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"Ah've never seen a worse-fittin' hat in my life." It was hard not to laugh as you noticed the fancy loafers, the extravagant silver watch... and the rich man's imitation of countrywear, so unspecific to any person or place that it almost seemed fantastical. "At least take that off, you won't stick out 's much."
Steele seemed to ignore the proposal entirely, instead scanning his surroundings briefly and making an act of pointing to the town's southernmost exit. "Right, it's time to head off! Come, Buchanan, we leave from there!"
The mock-countryman made haste, already walking to leave before he'd finished that sentence, Mary charging ahead of him and taking the rest of your animal friends with her as the five of you set out on your journey...
...briefly you paused, turning back to look at the decrepit town, the damaged buildings no longer looking out of place near the torn-up train tracks. The sun accentuated every flaw, every imperfection in town...
...and you turned back to your group of four, Steele now leading the charge while Mary clambered behind him, the wilds of California beckoning you all to dare traversing them.
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Not long after you'd left Redding, your head was flooded with thoughts.
When would you receive your family's response. Did you pack enough for at least a week's worth of camping. Why wouldn't Steele take off that dumb hat, was the river more sparse around here or were you seeing things, what...
...what were you going to call your small companion?
Steele had already settled on naming his mole friend after his favorite state. He'd come up with the nickname not even an hour after leaving town. Indiana, Indiana. According to Steele, the mole's full name was supposed to be Indianapolis, but he'd considered it too big a mouthful. Even now he was toying with nicknames for his nickname-- Indie, Ana, India had all been tried. The mole responded equally to all of them: that is, not at all.
Yet you'd had this small sprout for two days, now, and hadn't an inkling of what to call him.
Well, you had one... but naming a living creature after food was somewhat rude.
So, you discarded the suggestion-- at least, for the moment-- and pondered... what would you call your new male friend?
>Write-in.