Dem followed Egfor from a distance, worried about the man’s mental state, as two days had passed since his nightmare. His lover seemed lost, alone, afraid, and hurting, trying but failing to hide all this from Dem. Finally, Egfor entered the Wildwoods near their home, and this made watching him easier and yet more demanding.
(Image drawn by Egfor: https://laurelinarchives.org/sites/default/files/gallery/2021/03/12/wandering-wondering-_56849.png)
“Damn trees,” Dem muttered to himself as he tripped over a root.
Egfor whipped around, and Dem hides behind the old and thankfully large oak. If Egfor saw him, Egfor made no notice, but his question to Dunwine made Dem feel he had not seen him.
“Am I getting paranoid old boy? It was probably my wishing Dem was here.”
Dunwine trotted toward me; the blasted dog was going to give Dem away.
“Come, we’ll go home soon enough.”
Dunwine looked at me and barked, wagging his tail before trotting back to Egfor.
Dem’s worries grow as Egfor’s meanderings take him closer to the cliffs over the Brandywine. No, he mustn’t go near them in the state of mind he appears to be in. Dem opens his mouth to call out when Egfor turns and heads to a nearby lake or, Dem wonders, a pond.
Egfor sits and reaches for Dunwine, placing his forehead to what Dem considers Bunwine’s forehead. Dem squatted and watches them while sitting in quiet communion for over an hour. His legs screaming, wanting to stretch fully out, but he ignores their complaints.
(Image drawn by Egfor: https://laurelinarchives.org/sites/default/files/gallery/2020/12/30/man-and-his-dog_55932.png)
He followed them home; stopping off at a nearby farm to build an excuse for his absence, he buys a bundle of spearmint. He wishes to keep hidden for now that he followed him, worried. Egfor is spread too thin, and he won’t add to his problems with his worries.
