Sleepy Fox Hollow Here I stand

Etienne had woken and worked to at least clean his face and body of debris. Though he couldn't quite get the burrs that curled into his fur or the branches that hung from him, twisted in the thick fur of his coat.

The sensation of grass and dirt and the lack of the sound of the ocean, were at best disorienting for the boy. But he was determined to make his own way now. He had not the spoons to care for his family right now. For the first time in his young life he wanted to be selfish and then he felt nothing but shame.

He was a shameful son. An oath breaker. He didn't keep promises. He sighed and quit working at the burrs and sat down, his head lowered as he looked down at the ground. Tears leaking from his eyes. He growled and rubbed at them with a foreleg.