"Okay, that was weird," Damon muttered under his breath.
"What was weird?" his mother asked, glancing back at him as she walked down toward the village.
Damon hesitated, unsure if he should tell her or not. But eventually, he decided to speak.
"Well… it was weird, but I saw myself."
Ranar narrowed her eyes, her voice thoughtful.
"Is that philosophical, or… not? I'm not clear on what you mean."
Damon shook his head. "No, I mean literally. I saw myself. I looked different. I had long dark hair."
Ranar's eyes drifted to her son's neatly cut hair. "So, you want to grow your hair out? That's fine. I think you'd look cute—well, cuter."
Damon chuckled softly at her quick correction.
"That version of me didn't look quite right," he continued. "My eyes were dark, dark as night. I looked so… tired, I guess."
Ranar stopped walking for a moment, drawing in a slow breath before speaking.
