Willow

Meeting Willow for the first time is an experience not easily forgotten. Not because she accosts you through force of personality but because, by gently drawing you towards herself through a combination of kindness and sweetness, she imprints herself upon you deep, deep down.Her mouth slips easily into a wide smile, as if it was merely relaxing towards its default shape. She looks up at me with deep, supplicatory eyes. Her eyes are those of a penitent soul, though she has committed no sin, and I fear the kind of past that must’ve made her this way. She cautiously steps towards me again, bridging the small gap which had parted us, and places her head at just the right height for a scratch – not an inch too high nor a fraction too low. I do just that and she lets her eyelids fall into a half-closed position. Her smile, though, remains unaltered, undimmed, as my fingers tickle at her ears. She sheds some of her timidity and leans in, her eyes brighten; cautiousness traded for cuddles.This...

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