the sorting hat

Weak. "They're kids," he shot back, excusing them for not understanding everything in this world. Surely she could remember a day when she too was afraid of the dark or the things she could not see nor understand. Or maybe not. She seemed more alarmed that he would provoke their fear by threatening to eat them. His ears flattened as he stared at her blankly. Really? They'd have to work on her sense of humor. Or lack there of. Her sarcasm sensor needed some serious repair.

"Erm..." He huffed, even as he nudged her, unsure as to how to explain these things to her. Playing. Pretending. Fun. All of those words seemed beyond her level of comprehension, but he hoped she might learn of them before their pups came. "Sometimes adults say things that aren't true to keep children from doing things they shouldn't do." It was his best attempt at this. "If they are afraid something that lives in caves might eat them, maybe those kids won't come back, get lost, and die in here." He was trying. He had no idea how to explain to her what part of that was the joke.

He stared blankly to her as he listened to the scramble of paws scurry away in the distance. Had the children officially left? Either way, it was probably past time for them to get a move on. Their home was still quite a way aways and they'd not get there any faster by lingering.