The Asylum for Fairy-Tale Creatures by Sebastian Gregory Read Free Book Online Page B

row of dining tables and chairs. There was an atmosphere of fun and anticipation as a Mother May I pushed along a metal cart loaded with the leech tank. Through the glass of the tank they squirmed inside, black and thick and wet with slime full to the brim and spilling over the top. The un-children became excited at the approach and clapped and cheered. Thumbeana and Thread Bear sat as the leeches were scooped out and placed in wooden bowls and placed messily on the table. Some of the creatures managed to slide away and a lucky few attached themselves to Mother May I’s hand and began suckling greedily. The May I did not notice and moved on, serving more un-children. But not before saying,
    “A bowl of leeches a day keeps the madness away.”
    Thumbeana looked at the bowl; tiny rows of black teeth snapped back at her. She had never had the need to eat and she wondered if this should be her first meal. For guidance she looked at the other un-children on how best to consume leech. The troll sisters sitting to her left had been licking their bowls clean. Bits of the leech dripped on their chins like wet liquorice. The cursed dead boy, who never had truly died but continued to rot, slurped them one by one. Thumbeana could see them passing through holes in his throat. Thread Bear in the meantime was wearing his bowl on his head and was dripping leeches, leaving a trail of slime in his fur. Thumbeana laughed to see such fun and began picking at her meal, one wriggle at a time. Each one she chewed popped black liquid into her mouth; she did not feel less mad so she tried another and another. As she completely forgot to swallow, her mouth simply filled up and when she smiled at Thread Bear, as she often did, the leeches fell down her chin and onto the table in a stream of black slime.
    At night, they stayed in a giant dormitory filled with beds as diverse as the un-children who slept in them. For example the troll children slept under bridges, built in the room. The giant children slept upon beanstalks that grew to the ceiling. The puppet children in boxes, the bear children in beds too small, the spider children in spouts and so forth and so on. Again there were no windows; what little light there was cast by dim gas lamps, high upon the stone walls.
    Thumbeana lay on her bed and looked up at the impossibly high ceiling. The gas lamps danced yellow shadows on them. They reminded her of people on fire, burning to nothing over and over again in the yellow light.
    “I don’t like it here,” Thumbeana said. “I miss the girl. I think we should leave.”
    Thread Bear, who lay next to her, pulled on the chain that held Thumbeana’s wrist to the bed. Thumbeana sat up, and looked around. It seemed all the un-children were asleep. They snored and grunted into the dark.
    “Don’t worry about this, funny bear.” Thumbeana smiled, indicating the chain and shackle. She pulled at the stich in her wrist with her free hand. It came away with the sound of a boot being unlaced and immediately her trapped hand fell free and dangled on the chain.
    “And now,” she said to the bear, “let us rescue the red girl. It will be fun.”
    In the night when the un-children slept, there was a squeaking on the cold, hard floor. Thumbeana and Thread Bear, mischief bound, slowly wheeled in the leech cart, sloshing leeches on its way. Pausing in the room amongst the slumbering un-children, they heaved with all their might until the cart tipped and shattered and spilt the screeching creatures, crashing on the floor. Un-children suddenly woke and, to their surprise, saw a thousand leeches crawling before their eyes. They pulled and snapped their chains as they screamed with joy at the midnight feast, braving the shattered glass and greedily gorging at the leeches. Mother May Is and lumbering guards entered the chaos. Thumbeana, carrying Thread Bear and leaving her hand behind, quietly left the room. The pair began to trace their steps from when they were