Whitewater Gorge the salesman's like what up,

tegan whipped around at the sound of paws thudding hard against the ground and watched as she skidded to a halt not to far off. she was little, like him, maybe even littler, and she looked like no one he'd ever seen before. to tegan, she looked like autumn leaves-- but in the winter, dark and damp and crushed underfoot. or like the stones at the bottom of the steam that ran through the caldera-- or maybe a little like both. he stared for a minute-- not awestruck, by any means, just curious-- and was most certainly watching her when she spoke directly to him.

"what do you mean?" he asked, with a wave of his tail, "it's the earths butt, you're born with a butt, it's been here since the earth was born." then, suddenly, tegan wondered when the earth was born. maybe towhee would know? he would ask later.