Whitefish River serendipity

Seal insisted Frolic dry off before they sat down to catch up. She blinked down at herself, then looked to her friend with a fleeting smile. She said nothing, just fell into step as the other girl led her away from the river toward a flat bed of rock shaded by a few sparse trees.

She didn’t particularly care about her pelt, though she began wringing out the moisture and smoothing the furs with her tongue. One ear remained always perked toward Seal. Despite herself, Frolic reveled in her friend’s dulcet tones.

She only went through the motions long enough to satisfy her friend before stretching out on the warm stone. Frolic focused more fully on Seal as she regaled her with the ups and downs during their time apart. Some things stood out more than others, like the mention of their mutual friend.

But it was Seal’s own stint with Brecheliant that prompted Frolic to say, I can’t believe you went to live there as soon as I left. I know it wasn’t planned, she acknowledged with a small, reassuring smile, but that timing…

What if she hadn’t left at all? What if she’d stayed a little longer, enjoying passing the days with Seal? Frolic had had many wonderful adventures before Fisher’s Ridge, though it now overshadowed them all. She felt such regret welling in her heart.

Lest tears well up too, she focused on Seal’s final declaration and said, You’ll find your path, Seal. You’re too amazing not to.

Even as she spoke the words, dark eyes trained on those familiar freckled features, Frolic felt a familiar, aching urge to touch Seal’s face. With her paw. Better yet, her lips. The notion did not really surprise her. As she’d grown more worldly, she’d begun to realize the nature of her feelings toward her childhood friend.

She didn’t dare let on to these feelings, letting her eyes drop as she tried to redirect her thoughts. Soon Seal would press her for her stories. Frolic must ponder that rather than how she could never risk telling Seal, not simply because of their friendship—reason enough on its own—but because of the ugly black blemish on Frolic’s own spirit.