Phantom Hollow bodak yellow

It wasn’t Maxim. It was Caracal. What were the odds of running into her son in these strange woods in the middle of the night? Part of Towhee marveled, she supposed, but mostly she tried to swallow the enormous lump of disappointment caught in her throat.

-“Maxim went missing a few days ago. I’m looking for him. You haven’t seen or heard from him, by any chance, have you?”- Towhee asked.

Caracal looked dumbstruck by the news. Before he even had a chance to shake his head, she knew she had her answer. Towhee sagged for a moment. At least her son would know now to keep an eye out, even if she would not ask him to search. How many times had she rambled about the utter pointlessness of such things?

-“What are you doing here, anyway?”- she wondered wearily after a beat.