Broken Boulder and i haven't sold me

The child had mostly been keeping to herself since the migration to this new place, and hadn't even felt comfortable enough to sing. It had been a while since she'd spoken to anyone besides her brother; even her Mama, who she loved dearly, had been met with the silent treatment. Ibis was sad, and she didn't know why the hooks of ennui were so strong within her. She didn't know why she felt this way or how to stop it, and eventually fell in to a small mental pit. Maybe sad was just how she was going to be from now on — maybe this was the new normal, like how the Sanctuary was the new normal, and all these kids in her space was the new normal. Normal sucked.

But she began to go on small adventures too. When nobody was looking, if Okeanos was busy playing with another child or her mother was distracted, she'd wander off a little bit and commune with the flowers, or as the season progressed, she'd gather the fallen autumn leaves in to a pile and burrow in to them, as if to hide from all her worries. She had made a hefty pile just a few minutes ago, and was ready to pounce — her little butt raised and wiggling — when a familiar voice carried on the wind.

The sound of her daddy tugged at her heart strings — and in moments she'd forgotten all about the pile, and was scampering in pursuit of him. As she came upon the scene she spotted Alarian (who she only vaguely recognized as Mama's Friend), and then beyond him, DADDY! She hollered with her sharp little voice, and ploughed right in to him.

It was her first word in weeks.