Wrapped Up in Books; Quinn Fabray, 209 words; Rated PG
She sits on a bench, under a tree, pulls out a book from her bag and begins to read. It's a well-loved book, dog-eared from repeated readings over the years. Even though she knows the ending by heart, knows who gets married and who dies, she can't help but shed a few tears for Beth every single time. Innocent, sweet, Beth.
Soon, she finds herself wrapped up in the world Louisa May Alcott had created, and she nearly forgets that she's expecting is the first time she's tried to read it since her own Beth was born. She can't help but imagine her own child's face when she reads the passages, can't help but dread what she knows is coming.
A horn honks in the distance; she looks up and sees Puck gesturing for her to come. She slides a slip of paper between the pages and stands.
She'll lose herself in the book again when she gets home, curled up under her patchwork quilt and with a cold glass of milk like when she was a child reading it for the first time; for now, she'll shove it all to the back of her mind.