Totoka River Seidsongen, lint den lokkar hug or ham.

She knew Caracal and Heda wouldn’t mind if she stayed on the island as long as she liked. Maybe they even hoped she would stay close for a while. Her son in particular looked like he could use a break. Poor Caracal now knew what she had felt like raising his litter, she mused with a quiet snort.

But this morning Towhee decided to indulge a more selfish whim, which led her back to the mainland at dawn. The low tide properly revealed the sandbar, which she crossed. She didn’t wander very far inland, content to roam among the many forks of the river there. It was nice, just meandering freely in the morning mist and not worrying about answering to anybody else’s needs for a little while.

She stumbled across a hawk of some kind, feeding on a fish. Even after all this time, she thought of X. Towhee went still, though it was too late. The raptor took wing with a sharp, indignant cry. When it wheeled out of sight, she eyed its catch, abandoned on the shore. Shrugging, she decided it shouldn’t go to waste.

Her paws held the slippery fish as she reposed on the shore, just feet from the water. Towhee glanced around, then dipped her head and began to strip strings of briny meat from the carcass.

Dated for June 11.