Churkk scowled.
\n\u201cI like night, Churkk. Don\u2019 like day. Don\u2019 like heat or light or pantin\u2019 or th\u2019 way groud puffs up dust atcha when ya run.\u201d
\nChurkk\u2019s scowl deepened. He liked the night as well, but it irritated him to agree with the creature skulking alongside him.
\n\u201cNight is cool. Night is good. Wraps us up and lets us come out of the cracks and up to see things. What I think is the best is –\u201d
\n\u201cJek.\u201d
\n\u201cYeh?\u201d
\n\u201cShut it.\u201d
\nJek did, looking suitably cowed. He still walked alongside, however, and Churkk swore even Jak’s feet slapped on the ground different than everyone else\u2019s. Everything about Jek was annoying.
\nThe light from a house poked through the trees at them and rather than turning to go around it, Churkk took them in closer without explaining. Slowly, they crept up to the corner of the building, then along a wall to the lit window.
\nJek started to whisper a question, but stopped short when Churkk smacked him in the middle of his forehead without even looking back.
\nInside, Churkk could see a people-room with things to sit on. The Woman sat on one, but didn\u2019t see his long, mud-caked face at the window or the light glinting off his beady eyes, because she was crying — great, shaking sobs that shook her bent shoulders and moved her whole chair.
\nChurkk watched this for some time. Eventually, his companion forgotten, he smiled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Churkk scowled. \u201cI like night, Churkk. Don\u2019 like day. Don\u2019 like heat or light or pantin\u2019 or th\u2019 way groud puffs up dust atcha when ya run.\u201d Churkk\u2019s scowl deepened. He liked the night as well, but it irritated him to agree with the creature skulking alongside him. \u201cNight is cool. Night is good. Wraps … <\/p>\n