A Bit of Downtime

Álarr looked between Afi and the scribbles in the dirt. The cat reached out a paw and patted his forearm lightly. "Don't worry. You were never taught to read. Some creatures make shapes to mean different words. Where I grew up the monkeys often used these systems and I learned from a friend of mine. I'm surprised her symbols are so close to theirs." Afi had a hard time processing all this but he supposed it made sense if the girl was mute. She had to try and find another way to communicate but Álarr had never met a wolf that could 'read' before. It sounded like a lot of work.

"She says her name is Niamh. My name is Afi." The cat glanced up at him and Álarr took the cue. "Hi, my name is Álarr." He wasn't quite sure what else to say and suddenly feeling self-conscious he turned back to the dried lamb's ear, carefully reaching out with his paws to crush it into smaller pieces so that he would have a ready made amount of leaves to turn into pastes in the winter when he needed them. Afi glanced between the boy and the girl. "He's shy."

"I am not!"