A Monster

"There he is, my little wolf." Denali's mother opened her arms to greet Denali, and his little sister went to hug him as well. She then held onto her hands. "We miss you, Denali. How is the clergy treating you? Do they feed you well? I brought you corn."

"Thank you, Ma." Denali received the basket before looking down at his little sister. "Hey, you're getting stronger. You couldn't have hiked here on your own. Who carried you?"

"Denali, how could you? I'm getting better now, so—" The sister beamed a wide smile, but she suddenly felt weak and wheezed as if out of breath. Denali caught her, but she still smiled at him again.

It's just that June felt horror when even Denali saw that blood was on his sister's mouth. The boy just used his sleeve to clean his sister's teeth. He then kissed her forehead before returning the smile. "I'm happy you're getting better now."