of Briar Hollow
Pot
He does not waste a look. When the hollow starts losing what it loves, he packs a knife, a little food, water, a tent, and the ordinary tools of staying alive. Then he makes the beds. He means to come home.
Ten parts
Pot & Icee
The lost village of Wrenmere. Then the four days after the lamp, when evil came home inside the story.
They put the water back and the house believed them. That was supposed to be the end. The next four days test the bond harder than the ridge did: a copied dog, a borrowed life, and a town that agrees with the dark.
The parts
The bond
the whole of a life
Icee
Black as a closed door, one white sock, a chain that rings when he turns. He has been with Pot for the whole of Pot's life. He leads without being asked, eats first, and stands between his person and the dark without barking.
They came home. The lamp took. Then something that had pocketed their truths tried the door, the dog, and the life Pot had wanted. Four days. Icee is not a toll.