I DON'T WORRY, WORRYING DON'T AGREE
THINGS THAT BOTHER YOU, NEVER BOTHER ME!

Talya was humming a happy little tune, bouncing through the forest as the trees who shed their leaves in winter continued to drop them listlessly to the ground and those that stayed green yearlong stood mockingly beside them. Her favorite thing to do in late autumn was jump among the piles of shed, dead leaves, to find the most satisfying crunchy ones to break beneath her hooves.

She pulled up to a stop and her legs went stiff as she narrowed her eyes, studying a little pile beneath a tree where a few had gathered – some brown, some red, some yellow and some a myriad of the fall hues. Surely there was a good crunchy one there… if not, the pile was just big enough she could kick around in it and possibly throw the leaves up into the air, which was yet another favorite game of hers to play.

Determination set her expression and she set herself up to leap forward…. And then, a voice. Talya stalled, stumbling slightly in place, and whipped her head around to catch sight of a friend she had never seen before. Or maybe she had seen her before. Wasn’t this the stormcloud friend who had been with Mamapapa?

Oh… Mamapapa… Talya’s smile went a little shaky and she felt a quickening in her heart and a fluttering in her belly. Mamapapa was very mad at Talya. She remembered the way his ears had gone back and his lips had peeled, showing his teeth…. The way a snarling growl had contorted his voice and made her really, truly frightened before he’d turned about and disappeared into the forest just the night before.

She didn’t much like to think about that, and she’d been actively attempting to not remember it today, so Talya blinked, smiled, and forgot all about it.

“I am out here!” Talya proclaimed with a wide smile, her blue eyes bright. “I’m hunting dead leaves. They’re very crunchy.” Her grin went lopsided and she turned her head. “Hello stormcloud friend, what are you doing in the forest? Are you hunting dead leaves too?”