[open] what walks on four legs in the morning and two in the afternoon?

Soleil

Soleil is made of tougher stuff than most young girls her age, if that wasn’t readily apparent already. The slushy mess at their feet - and then her knees, as she moves to them to decorate the scruff of her new friend - is more uncomfortable a sensation in its clinging, wet-cold state than the hard base of the shrine could hope to be. And though her friend doesn’t linger long enough for Soleil to be fully satisfied with the makeover, it’s still very humorous for the child to see the small necklace of protruding flight feathers in the predator’s fur.

There’s an unease or perhaps a restlessness that’s Soleil reads easily in the fox’s body, the girl’s first language, and while she’s sad to feel their game coming to a close she doesn’t let it stop her from sitting back on her butt to signal she’s okay with the imminent departure. “Thank you for letting me play with you,” she makes sure to say, lest she forget her manners in the ensuing goodbyes. “Come visit and see me again soon though!” Summoning a smile to hide her slight disappointment, blood and viscera still spotted over her pretty face.

let us live like flowers, darling
wild and beautiful and drenched in sun