#and about died cause ew i touched it with my very bare hands and tossed it to another plant 😂

[speakersdisaster]

TIME FOR SAD - a story by abriel

“Mama, we’re gonna go play with the goats!” Called a tiny voice from the door. In her arms, she held a ginger cat that clearly wanted to touch the ground again. But she was latched onto the poor tabby, even when she locked eyes with her mother.

“Just make sure you’re back in time for supper.” Isalie spoke, dusting her hands on her apron. “And please let go of Poppy. She’s going to bite you if you hang on any longer.”

Ellie grumbled softly and leaned down, setting the ginger kitty on her paws and watching as she dashed inside the house. “Okay, Mama.” She fixed her skirts before giving her mother an extremely enthusiastic wave and skipping down the steps, off to the field.

The sun hung low in the sky, and the air was stagnant. The only clouds were wisps that floated here and there. The grass was taller than she was - a mere 1’10 - and she had to make an effort not to trip here and there. But that was part of the fun, wasn’t it?

Today the goats had decided to stand near the dusty road, but Ellie didn’t mind. Once she had cleared the long grass, she reached up to the top of her head to make sure her crown of pansies was still there. It was, and she smiled.

“Hi everyone!” She called. The goats turned towards her for a moment before going back and minding their own business. “If your dinner tasty?” She plopped down in the grass between two of the goats. “Grass doesn’t seem like it would be tasty. . . But you’re goats! It would probably taste very very terrible to a halfling.” Ellie looked at the goats for a moment, weighing her options. If she didn’t dine with the goats, would they feel left out? Guilt eventually got the better of her, and she reached down, grabbing a fistful of the greenery and stuffing it into her mouth.

Her expression quickly turned sour as she chewed, realizing her mistake. One of the goats was watching her, and she did her best to smile back at it. As soon as the animal looked away, she stuck her tongue out and got as much of the plant out of her mouth as possible. Ellie made exaggerated choking noises, but none of the goats seemed to pay any mind to that.

“Ew! How can you guys eat that? Okay, when Mama has supper made, I’m gonna bring you all to the table so you can try some good food! She’s making stew tonight!” Ellie reached up and set her hand on one of the goats’ backs, standing up. She was still trying to get the taste out of her mouth. “Bleh.” She mumbled.

The rattling of wagon wheels caused a few of the goats to look up. Ellie was used to people coming by on the road, and she’d always stand at the fence and wave or toss flowers in front of the wagons. Unfortunately, the only flowers she had at that moment were the ones on her head. She supposed waving would have to be enough. She dusted herself off and skipped to the wooden fence, stepping up so she could see over.

For the first time ever, the wagon came to a halt after moving a few yards past the waving halfling. Ellie tilted her head curiously, bringing her hand down and setting it on the soft wood of the fence. “Huh.” She breathed, watching as someone opened the flaps of the wagon. Her eyes moved as she saw another person walking around the wagon.

A huge grin came to her face, and she spoke. “Hi! Do you want to play with my goats with me?”

The two spoke quietly to one another, and it was in a language she couldn’t understand. Ellie frowned deeply, folding her arms over her chest. “You know, it isn’t very nice to keep secrets from one another.”

The taller, bulkier man of the two was quick. He reached forward and grabbed Ellie by her forearms, yanking her over the fence. The tiny halfling shrieked, and the crown of pansies fell from her head, landing at the edge of the road.

Turning her head, Ellie saw the orange and purple flowers on the ground. “Hey! Wait! I can’t go anywhere without my crown- ow! Let me go!” The man’s iron grip on her arm brought tears to her eyes. “That hurts!” She continued, trying to struggle her way out of his grip. Each time she wriggled, his grip just grew tighter until tears were a steady occurrence on her cheeks. “You- you’re gonna get my skirts dirty!”

Through her tears, she could see the two talking in an even more rushed manner before she was lifted off her feet, kicking and shouting. The flaps of the wagon were opened again and she was placed quite forcefully inside. “Umf!” Ellie grunted as she lost her footing and fell onto the wood. “Ouch. . .” She turned around and sat with her back to the side of the wagon, lifting her skirt to her knee and crying even more at the sight of the nasty scrape. “You’re hurting me! You’re a bad, bad man!” Ellie pointed an accusing finger at the shorter man, the one that had gotten into the wagon as well and was sitting not far from her.

Her mouth snapped shut when she heard the person at the front of the wagon shout something. Eyes flickered back over to the man in the back with her as he grumbled a few words back.

Something occurred to her. “Wait, wait! Mama said I have to be home in time for supper!” She brought a hand up and tried to wipe a few tears away from her cheeks, but they were simply replaced by new ones. “She’s gonna get mad at me!” The wagon was already moving, but she stood up and walked towards the back. Ellie reached for the flaps, but her fingers closed around nothing but air and the man extended his arm and forcefully pushed her backwards. Ellie’s balance was gone, and she fell backwards onto her behind, letting out another cry.

“Where are we going?” She sniffled. The man avoided eye contact with her and didn’t say a word. “Why did you take me?” Still no answer. She raised her voice slightly this time. “Why did you hurt me?” Ellie gestured to the rips in her skirts, her scraped knees, and the sore spot on her arm.

At that final question, he turned his head and stared at her. So he could understand what she was saying. There was a long moment of silence before he finally grumbled a few more words, pulling his expression into a cruel one again. He lifted his hand, and it looked like he was about to bring it down on her. However, when she flinched, he stopped and lowered his arm. More words were grumbled before he turned away fully.

Sitting back where she had been, she could just barely see outside. The tears didn’t stop falling, especially when she spotted the top of her house disappear behind the landscape. Ellie broke into a fit of silent sobs, bringing her scraped knees up to her chest and burying her face in her arms. She knew it was useless to fight back anymore. They were stronger than her, they were in charge of whether she lived or died now.

____

“Isalie, what field did Ellie go off to?” Darcey asked, walking in with a basket of fruits under her arm.

“Mmh, she’s in the West field with the goats!”

There was a moment of quiet. Darcey stared at Isalie for a couple of seconds before going on. “She isn’t there now. I was just there looking for her.” She set the basket on the table, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Elida is a very responsible girl, Darcey. And I told her to be in by the time supper is ready. I’m sure she’ll come skipping along in ten minutes.” She smiled softly at her wife, earning only a silent nod in return.

#I WANT TO DIE #rip ellie amirite lolol