The cliffs of the sea, stunted and black
stretch crookedly in a line between
the land and the sea. And me,
I am well content
with windowsills collecting dust,
and apples every fall 'til come famine or flood.

A dissatisfied grin, a shambled gate:
the cliffs are strung out like skeleton teeth.
Or the teeth of a rake left out in the rain
for too long. And I chose
to stride one side, plant my seeds and feet
rather than water, and drifting for weeks.

 Lile didn’t leave the barn for two days. She slept in a loft and refused to leave Mischief’s side. Mia brought her food and water, but said nothing. The morning of the third day, she went out and dug a hole to bury the kitten. Then she dried her tears and went inside.

                Coem was on his way out the door with his pack on his back when she entered. “Good morning, Lile!” He said.

                “Morning,” Lile mumbled.

                “I was going outside to gather some bark. Would you like to come?”

 {thank you for your comments on the first part! I've changed some things - though I haven't put it up on here, it was minor editing and taking out some of the redundencies in long sections of thought. Here's part 2!}

        Mia passed a plate to Lile.

        “How will we ever survive?” Lile asked. She looked at the thin slice of bread on her plate. A few peas rolled around it, and a tiny piece of cheese finished the meal.

        “The Creator will provide,” Mia said, handing Coem his dinner.

 {Here's the first part of Mercy Victorious. It's longer than the other short versions of the stories but still shorter than a full-length. I have to say, I think this has been my favorite to write and re-read - probably partly because the characters are inspired by real-life people and the story came in pictures, like Nikolai}