Northstar Vale Phyllis -- a woman -- has uslurped my role as Santa.

DENizens only (hahaha get it)

set July 23

She was on a mission. A small mission, but one nonetheless.

It was mostly complete. She had found another rock of many reds, had cleaned it until it glimmered in the sun, and now was on her way to present it to @Ibis. A present, if you will. 

But she had something else up her sleeve, too.

Lilitu felt instantly warmer as she left the morning breeze and entered the stuffy close quarters of the den. It would soon be too suffocating to stand; she loved the open air. But her mother was here, and so she approached with a grin visible even beyond the rock in her mouth. 

She placed the gift at Ibis' dainty paws, turned still-innocent eyes upward, and uttered her first word (oft-practiced in idle solitude) to another soul:

Mama!