The Lucky Penny

[Unseelie]

They always stank. They were bigger or smaller, but they always stank. Mourning lurked just beyond the curve of the shell, since the one was loud. They lumbered around, banging and stinking and heaving and breathing, and she ducked behind covers, put things between her and them. One after another, they came on, reeking slightly different each time, and sometimes tried to be bigger than Sydney.

Sydney was bigger than Mourning. Sydney was, usually, bigger than them. They'd try to be bigger than Sydney, these loud, large, stinky beasts, who lurked back in the deep, damp end of the shell so much less than she or mourning. Mourning didn't stink, just like Sydney. Eventually, they'd try to be bigger than Sydney, and they'd be very loud, just like the first one, and then there'd be a new one. For a while, Mourning wouldn't have to hide around the curve of the shell.

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