The wind prowled the world, restless, until it skulked through a maple grove on a hill and its memory returned.

Something prehistoric, a vast predatory thing, it poses as a tree with root-like talons, and feathers that pass as leaves.

The candy cane walrus visits Olly when her parents fight. She calls him that because his tusks spiral red and white, like candy canes. She snuggles against him, and he blocks her ears with his thick coat.

The woman held her four demons back, leashed according to the law. “No, no, I meant exercise, m’dear! My darlings are quite tame, thank you.”