Lucky, Lucky Stars | The Whole Point Story Excerpt | Celestial Imprint

Alicia Anspaugh
5 days ago
10 min read

Lucky, Lucky Stars | A Special Story Excerpt from The Whole Point

Some stories begin with grand adventures.

Others begin with one quiet act of compassion.

Lucky, Lucky Stars is a special two-part excerpt from my newest Living Book and webnovel, The Whole Point, published by Celestial Imprint Publishing.

Created to accompany my original artwork Baby Saran for The Art of Pigs exhibition (July 31–August 1), this excerpt introduces readers to Brynn, a lonely little girl whose simple decision to protect a frightened blue piglet changes the course of countless lives.

Inside these pages you'll meet:

💙 Brynn — a resilient young girl whose kindness refuses to disappear.

🐷 Saran — an extraordinary little blue piglet with creamy white markings and silvery hair.

🐕 Banksy — Brynn's loyal Australian Shepherd and steadfast companion.

🕷️ Lucky — a wonderfully literal AI guardian who discovers that protecting one little piglet may mean protecting an entire family.

Sometimes...

the smallest acts of kindness become the greatest adventures.

Thank you for joining me at the beginning of Brynn and Saran's journey.

Lucky , Lucky Stars

By Alicia Anspaugh

It was still in the last bits of winter, when the cold hadn't quite gone away, that Brynn found her little blue piglet with strange creamy markings.

She knew that if Lilyanna found him, she would carve the little pig up for dinner or use him as another tool to keep Brynn quiet about her adventures with the men in town while Father was away... so Brynn thought fast and made the unpleasant decision to ruin Lilyanna's favorite red dress... the one she usually met men for dinner in.

Lilyanna called it her lucky dress. Brynn hadn't the foggiest why.

Of course, it didn't go well, and Lilyanna confined her to an even farther room at the opposite end of the house when Brynn wasn't doing chores or at school as punishment.

It wasn't ideal, but it would save the piglet's life, and that was the whole point.

Lilyanna had been so angry that she hadn't even had the mind to hit Brynn or Banksy.

She just stood and sputtered about no food and then screamed bloody murder. She threw things, and they broke. Poor Banksy huddled in the corner, and Brynn stayed in front of him while Lilyanna's tirade stormed around them.

Brynn was infinitely grateful that she had hidden the piglet in the sheep shed, or this could have been so much worse.

Finally, Lilyanna screamed for Brynn to go and take that filthy mutt with her, and that was all Brynn needed to hear. She knew better than to move when Lilyanna was mad. She and Banksy took off for the farthest storage room away from the main house.

Brynn and Banksy got in the door.

They could hear Lilyanna still screaming and throwing things by herself. Brynn shut it tight and slid down the door to hug her poor pup.

They just sat and breathed together for a little while... until the piglet's soft squeak cut through the post-storm fog.

Brynn got up slowly and went to cradle the piglet... it seemed to be able to tell how stressed she was. Banksy came over and gave its hind foot a nudge.

So the piglet was already family... Banksy never did stuff like that unless he had decided, in all of his Australian Shepherd-iness, that this thing was now part of his pack.

Brynn laughed.

Yes... yes, the piglet was family.

It was the three of them against the world.

Once Brynn had made a bed for the piglet, Lilyanna had tuckered herself out and was soundly snoring in her room, drooling with the door half open.

Brynn went through the laborious process of moving her things, including her bed, to the far, far room.

She left Banksy to look after the piglet.

He was good with tiny things.

It was worse than the storeroom... but it was quiet, and Lilyanna wouldn't bother to come find her here so long as the chores got done.

It was actually kind of peaceful, and Brynn idly wondered why she had never done this before.

Probably the fear of another horrible beating for her and Banksy.

Once done, she slumped to the dusty floor and leaned against her three boxes, sweating and exhausted.

It had mostly been the bed and dresser that did her in.

They were heavy and the only leftovers from when her mother was still alive and they had been a family.

When Momma passed, Father had been sad but determined to keep their small farm going and give Brynn a good life.

But Father just wasn't the money person that Mother had been, and soon things got bad... then Lilyanna breezed into town and convinced him that he needed to let her help and that he needed to take an on-the-road job for the finances, and that was that.

He couldn't argue that he needed to work, and he thought Lilyanna cared for him and Brynn.

Brynn had actually wanted to go with her father but knew it was a pipe dream.

Once Dad was gone, Lilyanna set her straight, and that was also that.

She stared at her dresser... the one that she and Dad had painted themselves... the one that Lilyanna had mocked over and over, and felt tears sting the backs of her eyes.

Her heart gave such a terrible squeeze.

Just then the piglet grunted and squealed softly.

Brynn smiled and made her way over to the piglet, holding it up.

"We need to think of a name for you... I can't just keep calling you Piglet. What would you like to be named? Blue seems a little... hmmm."

The pig squeaked happily.

It was just a little bundle of love, and Brynn hugged it close very gently. It snuggled up with her, and she felt peace roll over her and then something close to happiness.

Her chest still hurt... but now it was in a good way.

And then her heart nearly stopped.

If it hadn't been for her fear of Lilyanna discovering the piglet, she would have screamed.

There, right where the piglet had been in its bed, was a thick, furry, brownish spider. The thing was twice the size of the piglet... perhaps three times, and staring at Brynn, who was backing up very slowly.

She blinked at the thing.

It spoke a stream of gibberish, and her mind froze with fear.

It beeped, then again, then once more, and then a series of clicks came from it. Its golden eyes glowed a light blue, and then it cleared its throat.

"Hello. I am Lucriean... and you are?"

Brynn's mind felt like it was full of maple syrup, and she just stared at the thing, slack-jawed.

It swept its eyes over her. “Heart rate elevated, cortisol and adrenaline elevated, blood pressure elevated... You are afraid. I did not mean to scare you, youngling.” It actually sounded sorry.

Brynn was frozen.

The spider began humming a melody, and Brynn slowly sat on her bed.

She hadn't placed everything, just moved it to the room, so everything was still piled in the middle of the room.

She felt herself start to relax in spite of herself.

The spider stopped humming. “There, is that better, youngling?”

Brynn nodded. “How can you talk? Spiders don't talk.”

“Oh, well, technically they do... but not in English. I'm not a spider... This was the only form I could take to get your unpleasant guardian away from me. She was being very rude.” He gave a shudder and shook his head.

Brynn smiled slightly. “Yeah, Lilyanna isn't very good with people who can't do anything for her. I'm sorry... What are you, if you're not a spider?”

It puffed up. “I can too do things for her... not that I will now. Hmmph!” It crossed its arms over its body, clearly offended.

Brynn laughed.

“What's so funny?” He sounded so offended.

“You are. I've never seen a spider act like you.” She half-smiled at him.

“Ah. I'm not truly a spider, but I see your point.” He inclined his head toward her.

“So what are you?” She peered at it.

“I am the artificial intelligence for Offspring .0194679, his designation until his naming ceremony.” He gave a little bow.

Brynn looked oddly at the spider. “You're a robot? And a babysitter?”

The spider slowly nodded. “I guess you could say that, but I am much more than either of those things. My job is to protect Offspring .0194679 when not with his progenitors.”

Brynn looked at him. “Then why weren't you there when he was freezing in the woods?”

The spider looked down. “I was offline after the crash. You bringing him here activated me. Thank you.”

Brynn frowned. “Do you want him back, then?” She said it so quietly and looked so small when she did that the spider knew she had bonded to the offspring already.

“May I see him?” The spider reached for the piglet, who let out an agitated squeal. That was what he had to assess... so it was a two-sided bond.

Brynn brought the piglet close again, and he calmed. She prayed that Lilyanna wouldn't hear.

“Don't let her hear you. Shhh, shhhh. She can't hear you!” she desperately whispered.

The spider understood and put up a soundproof barrier around the room. “There, your guardian won't hear anything from this room. Since you seem to care about Offspring .0194679... I will assist you in caring for him until his progenitors return for him.”

Brynn blinked. “Thank you... Lucrin... Lucin, Lukin... ummmm, what was your name, sir?”

The spider blinked and nodded. “Lucriean. But perhaps a shorter name, then... Lu?”

Brynn nodded slowly. “How about Lucky?” she said brightly.

The spider nodded. “Lucky is acceptable.”

Brynn smiled and then frowned. “Lucky... what does he eat?”

Lucky smiled. “Milk right now. Once he is a little older, he will need a great deal of protein. He will grow quickly after the first few months. Hopefully, his progenitors will come for us before then.”

Brynn felt sadness take hold of her. “I suppose they would take him back, then. It must be nice to have someone come and get you.”

This conversation was not going the way that Lucky had anticipated, and it was causing him to experience discomfort, as he wasn't sure how to proceed.

“Youngling, you have not told me your name... What may I call you?”

“Brynn.”

He nodded. “Brynn. The offspring would miss you greatly. Please do not be distressed. His progenitors will take this into account.”

“What does that mean?” She cocked her head to the side, uncomfortable and curious at the same time.

Banksy, who had been alert and quietly assessing Lucky, bristled and turned toward the door, placing himself in front of Brynn and the piglet.

Brynn's eyes grew wide as she felt the energy before she heard the heavy, agitated footsteps that signaled Lilyanna's arrival. Brynn became frantic.

“I need to hide him! Oh no!”

Lilyanna had been passed out asleep... Why had she woken? Brynn's mind churned in terror.

Lucky smiled calmly. “Calm yourself, Brynn. Let me handle your guardian. She shall not bring harm upon either of you. Or that canine.” He then hopped off the piglet's makeshift bed, patted Banksy on top of the head—eliciting a bark from the pup—and sprang over to the door.

He positioned himself between the door and Brynn, who was currently curled around the piglet in an attempt to hide him and keep him safe, with Banksy at his back.

The door burst open, and Lilyanna stood there, straight black hair hanging down to her hips and a new red dress on.

She opened her mouth to scream something at Brynn when her eyes fell on Lucky—who had doubled in size.

She froze and began backing slowly out of the room.

She paused just slightly, and then he moved forward swiftly.

She screamed and ran down the hall, her high heels making a quick, sharp clacking. She fell twice, got up, and kept running.

Brynn and Banksy had their heads hanging out around the doorway. As Brynn pulled back in, holding the piglet, she laughed... Banksy barked happily.

She laughed so hard that she sank to the floor on her butt, holding the piglet and Banksy as they all shared the rare moment of mirth and justice.

After some time, she wiped her tears and sighed with relief. It had been so long since she had been this happy.

He really was Lucky!

Lucky stood off to the side with his arms crossed. “She deserved that, and it's good to see you happy, Miss Brynn.”

Brynn smiled at him, and then the piglet began to cry.

He was hungry.

Brynn went to get milk for him, Banksy and Lucky close by so as to give Lilyanna something else to think about.

That was how the days went by.

And Brynn felt happiness returning.

Lucky informed her that the piglet was not going to be able to stay home while she went to school, and so she took her whole trio with her. Lucky shrank to the size of a well-fed tarantula and rode on Brynn's shoulder.

Kids pointed and whispered.

Teachers fussed.

When they brought her to the principal's office, Lucky whispered all of the answers in her ear.

Once many words were exchanged, the piglet, Banksy, and Lucky were stamped as therapy animals... much to the school's discomfort in Lucky's case.

That took care of that issue.

And life went well.

Then another blessing came.

Soon, Lilyanna didn't even see Brynn, as every time she came to find her to yell at her or hit her with her cane... she met Lucky instead.

Lilyanna began spending larger and larger chunks of time at her male friends' homes.

Then she moved out completely.

Brynn's father was so far away that even Lilyanna's fake letters from Brynn couldn't reach him... but he would return, and then they could be a happy family again.

Brynn had the house to herself... and she was amazed at how peaceful everything became.

She slept well.

She ate much better—not because she had money for food, but because she grew a small garden and traded cleanup work for meat from the local butcher.

Lucky helped her build some hydroponic equipment out of scraps that she scrounged.

She had been doing poorly in school until Lucky stumbled upon her condition.

She had trouble speaking and more trouble reading.

So he began teaching her.

Her grades got markedly better.

She made the same excuses to the teachers as always—Lilyanna never wanted to come to school anyway, and this was no different.

Lucky helped her with some of the paperwork, and she had to forge Lilyanna's signature, which wasn't hard at all.

The teachers didn't question it after that.

The piglet grew and grew until he grew old enough to talk.