Note: This story is written by the author who used to go by the name of Tessela hereabouts. Unfortunately, I have to say that Tessela is not me, not really, as the name is only used in Subreality. My 52 other fics have all been written under the name of Jewels, so from now on, that's the name I'll be writing SC stories under.

Humbug is my muse, and a small tabby-cat. In case you didn't know. :)

Yarns

By Jewels

It was yellow, it was fluffy, and it was just so much fun it was unbelievable.

Who would have thought that a simple piece of woollen yarn would bring so much pleasure to one muse-kitty's life?

I'd been playing with the thing for quite a while now, since my writer was stuck in bed with the stomach bug and couldn't do anything. At least, she was until she walked into her room in the House of Strange Dimensions, looking a little worse-for-wear, and generally peeved as she dumped alarge stack of textbooks on her desk. She looked over at me and frowned.

"Well that explains it," Jewels said, plucking the now rather soggy and chewed piece of yellow wool from my grasp and holding it between her thumb and forefinger at arms length, as if she were afraid the thread was going to jump up and bite her. She waved it in my direction, annoyed. "I've been plagued by half-finished ideas for this thing you realise."

I raised my nose at her, unconcerned, and went to sit on my cushion, thoughtfully provided by my writer, on her desk. I glanced at the books she had droped and glanced at her. "'The Splendour That Was Eygpt'?" I read.

"Research," Jewels said defensively, "For this thing," she waved the thread in my direction, then dropped it among a large pile of different colours bits of wool, all in a haphazard little pile between my cushion and her computer monitor. "Couldn't you play with a different one?" she asked me rhetorically, picking up a new piece, this time a dusky pink. "What about this one?"

Not for the first time, I wondered at all the names manufacturers gave wool. Sunset orange, ruby red, vulcano hues...

"1999 Handcuff Challenge," she said, fingering the wool. "'Write a story based on the following line... "He wasn't going to lose it over a few chains, he told himself firmly; why, handcuffs could be taken in a whole different context sometimes."'." Jewels gave me a speculative look. "Could be interesting..."

"With your imagination? It'd turn out NC-17." Shamrock green, Starburst blue...

"No, Hummie," Jewels said, plucking out a new thread. "That's this one. The one lamenting the lack of smut."

I just looked at her as she went fishing through the pile once more, pulling out a woollen thread, this time frayed from much playing with, and the colour dulled from long abandonment.

"What's this one again?" my writer asked me, weaving the thread between her fingers before holding it out for me to examine.

I sniffed at it experimentally. "Rossi's Work Experience Challenge," I said finally, pulling back as Jewels dropped it. "We bandied it around for a bit, but only a few pages came of it."

"Hmm..." replied Jewels non-commitedly. She plucked out a multi-hued piece, bobbled and texture in a variety of ways. "This isn't a challenge or a one-line inspiration..."

I glanced at it briefly before starting to clean my paws. "No, it's a discussion thread. We need to work on that one."

"Set it aside to play with later?" Jewels asked me, dangling the idea over my head, daring me to swipe at it and give her the inspiration for the story.

"Whatever..." I eyed the pile of yarn. "Trust you to join a list where challenges are sent out every day."

Jewels shrugged as she looped a piece of emerald green wool then started weaving it between her fingers. "As long as it provides you with new material." She held out her hands. "Cats cradle?"

"Oh very bloody funny..."

-Fini