Wheeling Gull Isle whispers sloth, through curls of smoke

They appeared overnight.

Popping up out of the earth like saplings, or out of Ami like Mal, Simmy and Dinny. And Juju!

Ami and Papa say God creates everything! Pebbles and lizards and babies! Judah didn’t really care where they came from. He was too busy staring down at the sleeping littler things. His tiny black-tipped tail frisked with excitement as he nosed each one, smudging the tops of their heads with his tongue like he’d seen Ami and Papa do before to his siblings, as gentle and as patient as an ungainly one month old pup can be, which is to say, not at all. One. Two. Three.

He spies the fourth one- his sister- and scampers over to wet her temple. Then he squirms his way to Simmy’s side, his entire body shaking his brother with excitement.

Look Simmy! They are so small! Smaller even than him! Simmy and Mal were big brothers- but now he was big brother too!