“You’ve made such a mess, Snarl,” the old woman sighed at the tiny creature. She left to the market for just under an hour, and came back to a home that was ravaged by something that had a mix of the energy of a child and a dog.
The curtains were ripped. Table cloth on the floor, alongside everything that was above it. A broken vase. A couple of broken ceramic jars that used to hold cookies, not so many of those, judging by the looks of it. And the culprit was lying lazily in a sugar coma, belly bloated with what can only be delight and future regrets.
“What am I going to do with you?” she picked the food comatosed green fella in her hand, the round creature swayed in the cupped palm. It looked at her with a look that regretted nothing, and she can do whatever she wants, now. So she did.
She pressed the bloated tummy and the long eared creature struggled poorly against the attempt, a series of belly rubs broke it into serene acceptance.
“Do you realize how long this will take to clean up?” she huffed, looking at the mess again. At least two hours to get everything clean and the broken stuff sweeped. She needed to make dinner, as well.
“I suppose I’ll get some porridge on the fire,” she said as she placed the creature on the table. She tossed a couple of pieces of firewood and some tinder into the embers, and the flame began roaring back to life.
She placed some wheat flour, milk, honey, and butter into a large pot, and let it hang over the flames. It was a low effort meal that would allow her to clean the place as it cooked on its own. She turned and saw Snarl was watching her with perked ears.
“Bad, bad snarl!” she pushed her finger gently on its nose, and it did not protest. It stared with large emerald eyes at her, slowly blinking. “Oh, I never told you my name, did I? I am Rose. Rose.”
Stolen novel; please report.
She smiled as the creature's head leaned to the side. It would be less amusing if she wasn’t sure it understood what she was saying, in some way. Like a dog, in a way. “People call me granny, though. Or Nana. Can you say Nana?”
Snarl kept watching her with that puzzled look. At least he was better than yesterday, she would have to try and change the bandage later. She wasn’t looking forward to that, especially with it energized by copious amounts of sugar.
Rose picked the broom and began cleaning up the mess. She got rid of the sharp fragments first, the pulverized cookies and their crumbles followed, then she arranged whatever she could salvage back into their proper place.
Her heart was racing by the time she was done.
“Okay, little guy, it's time to go back into the box,” she picked Snarl. “Until I can figure out how to place you somewhere you can’t escape, or prevent you from causing more of these messes.”
It tilted its head, producing a strange chirpy noise, ears perking again.
Oh, the food.
Rose rushed to save the porridge before it began to burn. She Placed the pot on the counter and grabbed a ladle before opening the lid. Good, it wasn’t charred at the bottom either. A little bit on the thicker side, but she did not mind that.
She filled a bowl with a couple of scoops and grabbed her good spoon before sitting on the table to eat her meal.
Or she tried as Snarl began chirping insistently at her.
“You are going to blow up if you have any more food,” she mused. It did not make the creature stop, though. “Fine. Fine.”
She looked around, finding her toy tea set from her childhood. They had some tiny bowls that would suit the tiny body of the annoying creature. She picked one and placed a tiny amount of porridge in it, before handing it to the annoying, green menace.
It began licking the porridge before flinching from how hot it still was.
“Serves you right,” she smiled, “shoulda left you to that owl, ya know?”
The creature chirped before trying to eat again. Nana and Snarl had their first meal on the table together, and it was not a quiet one.