“Go wake your father up, and do it as loud as you can!” My wife whispers to my daughter.

She does this every morning to me, and every morning I pretend to be asleep and hear her set my own daughter on me.

I hear little footsteps running up to the bedroom door, the door cracking open a little, and uncoordinated feet doing their best at keeping quiet. I keep my eyes closed and pretend I am asleep.

I can feel her pull herself up on the bed, she’s definitely standing on it. She always does it on third bounce.

The first bounce.

The second bounce.

I peak out from my closed eyes to see her pump her arms.

The third bounce.

“IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP, MOM SAID SO!”. She shrieks as she leaps into the air.

My eyes snap open, arms ready at my side to catch this monster of mine. Salivan is now flying over top of my stomach, black long hair streaming behind her. Her arms moving in front of her, looking to soften her landing. The biggest smile ever, plastered over her face.

“MOM SAID SO!?” I shout back. She squeals knowing what’s going to happen next. I catch my daughter in mid air and suspend her. I move my legs up to protect my balls, as she tends to swing her legs around while being held up, and it only took me two times being swiftly kicked in the balls to teach me to protect myself, no matter how tired I am.

“NOOOOOO DADDY, SHE DID! MOM SAID TO WAKE YOU UP!”, she shrieks further.

“We will find out the truth after a good tickling I think.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” An ear piercing shriek decimates my ears. Maybe she will be a singer when she grows up. I have never in my life heard the pitch she routinely reaches.

Tickling the shrieks turn into a panting breath. In between breaths she eeps out, “Pl...ease...stop…goin’...to...pee”

That’s a lesson I only need to learn once. I roll off the bed and tuck her under my arm. Making my way to the kitchen, I use my best 'concerned Dad' voice, “Dear, did you know our daughter tried to jump on me while I was sleeping?”

My wife raises her hand to her mouth and gasps, “She did? Whatever would posses her to do such a foul thing to you?”

My daughter starts to violently wiggle under my arm, “Nooo mommy! She said to wake you up as loud as I wants! MOOOOOM, TELL HIM!”

Anna still feigning ignorance, “Did I say that!? I don’t remember? When was that Silly?”

“Just now! Don’t you remember?” her arms are flailing at this point.

“Oooooh, yes!” Anna hits her first into her open palm. “Just 5 minutes ago I said that!”

“SEEEEEEE DADDY! Let me go now!”

I smile, “Ahh, it was your Mom that said that.”

I twist her around and plant her feet on the ground.

Making eye contact with Silly and putting on my best serious face, “Remember though what I say about people telling you what to do though?”

“Haaaaa… I am responsible for my actions, no matter who tells me what to do…” She looks trying to avoid eye contact. It's clear she wants to go outside.

“That’s right.” I flash a smile. “Do you want to go outside?”

Silly nods her head.

“Ok, let's eat breakfast and then we can go outside for a bit.”

Silly runs off to the table by the fireplace.

Turning to my wife, “You know she’s getting larger… She keeps aiming for my stomach and groin. You trying to cripple me?”

“Cripple no, but anything to remind you of who the boss is.” Her devilish smile creeps into view, and she turns back to the porridge on the stove. “Grab some bowls and help me out, your growing daughter needs some food.”

---

“Time to leave the cottage dear.” I shout to Silly in the tree line.

She beelines to me and Anna. “LOOK MOM! LOOK DAD! IT SOOOOOOO GROOOOSSSSS” Her face is twisted in disgust with her hands clasped together in front of her.

“SALIVAN , I don’t know what you have but we do not want to see it!”.

I chuckle. Silly was always interested in bugs, and Anna HATED them. Silly though would always find the most disgusting things to be funny, and I think it helped that Anna would always overreact to such things.

Silly stop short of showing us, a little sad, “but mo~m, it’s so gross you need to see it”

I step in to break line of sight with my daughter and wife, “Why don’t you just show me! Let’s see what you got.”

She smiles and opens her hands up to show me a leopard beetle. It’s just a standard beetle with a tail.

“Oh gross!” and play up my disgust. “Why is it so gross?”

“Because it’s a beetle dad! Look at it. Isn’t it gross?”

“It really is! Lets leave it in the yard and see if it’s here next time we go to the cottage. Maybe next time we are here, we can make it a little gross house to live in.”

“Haha, yea, that would be gross.” She gently shoos the beetle off of her palm. I don’t quite get her fascination with these, but I am always perplexed on what she finds gross. The last couple weeks she’s been so focused on how gross it is to think that bugs have homes.

“Alright, hold you mom and my hand and let’s head back home.”

Anna leans down and wipes SIlly’s one hand with a handkerchief before grasping it, and I take the other. Eventually, I know I will be the one that will be carrying her into the city as it's a bit of a long walk to the city for a little one, but this was always the best way to start any journey, with my daughter’s bug covered hand in mine, and looking over to see my wife holding onto Silly's other hand.

Unfortunately that was the last journey we ever took together.

---

I slowly awake to the feeling of a cold stone floor and the weight pressing on the top of my head. I have felt this feeling a few times. I hate that spell so much. Sleep is just the worst spell, and it always feels like waking up from a hangover.

“Wakey Wakey Linden. It’s a bit unprofessional to be sleeping on the job.” The voice is coming directly above me. It was always Jinten standing over me when I get dragged here. A sharp kick hits me in the side of the ribs and rolls me over. His scruffy red beard and messy red top was always unnatural to me. He has a few new ‘claw’ marks on his face, but stories are that he enjoys his woman ‘rough and scared’.

“We have another job for you Lindey boy.” He waves over a skinny looking thug with a bag and throws it next to my head.

Jinten leans over me and picks up the bag. “We need you to get this over to Tunsten undetected. It’s that black powder that everyone is losing their minds over this.” he pinches a small amount and sprinkles it over my face.

I hold my breath and turn away from the snowfall, and give a sharp breath out to push the drugs away from my face.

“Keepin’ clean, that’s why I like you boy, I know you won’t be dipping your nose in my product.” He laughs to himself and his thugs watching from the shadows chuckle.

I prop myself up against the wall to support my back as I sit on the floor. My senses fully back from the spell. “I paid the debt of my father. I told you our business is done, why would you abduct me-” My eyes widen, they abducted me outside of the city with my wife and child. “WHERE IS ANNA AND SYLVIAN!”

Jinten crouches down infront of me. “See boys.” He looks around to his thugs. “This is what the issue we have with our business. I went to easy on this boy and he thinks he can shout in our place of business.” He locks eyes with me, and sucker punches me in the gut.

My vision instantly started darkening around the edges, and am unable to breath. Sharp pain emanating from my chest. It feels like when I broke a rib when I fell from the roof as a kid.

*GASP*

“See boys, when a customer or partner starts to get loud where we are conducting business, sometimes it’s up to us to provide them with something to take their breath away. Their loudness is telling you that they are getting too comfortable with the services we provide. Always go the extra step to impress that upon those you work with.”

A few heads I can see seem to be noding.

Jinten crouches down again infront of me, and grabs the front of my hair and shoves it against the wall. “Seeeeee boy, it took you some time to realize, but we have your daughter and wife. You no longer have a debt to pay off, but you are still a customer. We have something you want. Something you need. Our price is to get that Serin to Tunsten.” A smile creeps across his face, highlighting the fresh claw mark on his face.

“Your ladies aren’t really my type, but your wife has some pretty good nails and really warmed up to me.”

“YOU BAST-” My head smashes into the wall. Head is swimming.

“Get the mage, let’s make sure he wakes up in his own bed with the bag. We got our holy orders from on high boys, let’s impress and secure some funding!”

A robed figure walks into the room. Always the same grotty dark blue robe, with a large stain arounds his right knee. The same chant I have heard at least a dozen times.

The world goes dark.