Tell me what I must slay, what I must steal, tell me the riddle I must solve or the hag I must trick. Only tell me the way, and I will do it, no matter the danger, no matter the hardship, no matter the cost.

She shrieked and shrieked for her mother, but her mother was already there. Her mother was the monster.

Better to leave him with the memory of their being a pair of monsters, wrapped in each other's arms.

It was good to be hugged. Even by a monster.