curmudgeonly: in a manner fitting a habitually grouchy person
Sensory Word of the Week | remnants
remnants: a small part of something that remains after most of the original has been used
If You Don’t Want to Go to Sleep, Close Your Eyes: Chapter 10
… Over the next few moons, the clouds dripped at star-rise and star-set. The channels flowed and those who remained in the village agreed to use the Mer’s seeds this spring. We made long rows for each variety and placed them carefully in the ground. They grew fast in the special air and rain.
Spring turned to summer, and back again. We sowed over and over again beneath the velvety clouds. Color guarded every nook of the market. From the food we harvested, to the patches of flowers and channels flowing with crystal water, strength blossomed into life.
Sensory Word of the Week | churlish
churlish: without manners, uncultivated, and difficult to work with
If You Don’t Want to Go to Sleep, Close Your Eyes: Chapter 9
…Mother frantically patched the holes in the walls of our hut through her laughter and smiles. I moved to help her before the rains made their way here. She saw me and her eyes dropped with a slight sadness I did not expect, but she kept to her work, still smiling. We tore strips of my tiny old clothes and tied them together to use as ropes to hold the fallen sides together. She worked on the inside and I worked on the outside.