Bitterroot Valley you hit me yesterday because i made you cry

The silence seemed to stretch on for a very long time, in Valiant's mind. He felt more and more uncomfortable with the amount of excitement he'd expressed as he waited for the other boy's reaction. This was clear in the slight wilting of his stark features, but his body language remained hopeful and friendly.

"That's right," he agreed, realizing that, perhaps, Reif had just had trouble placing him. It was no surprise, really — they'd been so small, and Valiant had played more often with his brother and sister or by himself than with the other children in the woods. A little more quietly, he added, "I was in the willows just the other day. It's — it's not like how I remember."

He kicked awkwardly at the dirt.

"How have you been doing?"