Sun Mote Copse Bill Barilko disappeared that summer

Brave, it seemed, was an abstract concept, and Alyx's brain wasn't ready to fully comprehend those sorts of things. It wasn't the same as happy or sad. It wasn't an emotion to be felt like those simple ones she felt on a regular basis, but rather, a coping mechanism for less pleasant emotions. Bronco described it as not being afraid. But being afraid was natural and easy. Being brave was a choice, and was immensely difficult. Until she actually had to be brave someday, she would struggle to understand what he meant by it.

What she could understand was his stance. Oh otay, said Alyx, puffing out her own chest and stretching herself up onto her tippy toes. She would come to view this stance as the sign for bravery despite its similarity to a dominance display—which was less exaggerated, of course, and involved eye contact and sometimes growling. Buh howzit potec? Just standing like that wasn't really doing anything, was it? Maybe it was. Maybe it was generating a force field around them and she just couldn't see it.