Prologue
Before It Became Ordinary
There was a time when humans were afraid of monsters.
There was also a time when monsters were afraid of humans.
Nobody remembers exactly when things changed.
Some historians claimed it began with a war.
Others insisted it started with a treaty.
A particularly enthusiastic goblin historian claimed it all started because a human woman accidentally married a troll after mistaking him for a very ugly man.
Nobody believed that story.
Except the trolls.
They loved it.
The truth was much less dramatic.
Humans and creatures simply got tired of being afraid of one another.
At first, it happened in little ways.
A farmer discovered that the strange creature stealing apples from his orchard wasn't trying to hurt anyone.
He was hungry.
So the farmer gave him a basket.
The creature came back the next day and helped repair the fence.
A fisherman discovered that the mermaid living near his dock wasn't trying to sink his boat.
She was annoyed because he kept throwing fishing hooks into her garden.
They talked.
The fisherman moved his nets.
The mermaid stopped stealing his lunch.
Progress.
Eventually, humans began hiring creatures.
Goblins turned out to be excellent mechanics.
Fairies were surprisingly good at gardening.
Werewolves made excellent security guards, although some customers found the mandatory full-moon paperwork slightly inconvenient.
Dragons discovered accounting.
Nobody knew why.
Nobody questioned it.
Dragons were very good at accounting.
Cities slowly changed.
Doors became wider.
Elevators became stronger.
Restaurants started offering menus for different species.
Schools learned that putting a vampire next to a sun-loving fairy was probably a bad idea.
Apartment buildings began advertising:
PET FRIENDLY
CHILD FRIENDLY
CREATURE FRIENDLY
And eventually, nobody thought much about it anymore.
Humans went to work.
Creatures went to work.
Everyone complained about traffic.
Everyone complained about taxes.
Everyone complained about their neighbors.
And everyone eventually discovered that living together wasn't nearly as complicated as they'd imagined.
The strange became ordinary.
And nowhere was that more obvious than Maplewood.
Maplewood was a small town tucked between green hills and an old forest.
It had a grocery store.
A bakery.
A hospital.
A school.
A hardware store.
A community center that had been rebuilt four times because nobody could agree what it should be used for.
It also had a dragon who worked as an accountant.
A fairy who lived inside an apartment wall.
A goblin who repaired appliances with questionable levels of professionalism.
A vampire who worked at the hospital.
A talking raccoon who insisted he was a businessman.
And several hundred humans who had long ago accepted that this was simply how life worked.
Nobody stared when a centaur walked into the post office.
Nobody screamed when a witch bought groceries.
Nobody called the authorities when a giant took the bus.
Well...
They sometimes called the authorities when a giant took two buses.
But that was mostly because of the bus company's weight restrictions.
Maplewood had its problems.
It had broken sidewalks.
Bad landlords.
Awful coffee.
Overpriced apartments.
Terrible dating experiences.
Office politics.
Family arguments.
And one particularly aggressive goose that everyone agreed was probably possessed.
But beneath all of that was something important.
People belonged here.
All kinds of people.
Human.
Creature.
Magical.
Ordinary.
Strange.
Quiet.
Loud.
Tall.
Tiny.
Scaly.
Furry.
Undead.
Alive.
Nobody was perfect.
Nobody had everything figured out.
And nobody was particularly prepared for what was coming.
Especially Sam.
Sam was twenty-eight years old and had absolutely no idea that his life was about to change.
He thought he was going to spend Monday morning going to work.
He thought he would drink coffee.
He thought he would answer emails.
He thought his biggest problem would be his terrible boss.
He was wrong.
Very, very wrong.
Because on that particular Monday morning, Sam's ceiling was going to start leaking.
A fairy was going to climb out of his kitchen cabinet.
A werewolf was going to become his unexpected friend.
A goblin was going to attempt to fix something that should never have been touched.
A dragon was going to get stuck between two parked cars.
And a raccoon was going to steal a donut.
Several donuts, actually.
None of them knew it yet.
But by the end of the week, they would know one another.
And before long, they would become something none of them had expected.
A family.
Not the kind you were born into.
The kind you accidentally find.
The kind that shows up when your life falls apart.
The kind that eats your food without asking.
The kind that borrows money and forgets to pay you back.
The kind that knows your embarrassing secrets.
The kind that drives you completely insane.
The kind that stays.
Because sometimes the strangest people become the most ordinary part of your life.
And sometimes...
The monsters aren't really monsters at all.
Sometimes they're just your neighbors.
And sometimes they're your friends.
Sometimes they're both.
Welcome to Maplewood.
Where humans and creatures live together.
Where nothing is ever quite normal.
And where Monday is about to become very, very interesting.
