Swiftcurrent Creek from the mouths of babes

Relonikiv accepted this heavy burden of information like a champ. Whap! went his tiny paw, striking Bazi's hastily squiggled snake dead centre - a real snake would have relieved the whelp of more than his lips in retaliation, but this 2D version suffered instant death, cloven in twain by four M&M-sized totsies. Remember not to touch actual snakes, though, Bazi wanted to warn him, but decided to give the boy the benefit of the doubt: she had given him the information, and he was big enough to store and remember it. A lisp was not necessarily a sign of extreme retardation. For a pup his age, Relonikiv was both bright and active - the rest would come.

"Come on, then," she instructed him, wiping the remainder of her doodle with a diagonal swipe and rising to all fours. "Let's go find someone else that's sad so you can cheer them up. Auntie Kaskara loves hearing smart stuff."