This new wolf was very confusing. She simply sat down right in front of me, but didn’t seem to want to play at all. What did one do all day if you didn’t play?

My head cocks to the side, confused at her response to where she lives. She actually lives in the muck and grossness of the swamp? Ew. My lip curls slightly at the thought, though it quickly returns to it’s usual place as a cover for my teeth. Aggression isn’t in my nature. The waters of the swamps weren’t good waters for playing in, even I know that. There are evil things lurking in those deeps, as confirmed by the strange murky wolf’s next statement. My tail swept back and forth behind me more gently now, my energy dampened by my confusion.

In a swamp, it was misty and good for being a ghost, but what good is a ghost that falls in a puddle? Then you become a fish, but it’s no fun to be a fish when there are alligators that could eat you. I suppose you could stop being a fish and instead try to be a bird, but even birds can get stuck in the mud.

“That doesn’t sound like a very fun place for games,” I said slowly, trying to figure out how living in such a place could be fun. My golden eyes had wandered away from the girl before me while I was thinking, and now they snapped back to her quite suddenly. I sat down, mirroring her position, my homogeneous coat contrasting against the dark ground. “I like adventures, but that one sounds...not fun. Don’t you play any fun games? There’s chasing after fairies, and before I found you I was a ghost, which was a lot of fun!”

My head tilted again, puzzled by the wolf before me. She was younger than I, not quite grown into her body, and yet she seemed far more adult than I ever want to be. Someone should bite me on the nose if I ever become so serious.

My tail paused in its constant swinging back and forth as a realization came over me, “What’s your name anyway?”