She was such a nice lady. She came off at first as a bit too Marry Poppins-like, what with her carpet bag of holding and prim and proper ways. However, she seemed to have more vulnerability to her. It's little wonder, since she was tasked with caring for a little rascal and protecting her family's souls for all of eternity. The little rascal in question was essentially young Bruce Wayne if instead of Alfred, he had the vampire slaying butler from the anime Hellsing, and if instead of having a thing for bats, he had a thing for dressing up like a dog. Hardly any difference, right?
Well, the butler decided he was not really fit to raise a child, so he enlisted the nanny's help. She and the boy grew fond of each other quite quickly, but she refused to take up permanent residence at the house. This was due to her familial duties. Every night, she went out to a small alcove in the middle of a field where hundreds of candles burned. She lit new candles when the old ones burned down, moved rocks around to shield them from the wind, and then gazed at the stars that were her family members and depended upon the earthly flames.
One day, the boy (wearing fake floppy dog ears, I might add) insisted that his nanny take him with her on her evening trip. She obliged. He marveled at the candles and sat with her for a hour listening to her family stories. Suddenly, home-sickness shot through her. She could not resist the pull of the stars, so she placed a new candle on a rock and cascaded into the sky as a fountain of light. The candle's wick spontaneously ignited. The boy rushed towards the flame to marvel at it. As he watched it dance, the wind picked up. The flame struggled against it, then puffed out. Before the boy could grasp what that meant, a tiny man leaped out from behind a bush and charged him, arms grasping for his throat.
"You killed her! You piece of slime!"
"No," the boy protested, "It was the wind. I didn't-"
"I'll murder you!" before he quite reached the boy, a foot slammed into his gut. He fell gasping to the ground. At first, the boy thought his butler had appeared and kicked the attacker. In reality, his butler had appeared and swung a plastic leg into the small man.
"Butler!"
"An appropriately cautious person will consider all likely scenarios and prepare himself against the worst of them, up to and including leprechaun attacks at midnight. I," he laid a wiry hand against his chest, "am an exceedingly cautious person."
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