Blacktail Deer Plateau out of my mind

though he winced through her story, he gave a bark of delighted praise at its conclusion. "a-ha! so it was worth it, in the end. . .sort of." aditya gave her a goofy grin and rolled onto his back, looking up at the sky, which was a cloudless pale autumn blue.

he began to softly hum an old tune he had learned from a man who claimed to be his uncle. as he spoke the same language as his mother had, aditya had taken him at face value, but you never did know. could have just as well been his father, or one of his mother's old lovers. he had largely forgotten the man, but remembered the song, one of many vishal had taught him.

"main shayar to nahin,
magar ae haseen,
jab se dekha maine tujhko
mujhko shayari ho gayi. . ."

it was a gentle waltz, and his quiet tenor carried gently across the stream, borne on the soft afternoon breeze. he had so often found himself alone with just his thoughts and voice, and ended up singing his way through his travels up and down the coast.

he rolled onto his side, regarding dawn curiously. as young as she was--grayday couldn't have been more than a year or so older than himself--she carried herself well, like a seasoned adult. and she had been happy to see him approach, which was really more than half the early battle.

"sorry," he apologized for his warbling, which had come without his consciously willing it. "i've spent a lot of my life alone. i'm not used to having friends around all the time to see all my craziness in action."