Esmeralda had just signed up. Face painting. The midway. She knew plenty of people here had far more energetic professions, but for her, just sitting at the midway every day would be like climbing Everest. In a Blizzard. Wearing clown shoes. Going from living alone in the wilderness to suddenly surrounded by huge crowds of people, it was going to be quite the culture shock. And part of her really wanted to turn tail and run for the tree line to escape it. But she knew she couldn't. She couldn't leave her family again.
Instead she did the next best thing. She scampered off to a quiet corner to think things through. She'd been informed that she had her own wagon, with a bed and everything she'd need. But she was so used to the forest floor under her soft fur that she couldn't quite bring herself to enter it. It would be a process of adjustment, just like her new job. Until then, she just needed somewhere dark away from the bright lights of the circus.
A couple of deck chairs on one of the little porches offered her the perfect conditions. Dark, quiet and secluded enough to hide. She really hadn't been expecting anyone to disturb her. She'd padded up onto the wooden planks and wiggled her way under the chairs to get comfortable, her long tail flicking back and forth with her ungainly scurrying. But once she was laying down it was much better. She closed her eyes and let the soft sound of the leaves rustling in the wind lull her to sleep.
It had been perfect until a soft strumming had woken her less than a hour later. The sound had startled her and she whipped her head up to see where it was coming from. Forgetting entirely that she was under a chair. She didn't see the person at all, all she succeeded in doing was hitting her head and flattening her ears down, letting out a whimper more out of surprise than anything. But she recovered when she heard his words. Peaking her little white and red muzzle out from under the treacherous chair to see if the man was talking to her.
Their eyes connected for a moment, then the head vanished back into the darkness below. Don't freak out Esme, it's just one man..Calm. Breathe. After her little pep-talk she tried again. This time managing to get her entire head out, eyeing him suspiciously. He didn't seem like he was planning on coming any closer or attacking her, he was just sitting there. That was good. The wolf felt herself relax a little, paws crossing on the wood below her so she could rest her head on them. Warm eyes flicking up in his direction, looking almost expectant. Because if he was going to keep her awake she wouldn't mind hearing more of his music. He was actually rather good.