Page 6 of Schooling Little Sage

Well, at least he had the manners part down.

Two quick bites and two burger stuffed chipmunk cheeks later, he was off, following the butterfly at a respectful distance. The second that beautiful monarch landed on his shoulder, his giggles filled the open-air garden space.

I slid my phone out and snapped a picture. Most of the Littles I’d played with as of late were living the lifestyle in one form or another. To watch this, for lack of a better term or perhaps the perfect one, butterfly emerge from the cocoon he’d been tucked in, well, this was something else altogether and I found myself in quite a conundrum. Trapped between denial and acceptance of what could possibly be.

The internal battle was real.

Jesus, I’d only known the boy for an hour. What the hell was wrong with me?

I shook it off. Maybe my sugar levels were low?

Yeah, that had to be it.

I dumped our trash and put the dishes and trays in the proper bins. “Sage, let’s grab dessert.” And the most sugar-filled treat we could find for me.

He wandered back over, all smiles. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Not yelling at me for being silly.”

“Sage, you never have to thank me for that. You’ll soon find that at Rawhide Ranch, you’re not only allowed to embrace your true self, but you’re encouraged to do so.” Getting into too many details may be a bit much for his first day. Plus, the 101 classes Master Derek had enrolled him in may do a better job of explaining the lifestyle to him than I could, though I’d be there for any questions he may have after.

Sage grabbed two chocolate chip cookies and I snagged a brownie.

“Let’s head to the store.”

“That’s the biggest fireplace I’ve ever seen.” Sage’s head tilted back as he followed it to the ceiling. “Do they use it?”

“They do and they put an equally huge Christmas tree up in front of it for the holidays.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Afternoon, Warner,” Becky greeted us as we stepped inside the store. “What brings you by today?”

“Howdy, Becky. This is Sage, a new ranch hand, and he’s in need of quite a few supplies.”

“Welcome, Sage. Take a look around and if you don’t see something, come and find me. If we don’t have it in the back, we can order it for you.”

“Wow. Th-thank you.”

Sage wandered around and I watched, waiting to see where he’d stop first. Would he go for the toys or straight to the clothes? Huh, guess it was the wall of stuffies for the win.

“What kind of toys do you like?” He flinched at the sound of my voice. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I um, never really had any.”

How was that possible? “What did you play with when you were younger?”

He shrugged. “With whatever I found outside. When I wasn’t out in the yard, I stayed in my room and read.”

Immersing himself in fantasy worlds I’d imagine was a way to escape what was quickly coming to sound like a personal hell he survived.

“If you got to pick one stuffy from the wall which one would it be?”

His fingertips nimbly traced the soft fur of a couple of bears then over a butterfly on the end of an adorable brown one’s nose. “This one.”