Lake Rodney little boy blue and the man in the moon

His nose skimmed nearly close enough to touch, though he didn’t. This close, he could see that her fur looked brittle and unkempt. Caracal could also see where her skin clung too tightly to her bones in some places. He had never seen someone in such a state, though all his instincts screamed that she was unwell.

He jerked backward when she suddenly slung a foreleg over her face and began to sob. Despite his good intentions, Caracal caught himself thinking it was just like a girl to be utterly dramatic and emotional. His eyes went sideways as he considered how much to push. She was a stranger, after all.

Somewhere between the hiccuping sobs, she managed a few more words. Maybe they were what robbed her of the last of her strength, because she fell into a hard sit then. Caracal stared openly at her display, which he found unnecessary and off-putting, but he wouldn’t soon forget his feeling of determination only moments before.

Hey, I don’t know what that means, the youth said truthfully. Judging by the way she was behaving, it was something bad. But it doesn’t matter, I still wanna help. The will was there, but did he have a way? Caracal was only a kid, after all. You should take a couple deep breaths, he said gently but insistently. And calm down, he thought, though he’d already learned never to speak those forbidden words to an upset woman.