**Daryl's voice, restrained and unusually soft, brought back a slurry of memories from a highway long left behind, and Carol quickly pushed them back into their dark corner to focus on his face as it came into view.**

No prayers or panicking for Daryl Dixon, just "this is what we're going to do" and then getting that sh-t DONE.

**His voice was soft again, kind and calm as he assured her,

"S'aight, darlin'. You ain't in trouble. Yer grandma's worried sick about you, though."

For the briefest of moments Carol felt the world spin around her at the tone in Daryl's voice, and she could suddenly imagine him so clearly in the woods outside Hershel's farm, crouching down to pull her little Sophia out of her hiding spot, whispering words of assurance and understanding…**

Shane was so wrong. Sophia would have trusted Daryl implicitly. I love that you emphasized this side of his personality, the part of him that is gentle with defenseless things.

**Carol giggled when the girl pulled out an old rubber duck, briefly squeezing it to show it still made the squeaking sound. Molly smiled up at her when Carol took it and squeezed herself, a warmth penetrating her chest both from the child's suddenly adoring gaze and Daryl's deep chuckle nearby.**

I love this OC. What a sweet little girl. And both of them making the duck squeak made me squee.

**Carol smiled down at the girl despite the sobering question she posed.

"She's gone to heaven."

"The monsters got her?"

She breathed. Heard Daryl sigh in a moment of sudden frustration.

"Yes, they did."

There was no point in lying to the child, no matter how cruel the truth seemed. It was more a mistake, she figured, to lead the little one on to believe that the monsters couldn't hurt her.**

What a horrible thing for a mother to have to say, that the monsters are real and that not all the love in the world can protect a child from them. Kind of makes you angry at the world that you cannot let them have their innocence just a bit longer. God, I feel for Carol in this moment.

**Carol locked eyes with him as Daryl reached out to take the scarf, nodding at her in understanding.

He pretended to be in awe of the thing, stretching it out and twirling it around his hands.

"Need me one a' these…"**

Hee! To go with the poncho! And clash HORRIBLY with it. :D

**"This is my toothbrush!"

Molly's boasting was accompanied by her flashing of tiny white teeth as she smiled widely, and Carol nodded, wide-eyed.

"You take very good care of your teeth!"

"My Mama used ta' brush with me. But now I have to do it by myself cause' Nana's teeth are fake."

Above them, Daryl snorted.**

Snort all you want, Dixon. That was damn adorable.

I love how Daryl hesitated killing the deer, as if he was warring between innocence (Molly's love the creature) and experience (they needed food). For now, innocence won. But there will come a time when innocence is too expensive for all of them. It's heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

**He never let go of her hand.**

God, this sentence kills me!

Beautiful take on this prompt. Brava!

very sweetie made me smile

nice

Aww that was really cute!

You, my dear, are the master of the one-shot. This was lovely! And the hand holding! sigh. I think my heart just floated away...

)Crystal

Very nice! I have read so many of these challenge stories with the show box, rubber duck, tooth brush and purple scarf, but I have to say that I like this one a lot! It is very well written and I love the Caryl action ;). Very very lovely, thank you for the great read!

Loved this! Molly was such a great little means of allowing Carol and Daryl to further come to terms with Sophia for the the reader. I'm glad that Daryl didn't shoot the deer at the end, and decided to wait until night fall - shows what a softy he really is, wanting to cater to the girl. Very adorable.

Great entry! Good luck with it!

THIS is what I want to see in the show. This interaction exactly. Great job as always! Loved it.

This was absolutely gorgeous! This moment particularly moved me: "For the briefest of moments Carol felt the world spin around her at the tone in Daryl's voice, and she could suddenly imagine him so clearly in the woods outside Hershel's farm, crouching down to pull her little Sophia out of her hiding spot, whispering words of assurance and understanding…" Perfect!

What a adorable story! I love Molly, and Daryl...I said adorable, didn't I?

Now THAT was beautiful. No trouble at all to imagine it playing out in my mind. Thank you! *hugs*