar of his shirt as a final touch. "There! Now you be lookin' nice right!"

He tilted his head, his startling pale eyes studying her face for a moment then gave her a smile. She cupped his face and gently used a handkerchief she wet with her spit to wipe off the smudges of dirt on his alabaster skin.

"Little Wild Thing, you is in dire need of a mother to be a-keepin' you clean," she sighed, studying his emotionless features. "And feedin' you and teachin' you the ways and means of Home."

The child once again tried to put one of the little candies in her mouth and she chuckled, allowing him an opportunity to slip on in. His mouth suddenly opened and he let out a loud, harsh, dry wheeze. She flinched slightly and drew back, but when she saw the large smile on his face, she let out a startled laugh as she realised that he was trying to express happiness, trying to laugh with her. Suddenly his eyes clouded and he looked past her, trying to retreat back into the ferns. She glanced back over her shoulder and could see someone was coming up the path towards her cabin.

"Miss Amy!" a man called out and she recognised the voice as belonging to Mr Nick.

Amy held onto the struggling Wild Thing by the wrist, trying to calm him by insisting, "It'd only Mr Nick! He a right good man!"

"Miss Amy—oh my." Mr Nick stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing her kneeling with the frightened child. "Is this that little Wild Thing you done tell me about?"

"Little'un, this be Mr Nick." Amy gave him a comforting smile. "He's our Storyteller, keepin' the ways and means of Home up in his head for all of us."

Mr Nick took off his hat and slowly approached them. His lips began to form a lopsided grin, offering his hand out to the child. "Hello, little Wild Thing. You got a name?"

Amy could see the little Mandrake boy was immediately drawn to Mr Nick, reaching out and touching his hand as he stared at the man in open curiosity.

"He don' talk," she explained. "Real quiet like, ain't you, little'un?"

He let out a violent and terrifying rasp causing Mr Nick's eyes to widen as he backed away slightly. "What he doin'?"

"He's laughin'," she murmured softly, feeling a strange pride and warmth inside of her.

"You like Miss Amy, Wild Thing?" Mr Nick asked the child. "She a right nice person takin' you in like this."

"Do you think them Mandrake Men know how to speak like us? Or that they silent just like him?" Amy pondered.

Mr Nick didn't reply as he took the boy by the hand and led him up to her cabin. "You hungry, little'un? I bet Miss Amy has bread and fruit that just be waitin' to be eaten."

In the cabin, Amy watched as Mr Nick fixed a large wooden bowl of berries and chunks of bread, which the Wild Thing took to the doorway where he crouched and ate as he looked outside.

"Nick, you ever a-wantin' to be a father?" Amy asked quietly as they stood side by side, watching the child.

His cheeks became red and he gently took her hands in his. "Only if you is plannin' on bein' a mother."

"The good Lord tells us to ask and ye shall receive. What if we's been askin' to be a mother and father and we ain't even be knowin' it." She leaned her head close to his. "I think the Lord is givin' me and you a son."

He glanced over to boy who sat in the doorway. "How we be knowin' that this little'un is needin' a mother and father?"

Amy worried her lower lip between her teeth for a moment as she thought. "Me and you is goin' have to wait for a sign from the Lord."

Mr Nick nodded and together they closed their eyes as she began to speak. "Lord God, if it be your divine and mighty will, let me and Mr Nick here know if you be wantin' us to be a mother and father to the Mandrake child."

Mr Nick kissed her softly on the cheek. "Amen."


The next morning Amy woke up in her bed, the earliest slivers of light creeping through the garlands that hung across the doorway. She yawned and shifted in her bed, nuzzling her nose into the soft down pillow before remembering the small Wild Thing that she'd fallen asleep with the night before. She sat up quickly, her movement waking Mr Nick, who'd spent the night on the floor.

The Child was gone.

"He's gone," Amy said softly, her heart feeling quite broken.

Nick came off the floor to sit with her on the bed, one of his arms draping over her shoulders and pulling her close so that she could lean her head against his. A single tear slid down her cheek as she wondered what she could have done differently, what she'd possibly done to cause the little Mandrake boy to leave.

"Them Wild Things is like us and they ain't," she said in soft defeat.

Mr Nick pulled her closer, making comforting shushing noises, putting a finger to her lips as he looked at the doorway. He left her sitting on the bed, pushing aside the woven vines of flowers that hung across her cabin's entrance before glancing back at her, a large smile on his face.

"Amy—Amy, come look!"

Leaving the bed to join him, Amy inhaled sharply, her hand coming up to her heart as she stepped out onto the front step of her home. What was once mossy ground was a field of large white tulips, surrounding her small cabin, covering the pathway, trickling up into the Woods. Sitting amongst the white blossoms was the little boy, the Wild Thing that Amy had grown fond of. His small fingers traced over the smooth petals and she leaned against Mr Nick as he wrapped his arm around her. The little boy smiled at them as he continued to play among the tulips.