> How long has it been? They were very slow learners to be sure, but this slow? But it was obvious, now, they WERE learning. Along the wall, other terrariums, others having to learn these lessons. Those that were well progressed got to start seeing others, those that were not? This family, it took a while, but their dedication to learn a new path, was now starting to be obviously genuine. About time though. Time to introduce them to others who were almost ready to be returned to the world.
> [https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04270-k252-subtle-and-fast-fury](https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04270-k252-subtle-and-fast-fury) -- Anon Guest
There's a humble little cottage that also happens to be a portable Wizard's tower. Only a very special Wizard would have a tower like that. There's a cozy hearth, a beautiful garden, and a bed so comfortable that resting in it heals wounds to the soul.
There's also an interesting array of terrariums. Each with little houses, and little crops. And little, tiny, people.
They are ageless, because they need time to learn. They are small because their bodies match their empathy and sympathy for others. A stranger encountering them might wonder what they did for the Eternal Wizard to punish them. If they ask, they would learn that this particular arrangement is a _gift_.
"I've given them time enough to grow into a better heart," Wraithvine was careful to keep hir voice soft near the glass of the terrariums. "It's a rare gift, and rarer still that it's necessary."
Some were so small that they were mining the bread crumbs that Wraithvine scattered onto the soil. Some were using little axes to fell cress sprouts. Dreen moved along the array, to where a peg-sized family were whispering to a terrarium of their own. Ze _could_ have pressed hir ear to the glass and listened to what those people were whispering, but that would be invasive and rude. Ze stepped away from the glass containers. "Those people had a terrarium," ze said.
"Yes," said Wraithvine. "As time moves on, there's more people with less empathy. They become too tiny for my hands to touch. So I gift their containers to people close to growing out of containment."
"Oh. Like a graduation test. To see if they can apply what they've learned to help others who are just starting out." In one way of thinking, it was wise. In the other, it was terrifying. "Do you ever worry about what might happen to someone with _no_ empathy?"
"I do try not to kill," said Wraithvine. "Murder is for the unimaginative. I've been working on teaching methods for those people. In the unlikely event that there's ever someone that selfish."
Dreen considered the array of terrariums, and the quiet paradise that was Wraithvine's tower. "Perhaps a relative lifetime as one of their own victims? A life of experience in a moment?"
"This is why I choose companions," said Wraithvine. "New ideas."
[Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@manoj_poosam?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Manoj Poosam</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-couple-of-bottles-filled-with-plants-on-top-of-a-table-VC3nJfofUoA?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>]
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