Bearclaw Valley here without you

Lucas’ disappearance had stricken Piper with a certain kind of sadness that could not be explained through words. Every day, the child would wake up with an eager smile and rush outside with every expectation of seeing her brother. Every day she was disappointed. Her love for her brother had been consuming; she had been the closest to Lucas out of all of her siblings. Not having him there felt as though a piece of her had been removed with him. She spent a great deal of her time locked away, unable to formulate the appropriate response to the many queries of ‘are you okay?’

No, Piper was not okay without her brother.

On that particular day, the Redleaf girl had decided to go down to where Lucas would stay by the creek. There was still this naive part of her that believed she would trot down there and find him smiling beside a group of stray flowers. Piper had grown a lot in the last few months, and it was likely that her brother had grown drastically too. Still, there were lingering memories of him as a pudgy child with twinkling eyes that she could not erase.

It was not Lucas that she found by the creek, but Laurel. Piper paused in her steps for a moment, one paw lingering toward her chest. She felt her sadness deepen, but she forced herself to approach. Gently, the russet girl moved to nudge against her mother’s flank. “Hi ma,” she offered in a soft tone.