Undergrowth by Chel Hylott

Author:Chel Hylott [Lim, Chel Hylott, Chelsea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBT, Hurt/comfort, children, immortal, demons, apocalyptic, lesbian
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2019-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

AFTER THEY’VE ALL come and gone, Camila sits beside her and takes out the book that she’d found in that house all those weeks ago. Its faded blue cover is a little worse for wear, now, spotted with damp and going slightly green at one corner, but the pages inside are dry and smooth. Camila runs her fingers reverently over the spine before speaking.

“Do you mind if I read a little bit to you?”

“Go ahead.” Mariam glances at the cover and starts a bit. Well, she hasn’t seen that in a while. “Interesting pick,” she says.

“I always loved A Little Princess. Have you ever read it?”

“Hello? The girl without a mom and an absentee dad? Only about a million times.”

Camila laughs. She opens the pages and gets a few words in when Hana stirs from her nap and sits up, popping her thumb out of her mouth. She catches sight of the book and grins.

“I wanna hear!” she demands, crawling towards them and situating herself on Camila’s lap. “Start again!” Hana ponders a moment, then adds a sheepish “please.”

Camila’s lips twitch in what Mariam can only guess is amusement. She’s about halfway through the first page when Carlos wanders in, grass clinging to his clothes and bandages. “I’m bored. What are you doing?”

Camila sighs. “I’m trying to read.”

“You have a book? Is it the one about dinosaurs?”

“That one was left when—” Camila pauses. “—we left it in our old camp, the one before we met Mariam. This one is A Little Princess.”

Carlos scrunches up his nose.

“Is there kissing?”

“No. It’s about a girl your age, Carlos.” Camila smiles indulgently.

Carlos frowns and considers, then nods. “Oh. Okay then. Can I listen?”

“Of course.”

Camila has almost gotten to the second chapter when Luci comes in, her arms full of firewood.

“Whatcha reading?” She asks around the bundle, peering curiously down at their gathering.

Camila gives a tight smile and puts the book down in her lap.

“A Little Princess.”

“Oh. What’s it about?”

Mariam interrupts then, mock horror adorning her features. “You’ve never read A Little Princess?”

“Uh, no?” Luci raises an eyebrow at Mariam and Mariam throws her good hand into the air.

“This is a travesty. Luci, sit down. Camila, start again.”

“I’m not starting again,” Camila states flatly.

Mariam gives a cough and sticks her lower lip out in a pout. She even flutters her eyelashes for maximum effect. “But I’m sick. I’m sick, Camila.”

Camila looks incredulous. “Don’t you dare pull that on me, Mariam.”

Mariam coughs again, causing her right arm to twitch violently. It gives a little squish as it flops back down to the ground.

“Fine, all right, just stop doing that!” Camila’s mouth is twisted in annoyance and a hint of horror at the sight of Mariam’s right arm. She snaps open the book again and flips to the first page as the others huddle around. Carlos leans against Camila’s arm to get a good look at the pictures, and even though Luci sits next to Mariam with an air of affected disinterest, pretty soon she’s as riveted as everyone else.

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