Whitefish River a thousand times good night

she's on edge, expecting another shift in the earth beneath her feet, hoping for the far more unlikely event of her mother's return. atop of the boiling anger that's already begun building in her bones yet again, there's anger at herself, to, for even daring to hope. it'd be better if she hoped for just the opposite, but the fleeting glimpse of normality within her family she'd glimpsed is too enthralling to succumb to the anger entirely. 

not wanting to leave the borders once again, she settles for pacing them. the hours she spends furiously driving herself up and down them leaves her tired but has no effect on the anger, which only seems to grow hotter the longer she's alone. eventually, she leaves the borders, abruptly released from her trajectory, roughly trailing the river as she imagines all the things she'd like to say to Aure. Merrick grows nearer, but she remains unaware of his position in the bushes in her narrowmindedness.