Big Salmon Lake I've got good intentions

She’d wasted time, according to her. Towhee pondered this a moment. She liked wandering, missed it sometimes. But she had never really done it without some sort of purpose, most often choosing destinations based on where her relatives lived. Why had Eydis set out in the first place? What had she hoped—and apparently failed—to accomplish? She wanted to ask, though the dismissal and deflection told Towhee that Eydis wasn’t particularly interested in discussing it further.

I’m out here because I had some extra pep in my step this evening, she replied readily, tail swishing, even after checking off everything on my to-do list. I used to be a wanderer too, she continued, orange eyes meeting Eydis’s speculatively, but now I’m pretty tied down to the caldera. And happy to be there. But I figured I do a little meandering with this sudden chunk of free time, Towhee concluded with a shrug.

She could try to make good use of this time away from the caldera, namely by bringing back something. If not game, then perhaps some new plaything for the littles. Towhee glanced around in quiet assessment before her orange gaze found its way back to her acquaintance’s face.

If you’re committed to your pity party, I can leave you to it. But if you’d rather do something else, I wouldn’t mind some company. I’m gonna head that way, she said, pointing at the thin stretch of trees that lined the lake’s western bank, and then maybe work my way back toward home while looking for something to eat. Or play with. Or, you know, both.