Life of an animal

Maple took a deep breath. “I am afraid of canines,” she said quietly, still recovering from the earlier encounter. She was constantly chased by dogs, which brought on a prevalent fear in her life. She knew the girl had only been joking, but she was anxious because of it.

(oke…. bye halloween..)
Keri looked up at Sam and turned into her human form again "i can stay, i just dont think maple will like it much."

“No you can stay,” Maple said. “Sorry for freaking out.” She was beginning to calm down a bit, and gave the girl a shaky smile.

Sam looked at Maple seriously "Are you sure " she asked.

Keri nodded "yeah, are you sure, because i can leave if it makes you less nervous."

“Yeah I’m sure,” she replied. “I’m fine.” She was steadier now, and her breathing had evened out again.

"ok, well now that that is figured out, how is everybody?" Keri looked at Sam and Maple.

“I’m pretty good, all things considered,” Maple said cheerfully, once again back to her usual chipper self.

Harley was prowling around in the forest in her cub form, trying to find a comfortable place to sleep

After all the excitement, little Alton transformed back into a human, shaking his messy, jet-black hair out of his face.

Harley found a spot and jumped up, shifting into her fully grown form

Keri walked over to a tree and leaned back on it, watching everyone.

"So." Alton cleared his throat. "Thanks for catching me. Sometimes I wish I was a bigger animal, like a bear or something." He chuckled moodily. "But nope, I'm the little mouse. Although it does come in handy whenever I need to eavesdrop or sneak into places."

“Being a little animal is cool!” Maple interjected. She put her hands on her hips. “Sometimes,” she added with a small chuckle.

Harley heard voices and jumped down to see 2 people talking

"Yeah. I guess." Alton shrugged at Maple.
(wanna ship em)

Maple’s mouth quirked. “Maybe not when you’re falling from a tree or anything, but it totally is cool the rest of the time,” she said.

(Sure!)

Is Harley hiding or can they see her?//

"Yeah. That's must've hurt." Alton smiled awkwardly.
(yee)
(she's hidin)

“I’m okay, thanks to Sam! She saved me,” Maple said, smiling gratefully. “What’s your name, by the way? Mine’s Maple.”

"Alton." The smile because less awkward.

“Cool name,” Maple said. “So what’s it like being a mouse? I bet it’s fun.”

"We can't climb trees." Alton smiled shyly at her. "But it's really nice for eavesdropping or sneaking into places. Or scaring people. People are more scared of mice than you'd think."

“Ooh that’s awesome!” Maple exclaimed. “I bet you hear a lot of interesting stuff! When I’m a squirrel, all I do is climb trees or get chased by dogs.”

"Once I snuck in on my principal and watched the worst person in school get roasted by her." Alton smiled. "It was fun. But I bet being a squirrel is awesome."

Maple giggled. “That sounds funny,” she said. “And being a squirrel can be really exciting.”

"How so?" Alton tilted his head.

“Well I go all over the place,” she said, her face lighting up as she described it. “I climb trees, obviously, but I run across the ground too. I hear some conversations, but other squirrels can be pretty interesting too. It can be exhilirating.”

"I bet." He smiled at her lit face.

“Oh my gosh! I just had an idea! Squirrels aren’t that much bigger than mice; maybe we could like go exploring together or something!” She suggested.