(Untitled)

[maxthemonkey]

[staring at the ground, feeling mopey]

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[oz_witches]

[frowns when she sees him so sad. She puts on a smile.] Hey, Max!

[maxthemonkey]

[glances up and gives her a smile, but it's not very convincing] Hi.

[oz_witches]

Can I join you?

[maxthemonkey]

[nods and scoots over, giving her plenty of room]

[oz_witches]

This down next to him; smiles] So, what's in the ground that has your attention?

[maxthemonkey]

[makes a face and looks at her, confused; he doesn't understand the question]

[oz_witches]

[smiles] What are you thinking about?

[maxthemonkey]

[shrugs and looks at the dirt again] Lots of th-th- [closes his eyes and makes a face; he hates having trouble with the easy words, but the more upset he gets, the worse they come out] things. [looks back to Ozma]

[oz_witches]

[nods] Yeah...[she's been watching him long enough to know why he's sad] You miss Mel, right?

[maxthemonkey]

[glances at her lap and frowns; nods] Yeah. I am ff-ff [grunts and shakes his head] af-fraid that um.. Mommy said that um.. she s-s-ent a mess-sge but um.. I [shakes his head again; looks at Ozma and whispers] What if the bad man found her 'gain and made her ff-f-forget? [she's been gone too long; something bad happened, he just knows]

[oz_witches]

[wraps an arm around him] I can promise you that the badman is not going to hurt anyone again. Mel is fine and she thinks about her family all the time.

[maxthemonkey]

[curls into her] How do you know that?

[oz_witches]

[holds him tight] Well, because your Mom and Dad did talk to her and if anyone was able to tell if something was wrong, it would be them.

[maxthemonkey]

[if something was wrong, he would know. He can always tell when mommy is telling a fib; but, the bad man made Mel think she was somebody different... what if she could make Mommy and Daddy think she was all right?]

[quietly] I w-want her to be here. She has b-b-een gone too l-long. [pulls away and wipes at his cheeks when he realizes he's crying; now he's crying and his words are getting worse, which makes him mad; looks at Ozma] Why d-do... my w-w-words.. get bad when I f-feel like this?

[oz_witches]

[smiles softly] That happens to a lot of people when they're upset, it's more common than you think. [shifts to face him] What would you like to do? Go for ice cream? Go fishing? Chase chickens?

[maxthemonkey]

[looks at her and feels a little better, but not much; shakes his head and looks at the dirt again] No, thank you.

[Tinny ambles up a moment later; sniffs and licks Ozma, then nudges Max's arm with his muzzle] Stop it, Tinny.