title: The Fexels of Gloaming: and Other Nightmares
author: Carrie M. Beck
description: Carrie M. Beck lives in Southern California. She is a writer, painter, and artist.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **No Pain, No Gain**
  
  
  **Elizabeth Moon**
  
  
  **« ^ »**
  
  
  
  
  
  Meryl the shepherdess woke from nightmares in which she waded through glue on
  grotesquely swollen legs. She opened her eyes to the smoky rafters of her
  mother's little hut, and stretched luxuriously. Bad dreams make good days,
  Gran always said. Flinging back the covers, she rolled out of bed and burst
  into screams. There they were, attached to her own wiry body—the plump soft
  legs of her dream, and when she took a step, it felt as if she were wading
  through glue. She didn't stop screaming until her mother slapped her smartly
  across the mouth.
  
  
  Gran said it was the Evil Eye, and probably the fault of Jamis the cowherd's
  second wife, no better than she should be, jealous because her girl had a mole
  on her nose, for which she had blamed everyone but herself. Everyone knew that
  the Evil Eye didn't cause moles on the nose: those came from poking and
  prying.
  
  
  Meryl's new flabby legs ached abominably for days, but 