The Hermit’s Hollow home each berry said to contain

each berry said to contain the memory of a soul long gone

and both deserve excellent table décor

With eight nimble limbs and a mind sharper than a sailor’s dagger

Because there are those who recognise what has been touched by a dragon — and understand that wearing it is not without consequence

a tea party unfolds

The Hermit’s Hollow home each berry said to containDeep within the tangle of moss and mist, where the roots breathe and the air hums with forgotten spells, there once lived a hermit no one ever saw or at least, not fully. They say she was part creature, part memory. That she spoke to stones and stitched moss into sigils. That her home was no cottage, no den, but a single spiralled shell, carried on her back like a secret she never dared put down. The shell was small, but inside it grew vast filled