Hushed Willows loads;liquids;neon;heater;jaws;jungle;mains;signal;

ever since the run-in with the shadow-thing outside the den, he was getting braver. his eyesight was getting better, too. all these shadow-things looked like mum-shadow, and so therefore they must be good, right? his hearing had improved as well; now, he could listen and put names to things, names that he was hearing. like mum-shadow—her ears perked when someone said lil-ee. shadow-thing answered to call-ee.

and the two plushy things that pushed him away from the prime teat, day after day, were lah-nah and zigg-ee. and mum-shadow called him cam.

it was sort of boring, to tell the truth. everyone else had these wonderful sounding names, and then there was him. . .just cam. what about cam-ee? or cam-mah? he wondered if there was something wrong with him, to have such a short, uninspired name. bleh. he tried not to dwell on it too much, instead exploring all there was to see outside the den.

today, he went farther than he should have, really. far enough that the den, when he turned, was out of sight. he had ceased the baby-crawl and was now walking, albeit unsteadily, still-blue eyes trained ahead. and fluttering down just ahead of him. . .

something very much not like the shadows. something just as small as he was—maybe smaller—with a big red belly, beady eyes, and a pointy nose. cam stared at it for a long time as it nosed about on the ground, filled with wonder. he wondered if it wanted to play, like lah-nah and zigg-ee. he bounded toward it, and it blew away, like a leaf in the wind.

leaving cam standing there, upset and a little outraged. what had he done to get the cold shoulder?!