Slimantha walked along the red brick road. Samuel and Rose were with her. The sky was dark, and the moon was out. Slimantha glanced to the side, glanced at a red brick lamppost, as they walked past it. Such lampposts lined the road, providing some light. Slimantha’s shadow shifted as she passed by one lamppost after another. This was the town of Bleakfyre. Well, this was a road in the town of Bleakfyre.

Something approached, something obscured by the dark of night. Whatever the thing was, it was large. It hopped closer, hopped into the light of the nearest lamppost. Samuel took a step back in shock at the sight of it. Slimantha and Rose smiled at it.

“Good evening, Frogleton,” Slimantha said. Her voice was pleasant and chipper. Clearly, she was not taken aback by what had hopped in front of her.

“Yes, good evening, Frogleton,” Rose said. The tall plant woman flashed Frogleton a friendly smile.

Frogleton was not a man. Instead, he was a giant green frog. His black eyes went to Samuel, and then he ribbitted. He hopped a little closer to Samuel.

“G-Good evening, Frogleton,” Samuel said, a bead of sweat rolling down his right cheek. His face had turned a tad pale.

Frogleton ribbitted again and then turned to Slimantha and Rose. He ribbitted yet again.

“You are right. The weather is rather nice,” Slimantha said. Her brown eyes were on Frogleton the Wise Frog.

Frogleton gave a final ribbit, and Slimantha and Rose waved goodbye to him. The giant frog glanced at Samuel and then turned to leave. Frogleton began hopping away. One lamppost after another illuminated his green form as he grew more distant.

“Could you two actually understand him?” Samuel said. “It was just a bunch of ribbits to me.”

“Wait. You mean you couldn’t?” Slimantha said. “Anyway, let’s continue on to the apartments.”

***

Slimantha walked into the lobby, her black shoes tapping against the wooden floor. Samuel’s black shoes made tapping sounds against the floor as well. Rose’s bare feet were more quiet. Rose glanced at Samuel and fluttered her beautiful pink eyes. Samuel glanced away from the tall plant woman.

The group approached a wooden counter. They were in the lobby of Tabitha’s Apartments. Slimantha stepped up to the counter. A silver bell set upon the counter, but Slimantha did not ring it. She did not need to. The woman she sought already manned the counter.

Samuel and Rose stepped up beside Slimantha. The trio’s eyes all went to the woman behind the counter. The petite woman’s eyes were closed, and she stood perfectly still. Her black lacy dress contrasted her flawless porcelain skin, and not one strand of her beautiful long black hair was out of place. A pair of black shoes clad her feet. She gave the impression of flawlessness, but something about that flawlessness felt off, as if she was too flawless to be real. She was Tabitha the Doll, Bleakfyre’s doll.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Tabitha opened her red eyes. “Welcome to Tabitha’s Apartments,” she said. Her eyes went to Slimantha and Rose. “Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your outings.” There was no flaw in her voice. Her speech was perfect. Her eyes went to Samuel. “Would you like an apartment?”

Samuel blinked his blue eyes. “Yes,” he said. Something about Tabitha put him on edge. She seemed nice, but she felt off somehow, as if she was too flawless.

“What do you offer?” Tabitha’s red eyes were still on Samuel. She watched him and waited.

“What do I offer?” Samuel dug through his pockets. “You mean money, right? Here.” He placed a mess of dollar bills onto the wooden counter in front of Tabitha.

Tabitha looked down at the offered otherworldly money. “What is this?” she said. She picked up one of the dollar bills and examined it.

“This money is not any good here, is it?” Samuel sweatdropped.

“No,” Tabitha said. She put the dollar bill down. She watched as Samuel took his otherworldly money back. Her red eyes returned to Samuel’s face. “What do you offer?” It was the same question she asked before.

“He is a hero from another world!” Slimantha said. She leaned over the wooden counter, a big smile on her face. “Does that work?”

Tabitha glanced at Slimantha’s smiling face and then returned her red eyes to Samuel. “A hero from another world?” she said. “That works.”

Samuel nearly fell to the ground in shock. “Seriously, that is enough?” He gulped, his throat a bit dry.

“Yes,” Tabitha said. “The question was not about money. It was about what you offered. You are a hero from another world. That is what you offer Bleakfyre.” She pulled out a slip of white paper and a pencil. She began writing a script onto the slip. Her handwriting was so flawless that it did not really look like actual handwriting. “Your name please?”

“Samuel.” Samuel peered at the slip as she wrote on it. “You have ridiculously good handwriting. What’s your name?”

“Tabitha.” Tabitha did not look up. Her red eyes were still on the paper slip as she finished up the script. “Done.” She set the pencil down. Her red eyes went back to Samuel. “Here.” She handed the paper slip to Samuel.

“Thanks,” Samuel said, a look of confusion on his face. His blue eyes were on the paper slip Tabitha had handed him. “What is this?”

“Paper key,” Tabitha said. “Press it on the door to activate your apartment and get the actual key.” Her eyes were still on Samuel. “I started you with a basic apartment. Do you require assistance to find it?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Slimantha said. She leaned over the counter again. She looked up at Tabitha’s face and flashed a friendly smile. “I’ll make sure Mr. Hero finds his starter apartment.” She straightened up and looked at Samuel. She smiled again.

“Thanks for the offer, Ms. Tabitha, but I think we can handle this,” Samuel said. He smiled at Tabitha, who smiled back.

“So let’s get going then,” Slimantha said. She looked at Tabitha and smiled. “See you around.” She waved goodbye.