FLASHBACKS will be signaled.

THIS INCLUDES MATERIAL FROM WILLIAM JOYCE'S THE GUARDIANS OF CHILDHOOD HE OWNS THE CHARACTERS AND SERIES, NOT ME!

FLASHBACK

I wonder what it would be like to have wings. How big would they have to be to hold your weight? What would they feel like? What would their colors be? If you fly with them, do you have to keep your body level, or can you stay upright? Would your bones have to be hollow, like a bird's? Would the wings be in place of your arms, or would they come from your back? Would—

"Katherine!"

Katherine was pulled from her reverie by the sound of her name being called from below. She rolled onto her back and pushed herself forward, sliding down a smooth limb of Big Root's canopy. The sentient tree already had the stairs ready for her to descend.

Katherine's shoes patted against the wooden stairs lightly as she entered Big Root's sanctuary. Evidence of magic was everywhere. In some spots, small silver balls hovered in midair without any source of support. A ribbon of colorful light was winding around the room, like a fragment of an Aurora Borealis. A broom was sleeping the floor by itself. A small flower in a porcelain pot was growing and withering rapidly, reviving as a differently designed blossom each time. A snow globe on the mantle had a blizzard of snow whirling around inside despite the globe itself being completely still.

Ombric Shalazar stood between two of his working tables. Three round white disks were on each table, and Katherine watched in fascination as Ombric reached for a pitcher of water, dropping a small amount into a disk. The water leapt up from it, hopping to another disk, and then another, until it was jumping from disk to disk with no sign of stopping.

Ombric was Katherine's "father", so to speak. In truth, both of Katherine's parents had gone, taken by an avalanche when she was a baby. It was Ombric who had found her, took her in as his own, in the town that he himself had created, Santoff Claussen.

He nodded at Katherine when she approached. "There you are. Your friends are outside, waiting for you."

Katherine nodded and quickly ran for her coat. She had just reached the door when Ombric called, "Katherine!"

Katherine turned to him, still stuffing one sleeve on. "Yes?"

"Be careful. The fireflies say that something is wrong with the forest today."

Big Root's door opened for Katherine, and a branch waved her goodbye as she stepped through the threshold. Outside, the setting sun shimmered on Santoff Claussen. Big Root stood in the middle of a small clearing of grass, with the rest of the town surrounding it. Cobblestone streets weaved through wood and stone houses of all sizes, some small and squat, others towering and thin.

Ombric had created Santoff Claussen a few odd centuries ago. The wizard had stumbled upon a meteorite-struck sapling that grew into a grand tree, and when he had discovered the stardust-rich soil of the land, Ombric had decided to create a town where dreams could come true. In Santoff Claussen, the abnormal was normal.

Giant turtle waddling through town? All is well.

Water rising from the ground instead of falling from the sky? No need to worry.

Flowers as big as carriages were sprouting in the dirt? Wouldn't be the first time.

In the clearing before Big Root, several children of Santoff Claussen awaited Katherine. There were the three Williams, Fog, Maria and Caria. The six children were Ombric's current students—they learned several languages of bug, histories of mystical locations, and a few basic principles of inventing.

Tall William waved Katherine over. "Come on, Katherine! We're going into the forest!"

Katherine didn't stop following, but her eyebrows furrowed worriedly. "Ombric said that the forest may have trouble today."

William the Almost Youngest only seemed more excited by that statement. "Then we should go find it!"

Maria piped up, "But the Bear should find it!"

"Then there's no reason to be worried!"

The Williams didn't seem to be taking 'no' for an answer. Tall William led the way, and Fog hung at the back, trudging along with them. The forest around Santoff Claussen was filled with gargantuan trees, some as thick as houses and some tall enough to reach into the clouds. It was one of the rings around Santoff Claussen that Ombric had made to protect the town. The trees would block the cruel and cold, but would permit passage for the good of heart. Now, the trees bent and turned for the children.

"We can't stay out long!" Fog swung from a hanging tree branch and landed roughly on his feet. "It's getting dark out already!"

"Why are we out here, anyway?" inquired Katherine. "Is there something new in the forest?"

The children glanced at one another, as if deciding whether or not to answer her. Finally, William the Absolute Youngest answered, "We haven't seen the Bear today. Maybe he's hurt."

"Wouldn't the Spirit of the Forest help him?"

"We haven't seen her, either! Something's wrong!"

No sooner had he said this than the children suddenly came into a clearing in the forest. Almost immediately, a sense of dread washed over them. Everything had gone eerily still all too quickly, not a bug chirping. Experimentally, Tall William cupped a hand around his mouth and called, "Hello?"

His voice was not answered. Katherine glanced up at the sunlight peeking through the limbs and leaves. It was probably going to be nightfall soon. Nevertheless, the children continued to weave through the forest, calling out for the Bear and the Spirit of the Forest. They were nowhere to be found, and it was only when the last bit of daylight vanished that they decided to turn back.

The Williams were whispering to one another, trying to figure out what had happened to the Bear and the Spirit of the Forest. Meanwhile, Maria and Caria were trying to insist that they should just ask Ombric about it. Fog was paying no mind to anyone and was instead attempting to walk on stones without touching the grass.

Something brushed against Katherine's foot, causing her to instinctively jump. That didn't feel like a small, furry creature. It felt like…fingers.

Tall William was the only one to notice, and reached out a hand to pull her away from whatever had touched her. "What is it?"

"Something touched my foot!"

The other children slowed down, more curious than afraid. Tall William reached into his coat pocket for a match to light his lamp. Although it wasn't incredibly dark, the forest floor was becoming a bit difficult to see.

Soft orange light spread from the lantern. Tall William held it at arm's length, trying to find whatever had touched Katherine in the dark. Nothing was to be seen…and yet, they could tell that something was there. It was odd, like a sort of flickering at the corners of their eyes that they couldn't actually detect. The children packed closer together. Goosebumps appeared on their skin, their hair standing on end.

Caria let out a squeal, and when the children turned to her, they saw that she was staring upwards.

Shadows were standing against the trees, staring down at the children menacingly. The light from the lamp wasn't at all keeping them at bay—in fact, the light seemed to just make them grow taller.

Heart racing, blood pounding, Katherine turned left and right and realized that they were completely surrounded.

"Go ahead and pick out something."

Jamie said nothing as he headed for the racks of snack foods. His head felt like mush. After seeing the darkness that had engulfed the town the previous night, his body was too alarmed to go back to sleep. His mother, as per the norm in his grounding, was pulling him around the whole day. He was jumpy and paranoid as he tried to figure out what was wrong. You'd think there'd be something different—different environment, different people, a decline in the population of Burgess—but no, from what he could tell, nothing was different. It was his friends that he was most concerned for—Jackson, Aster, Nicholas, Sanderson, and Tooth. But of course, he couldn't speak to them now.

His eyes grazed over the snack selections. For some reason, the store had the annoying tendency to mix-and-match their items every other day. Okay, candy, dried fruits, potato chips…pretzels. His reached for the single bag of honey-flavored ones, pulling it from the shelf and—

"WHOA!"

Jamie jumped back like a startled cat, dropping the bag in the process. On the other side of the shelf, a pair of wide gray eyes stared directly at him.

A soft voice spoke, "Hi."

Jamie didn't know what else to say, so he simply sputtered out, "Hello?"

A pair of hands appeared on top of the shelf, as if they were struggling to peer at him. "You're Jamie, right?"

"Yeah."

"I have a question for you."

"Um…okay?"

"Who am I? In your stories?"

Jamie's eyes narrowed at them. Gray eyes, tanned skin, curls of brown hair…Those, coupled with the voice, made his mind click. "Kate?"

"Yes! Hurry! Who am I?"

Jamie cast a quick glance around him. Who knows how his mother would react if she saw him and Kate talking about this? Luckily, she was nowhere to be found, so he quickly whispered, "I-I think you're Mother Goose, but I'm not sure."

Kate's gray eyes closed shut, and Jamie heard her give a soft "Yesssss…"

"Kate! Come along now!"

Kate quickly ducked away without a goodbye. Jamie watched the top of her head as she met Dr. Thaddeus at the door of the store. Jamie would be seeing him later this week…hopefully. Dr. Thaddeus held the door open for his adoptive daughter.

Jamie is so busy staring at them that he doesn't notice his mother approaching until she asks, "Was that Kate?"

Jamie jumps at her voice. He nods and bends down to pick up the pretzels he had dropped a moment before. "Yeah."

"Oh. What were you talking about?"

And there's the million-dollar question. She knows what they were talking about, and she's upset about it. Because even a thirty-second conversation about it was such a crime. Jamie understands sometimes. It's not alright for him to run off with strangers because of a "fantasy"—given, it wasn't a fantasy to him, but he knew it was to her, and convincing her otherwise was futile. But he didn't understand everything else.

Jamie blatantly lied through his teeth as he said, "School. We were talking about school."

Miranda nodded all too casually. She knows the truth, but she won't risk coming off as paranoid. Always in control.

"So anyway," Jamie said as they approached the register. "When are they going to do the trial?"

Miranda's eyebrows furrowed at him. "Trial?"

"The one you talked to your friend about? Yesterday?"

In the middle of placing her items on the counter, Miranda froze, her hand still resting on a jar of jam. She stared at him in what was clear bewilderment, with something else lying underneath. She blinked slowly, her eyebrows only furrowing more.

Jamie's eyebrows furrowed, too. "The thing with Tooth? And Rhys? I-It's been going on for—"

One more look at Miranda's ever-confused face, and everything clicked.

Jamie's stomach sunk instantly. He stared up at his mother, waiting, hoping that she was just playing with him, or that she would say "Oh! That!" But she didn't. She stayed silent.

"You…You really don't remember?"

Miranda took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She leaned on the counter, her eyes no longer staring at him in confusion, but boring into him in an almost glowering manner.

"We agreed that we weren't going to talk about this anymore."

Jamie's nose wrinkled in bewilderment. What? Just a second ago, she was acting like the incident with Tooth never happened, and now, she was acting like they had "agreed not to talk about it anymore." What on earth—?!

It hit him.

She wasn't talking about the event with Tooth, because she didn't remember.

She was talking about his "fantasy."

Jamie couldn't pinpoint the exact emotion that he was feeling at that moment. Fear, anger, confusion, sadness…She honestly didn't remember what had happened. Everything that had happened with Tooth had just never happened to her. Not only that, but despite him being obviously confused and scared, did she comfort him? Did she ask him about what happened? No. She's automatically assuming that it was an act of disobedience.

Jamie pressed his lips together and said, slowly, with bitterness in every syllable, "I'm going to wait in the car."

For a split second when he turned, he saw his mother's expression shift from anger to confusion, possibly concern, as if she actually realized that her son was truly upset about something. He didn't care, though.

Honestly, he had way too much on his plate to care about his mother's attitude now.

"I saw you."

Katherine turned to Dr. Thaddeus expectantly. His eyes remained on the road as he explained, "I saw you talking to Jamie."

Katherine pouted and absentmindedly thumbed through the pages of the journal in her lap. "Phooey."

Dr. Thaddeus chuckled lightly. "You're not going to get past this eagle eye yet." The mirth in his face disappeared into a more serious expression. "Perhaps it's best if you don't talk to Jamie for a bit."

"Why not?"

"His mother is a bit…disagreeable with him at the moment. They should have it worked out in no time at all."

Katherine puffed her cheeks like a chipmunk and slowly blew the air from her lips. After a moment, she murmured, "I don't like Miss Bennett."

"Why not?" Dr. Thaddeus didn't sound shocked or scolding, instead purely interested.

"She's not really nice. Sometime, when she comes to pick up Jamie from school, and we'll be talking to him and she looks at us kind of creepy."

Dr. Thaddeus pursed his lips. He wasn't one for judging parents for their method of raising their children—unless they were clearly in the wrong—but he knew that there was one thing that Miranda lacked when it came to Jamie: faith. She wanted so much control over Jamie that she lacked faith in her son. She didn't trust him to talk to someone for more than sixty seconds before he started talking about his tall tales.

"I don't get it," said Kate. "All he's doing is telling stories. He's not hurting anyone, right? He's not crazy?"

"Of course not. But Miranda is nothing if not stubborn. I trust that she'll come around eventually. Now, look—there's Nile."

Kate sat straight as the car pulled into the driveway. Nile Lux was sitting in Katherine's front yard waiting contentedly in the grass. Nile was a small, thin boy with pale skin, pale hair, and pale eyes—he practically glowed in the sunlight. Nile and Kate were almost inseparable. Every day after ten o'clock, Nile would appear to spend the day with Kate until evening, when he would finally walk home.

Dr. Thaddeus sighed as Kate threw open the car door and took off running for him. She held out her mitten-covered hands to him, helping him to his feet.

With one arm tucked under the bag of groceries, Dr. Thaddeus called, "You know where the key is, boy! Don't freeze yourself out here!"

Nile only nodded. Although not mute like Sanderson, Nile often spoke very little.

"Can we go?" called Kate.

As he unlocked the door, Dr. Thaddeus leaned back to reply, "Keep your phone handy and keep me updated!"

"Bye~!"

Kate took hold of Nile's hand, and the two took off for the town. Kate and her adoptive father's home was only a five-minute walk from the small town of Burgess, resting just past a street corner. They were free to roam the town as they pleased, just as long as A) They always called Dr. Thaddeus to tell him where they were, and B) They never went farther south than the Town Hall or farther north than the Atherton Bridge. Maybe it was a bit of a loose hold on parenting—Miranda certainly thought so and told Dr. Thaddeus several times. But at the same time, no one in town could deny that Dr. Thaddeus always seemed to know what he was doing.

Nile trotted forward to stand side-by-side with Kate rather than be pulled behind her. He tilted his head to the side and although he said nothing, Kate knew what he was saying.

"I want to find out more about Jamie's idea," said Katherine. "And we can't talk to him about it, so we'll just have to ask around."

Aster grunted as he set another wooden crate down. It was time for another delivery to The Clover, a special gift from his greenhouse at the farm. Aster had a natural green thumb, so he didn't need to worry too much about his crops and flowers dying away, but he knew that there were only so many things you could grow in a winter as cold as this. Patrick Klaver knew this too, which was why business between them got a bit complicated in winter.

Klaver nodded to him in thanks, thumbing through his bills until he managed to get the right amount. Aster stuffed the bills into his back pocket and starting towards his pickup. The cold bit at his nose and ears, but he honestly didn't care much for hats or stuffy layers or the like—just got in the way.

He went to the passenger's side first, opening the door to rearrange a basket of radishes in the seat. He closed it shut, and when he turned around, he jumped backwards, almost slipping on the ice.

"CRIKEY!"

Kate and Nile only glanced at each other as Aster took a deep breath of air. He stood straight, narrowing his bright green eyes at the two children. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," Kate murmured sheepishly.

Aster paused, his eyes turning from annoyance to curiosity. He brushed off a sheet of frost from the windows as he asked, "Kate n' Nile, right? Thaddeus's kids?"

Kate shook her head. Her brown curls bounced at the movement. "I am. Nile's just my friend."

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"We want to ask you about Jamie's stories."

Aster froze then, his hand still on the glass. When his eyes narrowed at the children, it showed simple interest, not a warning. He crossed his muscular arms over his chest, leaning against the car door as he asked, "Why?"

"Because his mom won't let us talk to him right now. We're curious."

Aster was clearly contemplating. This may upset Miranda, but at the same time, Miranda got upset over many things. Plus, she was nowhere around right now, and the kids were clearly just interested, not looking for a way to make fun of Jamie Bennett.

"What do you want to know?"

"Who were you?"

"The Easter Bunny." He sounded almost annoyed as he said this, as if he were disappointed that his "past self" was an animal that left eggs and candy for children and not something…cooler.

"And? What did you do?"

"What does the Easter Bunny do?"

Kate and Nile shared a glance before Kate slowly guessed, "He…leaves eggs for children to find?"

"Yep."

"Is that it?"

"I was a master of tai chi, used explosive eggs n' boomerangs as weapons, n' I was the 'Guardian of Hope.' Look, not that I'm mad or anything, but why the sudden interest, again?"

"I already told you. We're curious."

"Is that it?"

"We're children. Curiosity runs through our blood."

Aster paused a moment more, but eventually raised his brows and mused, "Fair enough. You two should go inside. It's way too cold out here."

"Where are you going next?"

"The Santoff Claussen. Why?"

"Can we go with you?"

Aster ran a cold, wet hand down his face with a low groan. "Please don't tell me that you're going on an investigation about this story."

Kate and Nile turned to each other. In unison, they turned back to Aster and shrugged, batting their eyelashes and smiling sheepishly.

"Of course." Aster stepped forward and leaned down to the children's level. With his hands on his knees, he said, lowly, "Listen, and listen good alright?"

Kate and Nile leaned forward expectantly.

"If anyone asks, I had nothing to do with this, alright? I didn't tell you anything."

Kate nodded in understanding. "If Miss Bennett asks, you had nothing to do with this."

"If anyone asks."

Kate's big gray eyes went left, then right, then back to Aster. "Miss Bennett."

Aster's glower didn't cease at all as he jabbed a thumb behind him. "Get in."

FLASHBACK

The children had nowhere to run.

All sides were surrounded by shadows, pressing in on them almost teasingly. Every now and then, a limb would stretch out and try to scratch at them, eliciting a squeal that the shadows would only laugh mutely at. They were hardly even shadows, now that Katherine thought about it. They actually did have three-dimensional forms of matter, smoky and thick.

The Bear and the Spirit of the Forest were nowhere to be found. Even the sunlight had vanished. In the least, the limbs of the trees were trying to help. Thick arms of wood swayed and swung to ward off the shadows, to no avail. They were hardly managing to swat them.

Their only line of defense was the lantern. The shadows seemed only annoyed with the light, as if it were causing them discomfort.

Katherine couldn't think straight. Fear was pounding through her body. The children were screaming so close to her that their voices rang in her ears. Meanwhile, her eyes darted to and fro, trying to find a savior in the inky darkness surrounding them.

Just a moment later, a stream of silvery light shot down from above. It struck in the midst of the shadows, obliterating them as they howled in fury. The shadows scrambled in blind panic, all while more streams of light shot down. The children's fear was replaced with curious awe.

When it was all done, moonlight finally peeked through the canopy above. The light intensified, and Katherine shielded her eyes when something too bright to see appeared before them.

The light went soft, almost comforting, and Katherine peeked through her fingers at her savior.

List of mythological beings already listed:

Baby New Year

The Bogeyman

Cupid

Easter Bunny

Fae (Faries)

The Fates

Father Time

The Groundhog

Jack Frost

The Leprechaun

Mother Goose

Mother Nature

Oberon

Puck

Sandman

Santa Claus

Stingy Jack/The Pumpkin King/The Great Pumpkin

Tooth Fairy

Titania

Wild Hunt

If you would like to expand the list, please do so.