The House with Chicken Legs

Twelve-year-old Marinka lives with her grandmother Baba in a house with chicken legs. A few times each year the house stands up and walks to a new location. Marinka and Baba never know where the house will go next. Baba is a Yaga; it’s her job to guide the dead through The Gate and to the other side. The house moves where the dead need them as their guides.

Each time they relocate, it is Marinka’s job to build a fence of skulls around the house to keep the living away. Marinka’s friend Jack, a jackdaw bird, often keeps her company while she’s working. Even still, Marinka is often lonely. She wishes her house wouldn’t move so much so she could make living friends. She fears her wishes will never come true.

One night, Marinka prepares the skull fence and lights candles for her and Baba’s ceremony. She used to be more curious about the dead she and Baba would meet. Now, she is bored and wishes she could fly away with Jack. She isn’t interested in becoming the next Guardian—endlessly transitioning the dead between life and death—but doesn’t know how to tell Baba.