Redhawk Caldera See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me

Lagan had always had a mild speech impediment, but Elwood had never been unable to understand his son. So when Lagan spoke and the word was completely unintelligible, Elwood realized something was wrong. He came to a halt and looked at his son for a long moment, frowning as Lagan tried to speak again and was met with the same result. The icicle was hindering him from talking clearly -- and it didn't seem the boy was able to put it down.

Slowly, comprehension dawned on him. "Oh, no," he breathed, taking a few quick steps to bring himself closer to Lagan. "Is the icicle stuck to your tongue?" he asked, fighting to keep the corners of his lips from twitching up into a smile. The panic Lagan felt was evident on his face as his eyes pooled with tears. "It's okay, we'll figure it out," Elwood added hurriedly.

He reached out to gingerly take the tip of the ice pick in his own teeth. "Let me try --" he said, giving a gentle tug. He waited for Lagan's reaction before pulling any harder; all the while, he was thinking of Plan B for when this inevitably didn't work out.