Nature, Nurture

The smile that rests easily on her lips is genuine and warm as they walk. When Spirit speaks, his voice still holds some meekness in it but Meadow also finds it filled with eagerness and enthusiasm. Her smile grows and heart swells with happiness for him. In the short amount of time that she has known Spirit, she is seeing him grow. For just having met, Meadow feels such a sense of pride and joy for him. He is stronger than he thinks and the fact that he is eager about something shows her that he really wants to learn. The thought of having the chance to teach Spirit brings her such happiness that her tail starts to wag slowly while she listens to him.

When he offers his thanks, Meadow dips her head in acknowledgement and says, “Of course! I am always happy to teach. Especially to one as eager to learn as you!” Her smile is wide as they continue to slowly walk along. The offer for lessons is quickly accepted as he asks how to find her. Spirit’s stammer softens and she finds herself feeling even more proud of him. He is talking more and that is such a big step for him. Speaking with the same gentle tone, Meadow says, “Well, I live in a place called Tall Grass Plains. It is to the Southwest of here. I don’t know how you feel about traveling but, if that is too far, we could meet here. I would gladly bring herbs to show you and we could explore the area to find plants that we can identify.”

She offers to travel to him, if he is willing to meet here. If the student is willing, the teacher will appear. Since the teacher lives some distance away, she does not want to deter him because of the space between them. In fact, she is so excited that Meadow is already thinking of what herbs she would bring to show him. Dipping her head at his statement about learning and his question about finding horsetail. She nods her agreement to finding the herb and chuckles softly. He really is becoming eager and that makes her very happy.

After a moment she says, “That sounds like a plan. After the horsetail, I will show you some other, more common plants. Also, I have decided that I will stay here for the night so, if you would like, I can show you some things before you have to leave. Do you live near here?” Ears perk forward to listen. Meadow is curious if this will be a trek for him when she comes to visit. If she needs to, she would travel to a place closer to his home. Looking toward Spirit, Meadow suddenly stops and points a paw toward a weed that peaks out of the ground a short distance to his right. “Spirit look! Is that horsetail?” she wants him to identify if it is or isn’t. This is not a trick question, she just wants to give him the opportunity to find the plant. This is his lesson after all.



"Speech!"

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