Buttonwharf Hollow
Buttonwharf Hollow sits in the scoop of a wide river bend, where bright wooden wharves step down in crooked layers and old boat ropes lie coiled like sleeping snakes. The air smells of wet boards, pear peel, river silt, and the sweet dust from the button-maker’s shop on the hill. Tiny drawers, spool racks, and hanging trays give the lanes a busy, tinkling look, while gulls and river sparrows hop between awnings patched in faded stripes. At low tide, little mud mirrors appear between the planks, and at high water the lower steps vanish with a soft sucking sound. Children cross on narrow bridges, past nets drying on poles and a row of lanterns painted with stars that never quite match. Bits of life turn up everywhere — a lost mitten button, a fish scale caught in a crack, a toy boat wedged under a bench. The whole place feels gently lopsided, always in motion, and full of small corners where something forgotten might be waiting to be found.
6
Stories
4
Cast
Who you'll meet here
See all 4 characters →
Elara
Elara is a child who stands as tall as a chair back and lives for the warm, bustling feeling of a room coming alive around her. She can be wonderfully dramatic and a little too certain of herself, which sometimes leads her to overdo things when she wants everything to feel festive and bright.
Mina
Mina is a small, quick-witted child who fits comfortably in a grown-up's apron pocket. She loves noticing tiny patterns and half-hidden things, and she can’t stand the feeling that something important has been overlooked.
Pip
Pip is a tiny, lively child who fits in the palm of an adult hand and talks as fast as sparrows hop. She is delighted by shiny scraps, odd sounds, and secret corners, but she can be hard to pin down once something catches her eye.
Tobin
Tobin is a broad-shouldered child who stands as tall as a wharf post is high to a younger kid, and he likes the steady comfort of knowing where everything belongs. He is patient and practical, but he can become stubborn when he thinks change is unnecessary.
6 stories from this world
The Button Pile Dispute
Two families of crabs, one from the muddy pilings and one from the rock garden above the quay, both claim the same pile of shiny shell buttons as their winter store. Their quarrel is growing bigger by the minute, and the harbor peace depends on finding a fair way to divide a pile neither side will give up.
Bridge Stuck on the Halfway Way
The little lift bridge at the center of Buttonwharf Hollow jams halfway up, trapping a cart of fresh bread on one side and the fishmongers’ ice on the other. With the tide changing soon, someone has to solve the jam before the bread gets soggy and the ice melts into a flood.
The Fog That Moves Docks
A fog rolls in so thick that every lantern in the hollow glows weakly under it, and the harbor markers disappear one by one from the edges of the water. Boats can still move, but only if someone keeps them from drifting into the silent places where the docks no longer seem to be where they were.
The Wharf Without Buttons
At the start of market day, every button tied to the wharf ropes has come loose, so the docking lines keep slipping free and boats cannot stay put. Unless the buttons are sorted and fastened again before the next tide surge, the whole wharf will drift into a tangle of bumping hulls.
The Sparrows Build a Nest in the Warning Bell
River sparrows weave a nest inside the tide warning bell and refuse to move their eggs. The hollow needs the bell before high water, but ringing it now would frighten the smallest new lives on the wharf.
The Wrong Boat Comes Home
A toy boat that was lost under a bench returns at high tide carrying a button from a real boat nobody has seen all morning. The hollow must decide whether to follow the tiny boat’s route before the river turns.