Page 21 of How to Woo the Undead

What she did know was a picnic was a meal one had on a giant blanket with family or friends. And it was fun. Agatha brought out her knitting needles and Hyacinth watched her with fascination as she turned a ball of yarn into a long rectangle. It was mesmerizing to listen to Sebastian read a book while Dahlia dished out food. Hyacinth was finally on ‘soft foods’, which allowed her a handful of things that smelled wonderful and made her mouth happy to chew. But she also had to drink an entire bowl of broth.I’m really getting sick of broth. I crave chewing…for some reason.

The stars overhead sparkled and the moon was massive in the sky. Hyacinth kept losing interest in the story and wandered thesky with her eyes. A flash of light elicited a tiny gasp and she jumped. Hyacinth followed it across the inky black with awe.

“That’s a shooting star, make a wish,” Austin whispered in her ear.

Blink, blink.She peeked up at him.Why do stars, when they shoot across the sky, make wishes come true?But there was something on his face that made her want to try.“How do I make a wish?”

He moved closer to her face, whispering near her ear, “Close your eyes and think what you want really hard, but don’t say it out loud.”

“How will the star hear me if I don’t say it out loud?” Hyacinth whispered back.

Austin opened his mouth, then clamped it shut, then opened it again. “Actually, that’s a really good question.”

Hyacinth didn’t mean to laugh. It just sputtered out of her. Her lips curled up involuntarily and the tinkling sound bubbled out of her chest. Austin’s eyes lit up in the night like stars. Yellowy-red stars, but glittering nonetheless.Why…why am I laughing?Her shoulders trembled and giggles poured out of her softly as she glanced back up to the sky. The shooting star was gone.

“I missed my chance.”

“Well…what would you have wished for?” Austin asked, shifting to catch her gaze. She gave it to him freely, the smile still high on her face.

“Oh,” she exhaled, the giggles finally dying off. “I don’t know actually. What would you wish for?”

Austin’s eyebrows shot up on his face. “Maybe wings?”

“Ah!” She raised a finger. “I’d wish to be as tall as you.”

“Preposterous!” Sebastian butted into their conversation, bringing both the undead’s attention to their maker. He raised a gloved finger, waggling it in the air. “No, you don’t have a system set up to be taller. Your proportions wouldn’t sustain any more added length to your torso or legs. You’d likely snap like a twig at the smallest blunt force if I added more than an inch to either of your femurs.”

“See, what’d I say,” Austin murmured in her ear.

Hyacinth snorted suddenly. It made her eyes widen and hands fly to her mouth. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed on them suspiciously. Hyacinth tried to sober the laughter, but she only sputtered more as she replayed Austin’s earlier comment. Then her face was far too warm, and she was far too itchy in her skin when she replayed his other comment.You’re perfect.

It struck her hard. Like a slap to the face, but why did that also unleash a thousand butterflies into the cavity of her chest?

“What are you two cavorting about over there?” Smith teased, arms crossed over his chest.

“That’s not a real word,” Austin accused.

Smith guffawed, “Yes it is! Look it up!”

“Uh-huh, likely story.” Austin scowled at the slender across from them on the blanket. Hyacinth beamed, eyes darting between person to person as Austin lobbed a chunk of bread at the suit wearing, faceless man. A maw of shark’s teeth opened up and swallowed it down.

“It is a word,” Greggory spoke after a hard swallow of his chicken salad sandwich. The little blue man with massive eyes flashed Hyacinth a knowing smile before dabbing his mouth with his napkin.

“Ah HA!” Smith roared, jabbing a finger at Greggory.

“Et tu, Greggorus,” Austin huffed, climbing to his feet.

“Where are you going?” Hyacinth clumsily climbed to her tangled feet. He waited and picked up one of the apples out of the picnic basket. Austin rubbed it against his shirt before splitting it in half with his thumbs. The juice of the apple oozed down his hands, and she couldn’t help following the trail of sweet juice. She wasn’t allowed to eat the apples raw just yet.Too firm with too much fiber.While she had roasted apples in a bowl, which was sweet and delightfully spiced…there was a desire deep in her soul to bite into the apple. To shove her teeth down into its flesh and feel the crunch with her mouth.

“To go look it up, aren’t you, big guy?” Smith teased. Austin stuck his tongue out between his tusks.

“I’m going to go feed the opossum by the fence. She just gave birth to her pups, and she hasn’t had a snack recently.” He nodded at the fence past her, beyond the darkened garden. Hyacinth furrowed her eyebrows. Even she couldn’t see them, though the more she stared, the clearer the shifting critter became in the moonlight.

Wait. Feed an opossum? Feed an opossum!

“Oh! Oh! I want to feed an opossum!” She scrambled, grabbing one of the apples. It weighed nothing in her hands, and she tried to press her thumbs into its flesh much like Austin. After a moment of grunting and struggling, all she managed were crescent moon shaped nail marks in the flesh. Hyacinth pouted as she offered the apple to Austin. He chuckled, trading her the already split apple.

Unfortunately, she immediately went to bite into it.