My Dearest Warlock

The Shine Shine vs. the Pom Pom Pow

Don't be surprised if I spelled Brian's name as Brain.

Children had a spark to them, a desire for life that began to die as they aged. But younger children had this energy to them. Their energy spread rapidly, like a wildfire in a dry forest. And one thing that the children in Tadfield had in common was this pure bundle of creativity. This wasn't to say that other children weren't creative- this wasn't an "I'm not like other girls competition[1]"-but rather that they all agreed to certain creative aspects.

For example, Adam had went to school and created a purple Triceratops crossover with a Tyrannosaurus. He'd went on to name it a Poof Hurray. Despite his teacher insisting that no such creature could exist, he didn't care. He'd went on to try and tell Adam even if it did exist, scientists simply would not name a creature like that [2]. Much to his teachers surprise, the other children agreed that the Poof Hurray could have existed with that exact name. However, not a single one of these children could give the teacher a word that meant the same thing as sad without arguing- the teacher was sure they wouldn't understand if he asked them for a synonym for sad.

There was also the time that all of the school children insisted that a boy in their class, Jeremy, didn't exist. At first, the teacher assumed the kids were bullying Jeremy. After ignoring it for a while, the teacher addressed the issue by  stating Jeremy existed- "Jeremy is made of atoms and molecule, and he's sitting next to you!"- in science class. Jeremy said he agreed with his fellow peers, as he said that he would return to woods later that year. The teacher wrote it off as Jeremy being cynical.

Jeremy did, indeed, go to the woods later that year and disappear. The weirdest part wasn't his disappearance- it was the fact that his parents didn't know a Jeremy and only had one child, Jennifer, who lived in Ireland with her partners. It might have helped to mention that Jennifer was twenty-eight.

With this, one could argue there was some sort of magic in this small town. It would be logical, as there was a witch who lived deep in the woods with her girlfriend in a cabin. But it wasn't them. The power came from Adam, whose imagination unknowingly leaked out in the most subtle ways. All parts of this could easily written off by someone who didn't specialize in finding young Antichrists.

All the other kids agree with Adam on the possibility of a Poof Hurray existing? Children are just strange like that. It wasn't any weirder than Tracy's cursed shoestring or Dane's constant drawings of swamp and bog creatures. Children just thought differently, and that was very normal for them.

Jeremy disappeared in Ireland, and his parents didn't know him? Ireland had strange shit happen all the time. It was a miracle that it hadn't happened before. It was a surprise his parents hadn't disappeared either. Between the fae, the bog creatures, and whatever else lived in the woods of Ireland, it was bound to happen occasionally.

And this spark refused to die. Despite parents' constant nagging to find a proper and well-paying job, the children refused to let go of that childish sense. They wanted to run outside and play with each other like they had when they were younger. That wouldn't be a bad thing, if parents weren't so set on making their children molds of what they wanted to be.

"Pepper said she'll be over," said Adam, continuing to ride his bike. "Perhaps we should go to the treehouse in the woods?"

"My family doesn't mind having people over," suggested Warlock, jogging slightly quicker to keep up with Adam. "As long as we don't touch Crowley's plants or Aziraphale's books, we can do practically whatever we want."

"That might be nice," admitted Adam. "I would hate for Dog to get a tick."

Dog was sitting in the basket on the front of a bicycle. He was, indeed, an exceptionally spoiled Hellhound. He'd been breed to be the perfect companion for the Antichrist, and he was the perfect fit for this Antichrist. The name had shaped his personality- the name would say nearly everything that needed to be said about the Antichrist. And the Hellhound loved his human- and being pampered, of course. Adam was so much kinder than the demons that had previously cared for him.