Swiftcurrent Creek i'm in your back pocket, take me out when you get curious

like a barnacle clinging to a humpback whale, she held fast to her station, anchoring herself with one hind-leg propped on his nose and the other gripping the exposed root of the tree. 

her ears swiveled attentively when he lowed in his native tongue, her eyes widening in intrigue and then crinkling into slits as a giggle welled in her chest. ”oooaaaaaaa!” she sang out, trying to mimic his command over entertaining phonetics. 

in a moment of remiss, she jabbed him with her digit and triggered a flinch reflex. as his snout dipped, Tier slid backwards on the slope and was deposited abruptly on the ground. ”uf.” she grunted, visibly alarmed by the plonk of her rump against the unyielding buttress of the rootstock. 

she took a moment to contemplate the series of events and rate her experience, pondering if the sensation warranted waterworks. her blue, fast-blinking gaze flicked up to Mahler, looking for a cue from him; do we cry now? she awaited his feedback with rugose brows.