Willows
05-15-2020, 09:30 PM
Somehow, it seemed wrong to say that her own father had passed on, too. She wasn't trying to one-up the guy. And she hardly felt as if she could -- the story he told was simply horrifying to hear. Imagine waking up pregnant one day, and not knowing by who or how it came to be... She couldn't help but bristle. Mala wasn't sure if she wanted kids, but she certainly wouldn't have wanted to have them that way.
Instead she asked, "Do you often think about him?" She knew who her father was, at least, even if she'd never met or spoken to him.
Cairo's mother had done the best she could. There didn't seem to be bitterness in his voice as he spoke of her, or his absent sire.
As Cairo went off to check the strips, she closed her eyes. Sleep didn't quite take its hold on her, however, as memories silently replayed in her head. It was easy -- well, relatively -- to think of her aunt. It was harder to bear the visions of the rest of her family, and those often arrived unbidden. But the early, early scenes of her life were more bearable. She'd always considered her puphood to be relatively uncomplicated. But thinking of her mother, she was beginning to realize that that might not be true, either.
Eventually, though, she dozed off, stirring occasionally when her companion moved around the campsite.
The moon had wandered its way across the sky when her eyes opened again, a little more awake this time. Her jaws stretched, tongue lolling feely as she let out a yawn.