Cricket Creek Bog Clicky Crickets

I think I am. Nathaniel admitted, eyes softening suddenly. The pained look in his eyes showed he obviously wasn't, but he would never acknowledge it himself. But no one is born heartless, sweetheart. It's gotta be ripped from you.
He wasn't certain what compelled him to admit this about himself-- the certainty that he would never meet her again, that her opinion would not matter anyway, perhaps. She did not know who he was, nor his family. It lifted his burden just a little to be able to say it without fear of consequences; to admit that he had been shattered. Beyond repair, perhaps.

And so what if this stranger walked away from him, judged him, or whatever she might do? Nathaniel was long beyond caring.