Short Fiction · Character
Clarissa Willoughby
An eight-year-old with a talent for uncanny suspicions, Clarissa Willoughby connects a missing fire plug to a missing cat before anyone else sees the pattern.
supporting
Also known as Clarissa
First appearance: the six fingers of time
As a supporting figure in Short Fiction, Clarissa Willoughby is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.
Eight-year-old sister who knows how to reverse the disappearances and orchestrates the return of all vanished objects after seven days.
Clarissa is the eldest of the Willoughby children and the one Officer Comstock questions when a fire plug vanishes from his beat. She speaks in riddles and chants, offering the cryptic insight that the cat and the fire plug will be found in the same place, an idea she insists is only an idea. Her eerie perceptiveness makes her the unlikely prophet of the seven-day terror that engulfs the neighborhood, and her siblings' evasions only sharpen the sense that something strange is afoot.
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Character Web
9 connectionsA slice of how Clarissa Willoughby sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.
Relationship types
- Family
- Other
Character groups
- Eccentric professor and family
- Minor supporting characters
- Central narrative characters
- Large ensemble of minor roles
+4 more in the full Character Web
Open in readerNarrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs when the narrator, after losing his legal identity and fortune, fa…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingRelationships
- Clarence Willoughby
family · ambivalent
Clarence and Clarissa Willoughby are siblings, bound by a shared dark family history and… How this plays out →
- Clarence Willoughby
family · ambivalent
Clarence and Clarissa Willoughby are siblings, bound by a shared dark family history and… How this plays out →
- Clarence Willoughby
family · ambivalent
Clarence and Clarissa Willoughby are siblings, bound by a shared dark family history and… How this plays out →
Relationship notes
How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.
See Clarissa Willoughby in the six fingers of timeIn the story
Clarissa Willoughby appears across 1 companion beat. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.
Chapter companion notes
Spoil-light check-ins for Clarissa Willoughby unlock in the free preview.
See Clarissa Willoughby in the six fingers of time