Tuesday Tales: The Watcher

*This post occurred before I changed the WIP title and Ghuli's name to Jonnie*

Tuesdays are the day I have set aside to get my creative mind rolling by writing flash fiction. For the time being, these stories will be set in Teorre, the world of my current WIP, The Crystal Bearer.

I didn't need a prompt for this one. It came to me at random, and this one is directly related to my WIP, as it centers around a memory my MC Ghuli had. The point of view, however, is a little different. :)

The Watcher

Today, I am three years old. I am finally a woman! I can’t wait for all of my fur to come in. Momma has a long, beautiful coat, and her tail is even bushier than Poppa’s. I try to walk the way she does, so elegant and light. The little Princess is laughing at me from the nurse’s lap. I guess I don’t quite yet have the grace.

“Daughter,” Momma says as she peeks into the room, “look after the Princess. Your father and I must patrol with the watchmen.”

My heart leaps in my chest, but I try to contain my excitement. My first assignment as a woman! “Yes, Momma.”

Momma leaves me with the Princess and her nurse, and I am ready. I will not let my parents down. I pace the length of the room, this little secret room within the temple on the hill. The curly-furred Human brings the Princess here when he is teaching the little Trollic. A severe one he is, but he scratches my ears in just the right place, so I like him.

The nurse has set the Princess down, and she is coming to me. She tries to straighten her back legs to walk like me, but her backside is heavy, and she falls over. Though her face is brown and her top fur blacker than the night sky, her paws look like mine: white and fluffy with indistinguishable fingers. The nurses call them mittens. A strange name for paws. In a few months, the Princess will walk on her back paws. How do Humans balance so well?

The Princess walks towards the entrance. The nurse is patching up one of the Princess’s outer furs, so she doesn’t notice. This is my chance! I follow the Princess out into the library, where she picks up the pace. I don’t realize her destination until she is but three steps from the fire!

“No, Princess!” I cry, but she won’t understand me until years from now, so I leap across the room and remember her scruff is not her neck, but her outer fur, where the little X is made by the cut of it. The heat is strong on my face when I grab the outer fur in my teeth and pull the Princess away.

“What is…Oh!” I turn to trot back towards the nurse, who has come at my cry, and she kneels to pet me and take the Princess. “Thank you. Princess, you cannot scare us like that.”

Indeed. My heart is pounding, and when we return to the room, I immediately lie down. I am done being a woman today. It is too much work.