Lara and the Witch Part 8

A month or so back (maybe slightly more), I started on a new Lara & the Witch story, when I got stuck on the one I'd started in February, which I was calling "Wookin Pah Nub."*  In the story "The Company You Keep," there was a single throwaway line of dialogue where Holcomb asks Lara if Perpetua Trevorly has been bothering her again.  When I was editing the audio of the story, I paused and thought, Why would Perpetua Trevorly be badgering Lara like this, and might there be a story in it?

Well, of course the answer is yes.  There's a potential story in every namedrop or vague reference I write in these things.  The real question is, whether there's enough of a story in it to carry me through to the end.

And, in this case, anyway, the answer was yes.  And a very simple, enjoyable yes.  It was harder to find a title I liked than getting to the end of the fifteen thousand word story.

This one is called "Here To Help," and it comes from a State Farm (Insurance) slogan.  In it, Lara is approached on the street by a strange woman (Perpetua Trevorly), who claims to be a friend of Lara's mother's.  I'm not a good enough writer to have a theme in my stories, but if I did, this one would have the theme of, DOES No Good Deed Go Unpunished?

It takes place when Lara is fourteen, and a month or two after the Valentine's Day story "The People You Touch."  This makes it the eighth official Lara & the Witch story (the others being "Like A Good Neighbor," "You're In Good Hands," "Made Just For You," "The People You Touch," "The Company You Keep," Bundling Made Easy," and "When You Need It Most").

At this rate, I'll probably publish it around 2026, but I started formatting it today, and that's usually the step I take right before sitting down and recording the audio version.  So, you never know (which has to be some insurance company's motto, right?).

*It's a great title (I'm sure to change), and a pretty good idea, where Lara tries to set Holcomb up with a nice man on a dating app, after the witch has only ever previously made contact with total creeps.