a boy and his ...

I promise I'll feed him and clean up after him and take him for walks .. can I keep him .. can I ... can I huh? Pleeeeeeeease!

How could so much exhuberance come from one little tiny guy? It seemed that Orachu was the salve needed for a weary little soul. The next few hands were filled with every detail of caring for another creature and the bond between the boy and his kaiila grew strong. A few of Me Too's best friends seemed put out that he wasn't as eager to run and hunt and dig with them as he had been before with the reasoning that he had to .. Orachu this ... Orachu that .. my kaiila .... my ... my ..my how he took his responsibilities serious. The frustations when there was something he felt bigger than he was had begun to evaporate with less and less coaxing to just try and see if he could, rather than give up or let his anger get away with him.

I found myself sitting on the top of the fence rail more often simply watching as the boy took the reins of his new found obsession ... literally. I didn't need to promise Cana that the boy would be appreciative of such a gift. The smile, the youthful determination not only to catch up to his peers but to surpass them was evidence enough in itself. Now and then I sort of felt a bit left out myself when I would hear .. I can do it myself .. watch Lina .. watch what we can do! But overall there was this sense of pride that swelled inside my own chest. I began to understand some of the things that Cana had spoken to me about, not just for Me too but for myself as well.

Keska would come perch against a post next to me, keeping eye on the lad and commenting at how natural the boy took to the beast. Rusty and Vao began to sidle up to the fence as well urging him on with those raucous sleen whistles or a shout, the kind only men can do and get away with. The kind that could be heard all the way back to the harigga. It had become a priviledged window seat to a new life unfolding.