Weight on my chest

Caelia was too wrapped up in her thoughts to really notice anyone nearby. Not only that, but truthfully she just didn't care right now. For so long she'd tried to convince herself she knew precisely what the future had in store for her, even if the exact path to get there wasn't so clear... but now? It was hard to be certain about anything when her life could be uprooted, or ended, so quickly. Not just her lives, but the lives of everyone close to her. Her siblings. Her brother's children. Aurielle. Anyone. The unpredictability seemed more threatening now than promising, and she felt like her entire mindset had been completely uprooted and flipped upside down.

The sudden presence of someone, even a pup, visibly startled her. Well, it was her that had walked this way, but for all she knew he could've appeared out of thin air. She was pretty sure he hadn't been there just a second ago. Ah well. "Oh, no, I'm fine," she quickly straightened her back and tried to find her voice. The tears, despite all attempts to keep them in, spilled down her cheeks and she cursed them for not holding out a moment longer. She could lie, sure, but kids could see right through the polite bullshit that adults tried. What did it matter if some strange kid saw her crying, anyway? "I'm just a little sad, is all. One of my friends..." Maybe a white lie wouldn't hurt. He was far too young to begin to grasp death and its consequences. "Well, he left, I guess. And I miss him." she explained weakly. That was about as descriptive as she'd get with this random pup for the sake of traumatizing him, without completely lying to him.