Lost Creek Hollow burning away at the heartwood

he returned her greeting, and mona swallowed, suddenly unsure of what to say. should she introduce herself? offer to help him with whatever he was doing? the fineboned man seemed hesitant; mona attributed it to her newness within the hollow, and folded her ears along her skull, perturbed by his show of submission.
after all, hadn't he been here first? he wasn't from bearclaw, which meant she truly was the newcomer; drat, oh drat, mona's mind churned, for she was getting ahead of herself and allowing the silence to become nigh unbearable in its length.
"i'm one of the new joiners, formerly from bearclaw valley. my name is mona." let me help you! her mind blabbed insipidly, but the girl had learned to hold her tongue. she was silent then, for fear she had said too much; the man's response would give her more information, she hoped, and reveal whether or not he was open to her company or wished to be left alone.