(Untitled)

[goingtodorking]

Karen has been looking for Rollie all morning. She's got Josiah with her, dragging him along in his cart. She's been having a one-sided conversation abotu whether 'Josie' or 'Joe' or 'Joey' suits him best but, mostly, she's been doing it to cover her rising sense of panic. Ainsley disappeared and so did Shadow; Karen's old enough to know that

Comments

[endlessdel]

Something lurked at the corner of her eye, something terrible and beautiful but she didn't dare look. Her siblings surrounded her, changing shape and appearance like they had over time and changing colours. Del couldn't control it, the images but they kept coming forth. Something she could see but couldn't touch.

"Karen?" Del asked, placing a blue Daniel down on the ground and bending down to Karen who was crying. All the images, the people changed around her as she approached her into blue swirls and flowers and a pretty young girl who looked like Del but wasn't her. "Karen, what's the matter?"

[goingtodorking]

Delirium's surrounded by pretty things, shifting colours, but Karen barely takes any notice at all. She wipes her face again but, for now, she's focused on the cocoon. She tilts her head.

"I think something ate Rollie."

[endlessdel]

"Oh," Del said before turning her head to look at the cocoon. She'd been butterflies before, plural not singular, and it had been very confusing but she'd liked the cocooning bit. "Oh, oh, he's not eaten. He's made a cocoon, he's taking a nap to become something bigger and better. A butterly except I didn't think humans did that but maybe Rollie's do that."

Delirium nudged the cocoon. "Maybe he just needs to wake up."

[goingtodorking]

Everything's better now that there's a grown-up here, even if it's Delirium and, sometimes, she's strange in the same way that Karen is. Even so, Karen slips her hand into Delirium's and squeezes.

"How do we wake him up?"

[endlessdel]

She looked down at the small hand in hers, smiling softly before squeezing back. She could afford Karen this kindness, it wasn't like the images that her mind were creating were infectious. It wasn't like it was even a fraction of her powers.

"How do you wake up in the morning? We should do that," Del said putting a finger on her lips as she thought about what she did. "I do a funny dance but I don't think he can do a funny dance in there."