I have been writing a weekly YA dark fairytale romance serial on Kindle Vella. Timbre's Tapestry Unsurprisingly, it features themes of trauma processing. The Kindle Vella platform allows the first three chapters to be read for free and charges “coins,” which cost regular money for the subsequent chapters based on word count.

Chapters one and two

Chapter one, “Morning Chores,” opens with the female protagonist, Timbre, gathering wood for her family’s morning use on the edge of her hometown, Downey Ridge. We are given a frightened look down the road out of town through Timber’s eyes before she heads back through town when we are introduced to Ma Spinner—her ill-tempered guardian.

Chapter two, “The Dazzling Dungeon,” opens with a glimpse of the town in which Timbre and The Dazzling Dungeon reside, Downey Ridge. The Dazzling Dungeon may sell amulets and potions, but their wool trade with Belfry Heights, the Capital of Langrisha’a, is their real business. The spinners' wool comes from what is rumored to be Langrisha’a’s only flock of emerald sheep. The wool is a gorgeous green, whisper-soft, and unbeatably durable.

We stroll with her on her morning outing before returning to The Dungeon. Timbre grabs a bit of breakfast with some of her pittance of a paycheck from Frito, one of the young men in town who runs a food stall. He is one of the only people Timbre interacts with regularly in town. Her job at the fine goods shop The Dazzling Dungeon, spinning and weaving the wool that makes them famous and keeps them in business, keeps her very busy. He tries to be friendly but has little time to talk to her.

Hidey Holes

These town-based or household fey are invisible to the eye. If one had the fair sight, one could see these tricky little fellows looked like chubby, round, bouncing bears carried by wings like those on a bumble bee. These little goobers look like something a senile grandmother might make into a stuffed toy for their little rolling grandbaby.

These mischievous tricksters see something small enough to hide lying out in the open, like a coin or a bodkin, and they swoop in. Their invisible body hides it as they watch your stumbling search around; taking the opportunity, they drag their quarry beneath them to abscond with the item. Sometimes, if you hear the clink and rolling of a trinket long left behind, that’s a hidey hole stealing your treasures.

They are notably weak, especially compared to other fey of similar size and temperament. These little guys stay out of the way of the pixies and gremlins, as they would stand no chance in a fight against either. Since their maneuverability is terrible, neither would they would be likely to flee effectively once a tussle was initiated.

The antics of unsuspecting humans crawling about in compromising positions frantically searching is a sight no hidey hole can resist a good laugh over. Before bursting into uproarious laughter, sometimes they must ditch their prize and dash out the door or window they came in. Hoping the human doesn’t stumble across the item in the interim. Of course, they many times do, totally flummoxed as to how they could have missed their button, sitting on the counter, right in front of their face.

So humans tie coins, buttons, or other trinkets of low value to strings and hang them from the door posts and window shades to stop hidey holes from getting in and plaguing them on the day-to-day. If humans only knew all they had to do to retrieve the lost bit or bob was act out a joke or two, slapstick is their favorite shtick. Indeed, a comedy routine would drive off these tricky fiends quicker than any ward or prayer. So next time you search around on hands and knees, make a silly face or say a dilly pun!

Chapters Three and Four

Chapter three, “Tending Sheep,” opens on Timbre in the basement work area below The Dazzling Dungeon, weaving and enjoying the company of the sheep. She

Chapter four, “Downey Ridge,” opens on a new day with our protagonist, Timbre, gathering wood again; only this time, she notices ripe hazelnuts and the Green Man approaching town. These signs announce the start of hazelnut season. It is a celebratory and busy time for the inhabitants of Downey Ridge each year. Excited Timbre runs through town, encountering and informing people of the arrival of the Green Man and the hazelnut harvest, including Tom, the miller.

Downey Ridge is a small farming and shepherding community. Their sheep produce wool and milk, allowing them to make cheese and the like. What the town itself has been known for since long before The Dazzling Dungeon was ever established is a fine-quality hazelnut grove—giving the sweetest, creamiest hazelnuts in Langrisha’a.

Downey Ridge works together every year to bring in their hazelnut harvest. They all get a piece of the profits, working their share of the hazelnuts into what goods they may specialize in. Then, the whole town Erupts in a huge celebration, the Hazel festival, exactly two weeks after the harvest begins. Few have a short word for this local fall festival, even those who have to put in the work. It brings many from the surrounding towns, farms, and wood into Downey Ridge for the yearly party.

These Farm-based Fairies look like four-limbed grasshoppers. The average members of the colonies are wingless, but their queen has wings. She uses these to scout out raiding sites, and in case their colony is discovered, she flies off to scout out a new colony location. Her crown being passed, not hereditarily, but magically. The new queen is chosen and sprouts wings after a funeral feast, including the magically sprouted pumpkin vine the entire colony partakes of.

From the farmer’s perspective, this tiny nuisance uses pumpkins and other gourd as housing and food. They hollow out and use magic on the shells to prolong their lifespan without going soft and rotten. The flesh and seeds are eaten, with the seeds being dried and saved for the months that gourds are out of season. While the fiber is washed, dried, and used to make armor-like clothing.

Farmers assume the pumpkin carvers are purposely smashing their pumpkins when, in reality, they occasionally lose one while trying to procure a replacement home or shore up their food stores. Pumpkin carvers are, in fact, one of the more benign fey but are hunted and treated as vermin just the same. Occasionally, an enterprising farmer will catch one, hoping to see if they have any power he can harness for himself. They likewise have little magic, and what they have would never be used in behalf of a human garden.

Chapters five and six

Chapter five, “The Hazel Harvest,” opens at the end of Timbre’s race through town, alerting everyone to the opening of Hazelnut season. Everyone was excited about her joyous news except Ma Spinner, who was unreasonably enraged by the news.

Timber’s loss of decorum and paltry wood store for the day set her off in a fit of anger. The perceived lack of dedication to her work over the last couple of days gets her punished by having the entirety of the spinners’ harvest workload foisted off onto her shoulders.There is no small task when it comes to the hazel harvest either. Frito was chosen as a guard for the first time this season, a job that requires a group of strong young men to stand watch round the clock in shifts, chasing away any animals or fey attempting to steal the nuts or any people who don’t live in the village for that matter.

Since she was representing her family solo, Timbre goes to the grove every morning and evening. This, on top of her regular duties, leads Ma to provide Timbre with Morning Glory Potions, something she tends to sell a lot of this time of year but not usually something parents give to their children.

We are also given a slightly closer look at the difference in the dynamic of Timbre’s family, the Spinners vs. Frito’s family, the Fentons.

Chapter six, “The Hazel Festivel,” opens with Frito confronting Timbre about her predicament. However, she was having none of it and turned the conversation back on Frito before extricating herself and evading him for the rest of the harvest. Not without Frito taking matters into his own hands. Making plans and not taking no for an answer again.

The scene is set, and the town of Downey Ridge is ready for a beautiful harvest festival. The townsfolk all come together not only to make the wares being sold but to decorate the entire town for their biggest festival, which attracts people from neighboring villages, and the Tapestry forest that connects and surrounds the towns and villages.

It’s also revealed that a plan was struck to give Timbre a day off. She was barred from attending the festivities, but Frito couldn’t let that happen. He, his brother Misto, and his sister Marina uncover the basement window and help Timbre shimmy out so she can have a little fun. It takes a bit for the anxiety to drain down, especially since she doesn’t want just to end up beholden to another person, but she does have fun for a while.

Little did they know Ma and Pa Spinner heard them escaping and were none too pleased. Ma took it as a personal slight. In a rage, she haphazardly grabbed the most potent storm stone(it was right next to the dinky little drizzler) and took out her displeasure on the entire festival.

Tangle Screaps

Small green-blue men, the color of the foamy tide, often with what looks to be white bubble pop patterns on their upper shoulders and faces. A tangled, wild mass of “hair” that looks like a drifting pile of seaweed or mangled debris and webbed hands and feet.

Humans refer to them as “men” due to their humanoid build, but they have neither gender nor sex. These creatures seem to be hermaphroditic and are not seeking out partners of the opposite sex but possibly seeking out partners or family groups that occupy a better territory or have more apparent survival qualities.

These wild little amphibious saltwater creatures hunt fish and seabirds alike. Living in small family clans, or leading solitary lives, hunting alone. When their creepy rubbery flesh covered in a thick layer of slime grazes a swimmer, the sick sinking feeling is usually enough to cause a panic in the waters should they be crowded. That is the preferable situation. If the swimmer is alone, that could spell death.

These little creeps have been known to crawl on a swimmer’s head, blinding their vision with their pile of tangled hair, choking them with splashing water, and the foul odor of their permeable mucus. If they can immobilize such a large trophy, they simply wait for it to drown and feast with their family under the dark, hazy waters.

Though they don’t like going far in fear of being trapped away from their hydrating home, tangle screaps can venture onto land in search of more exotic food, land resources, and anything else they might desire. Most of what tangle screaps make, wear, eat, etc… come from the ocean, but it’s quite the badge of honor and status for one to wear land animal hide or carry a forged metal item. Their size makes that somewhat difficult to achieve, but many a dagger or kitchen knife has gone astray in a seaside community only to wash up rusted on the shore years later.

Chapters seven and eight

Chapter seven, “The Maddening Storm,” opens with Timbre, Frito, and his younger siblings Marina and Misto having a stroll through the Hazel festival. All of them chat about what they will do with their day. They’re all headed to the Hazel grovel to work out what they can do to help Timbre in the future, but Timbre is sure Frito means to propose, so she’s making a point of lollygagging with the youngsters.

Timbre is right, of course, and Frito starts getting frustrated as the storm sweeps over Downey Ridge. Frito, Marina, and Misto all end up in a heap just inside the hazel tree grove, where they huddle and wait out the storm. To Frito’s shock and dismay, Timbre is nowhere to be seen.

The town at large devolves into a similar state of disarray. People diving for what cover they can, families getting separated, stalls overturning, windows broken by flying debris. It was the biggest disaster in recent memory, and no one seemed to notice Timbre was missing in the confusion.

No one except the Spinners, who sat in an undisturbed home angrily waiting for her to return, and Frito, who ran around town searching for her.

Chapter eight, “The Loggers Road,” opens with Timber being tossed clear of the town lines onto the Logger’s road. She had never gone to this place and felt a great sense of foreboding terror connected to it. So she gets up, disoriented, and takes off running away from town.

Finally, after hours of running with brief rests, she runs unthinkingly into a man on a horse, startling and rolling off the side of the trail down a wooded hill.William, the newly introduced woodsman, is terrified he may have just killed a stranger and leaps off his horse to retrieve what he hopes will be a living person. When he reaches the bottom of the hill, Timbre rolls down, and she is thankfully alive. William realizes he’s much closer to home than to Downey Ridge and the Hazel Festival he had been trying to get to.

Timbre wakes in a panic, head, and body in pain from the tumble she took in a strange place. Her outburst of fear at these realizations startles William again, but he does his best to reassure her that she can rest all she needs. Despite the seeming tranquility and kindness she finds there with William, Timbre is filled with an overwhelming sense of dread she can’t quite understand or place. So all she could do, for the most part, was cry and sleep that first day.

Dandiflyers

With the very first summer breeze, those spring dandelions, already fully bloomed and developed into blowballs that get blown away to the last achene sprout a Dandiflyer. These minuscule fey have both floral and insectoid characteristics. Their appearance is that of a dandelion seed with wings and appendages of floating fluff with a rather fuzzy-looking head. They float and fly about on their soft chenille wings until the first leaves of autumn start to fall.

These tiny little wisps of fluff are agents of luck. They are born and die of it, spreading it around on their wandering journey. If one happens to get tangled up in your hair, or you capture and release it, they bestow a bit of their drifting good luck on you. If you don’t release it or even accidentally smash it, you will be cursed with bad luck until the inception of fall.

These little harbingers of brighter days feed on accidents waiting to happen and moments of seeming impossibility. The more instants they’ve fed on, the bigger dose of luck they can pass on should they be discharged on a human. The inhabitants of Langrisha’a go out on the first day of spring into their farms and fields hoping to be touched by one, though they have such a small amount of luck when firstborn; a little luck is better than none. The smart folks go out the last couple of weeks, searching fields and hills to get a much more powerful boost, even if it will last a much shorter period.

Chapters nine and ten

Chapter nine, “Belfry Heights,” opens with Frito, unable to summon the same enthusiasm for his work with Timbre missing. A conversation with his father reveals that his parents have noticed more than he imagined. His friendship with Timbre, her difficult life, and the fact Frito has been unhappy since she left.

Frito’s father gives him a talk about the ways of the world and encourages him to go seek her out if that makes him happy and lets him move forward. So Frito gathers his things up and leaves a letter for his mother before heading out on a wagon for the capital of Langrisha’a, Belfry Heights.

Unfortunately for Frito, Ma sent her goon Hiram to look for Timbre as well, and he jumped right on Frito’s tail going out of town, hoping he knew where Timbre was saving some time. Hiram brought his two usual lackeys along on the job. They usually made deliveries in the crowded cobblestone streets of the capital. Belfry Heights was filled with tall grey spires and angular architecture cramping the smokey quarters.

Hiram is well acquainted with the city, easily tracking Frito as he wanders around for hours, until finally coming across a tavern called The Albino Mink. He gets a bit of food from Candi, the pleasant enough barmaid, trying to decide if this would be a good place to ask for a job while his unknown followers watch and wait outside. Hiram had more to do than sit and watch a door all day, so Butch and Dan were stationed as lookouts. Butch immediately gets into a minor scuffle with a small group of gremlins on their way into The Albino Mink.

Chapter ten, “Starting Fresh,” opens with Timbre waking up on the third day, she’d slept that first night, then through another entire day and night. She is confused and overwhelmed; her mind is racing with disconnected memories. She is barely able to make it out of the bed and to the door of the strange room she’s in before collapsing on the floor sobbing.

William comes to the rescue, helping her get up and back onto the bed. After a bit of goofy hijinx landing them both back on the floor, Timbre and William have some deep conversation interspersed with a bit of fun.

Over the following days, which melt into weeks, Timbre slowly has to work through the realization that the Spinners aren’t her real family. Her life with them was no life at all, and her captors had been taking measures to keep her working and keep her from leaving. These aren’t easy truths to accept; how could the stories in the books she read be real, and what her parents told her be lies?

Timbre started identifying with the fairy girl in her book, who spins spider silk into beautiful cloth. Connecting to her past and memories for the first time since the foul magics Ma Spinner wove on her had finally worn off. Breaking down but leaning on Will, thankful for the support. They decide to start looking for information about the parents she doesn’t remember but knows now must exist.

Flake Fey

Tiny, spinning blue specks dance through the frosty air. Spreading icy branches that grow in a fractal-like pattern across the surface of anything they touch. Mixed in with snow, sleet, and freezing rain, even mist on an overly humid day dropped below freezing could have a few of these fey fellows floating around.

A leaf on a tree can become stiff with frost blowing off suddenly in the cold winter wind. The more frigid the mornings grow, the more concentrated their presence becomes. Allowing them to spread and multiply simply by signing their lacy signature. Then, when these frosty patches melt away with the sun's warmth, they float back into the clouds to play and dance until they fall down once again.

They have no bodies to speak of and are simply a collective spirit organism spread out amongst these infinitesimal specks. The closer they get to another of their brethren, or themselves in this case, the more excited they become, uniting and forming amazing patterns, causing the temperature of anything they touch to instantly drop and freeze. The moisture in the air assists in this, clinging to the item and creating shimmering ice crystals.

Humans and Fair Folk alike have come to appreciate the beauty they bring and have learned little tricks like holding a mug of ale out the window on a frosty day.

K.B. Silver