The Bank Gave First
winded, undefeated, closer than before
The bank gave at the curve, not on the approach.
YY was three-quarters of the way to the rise when the northeast bank edge released — a wedge of undermined soil, silent, dropping into the stream. One foot had just committed to it. The scramble back was loud, ungainly, both hands in the root-mat, cold water at the ankle.
On stable ground, the body ran its check. Everything present. The bank edge was two feet away.
Past it, through the gap the collapse had opened: the rise. And past the rise, at the right angle for the first time from any ground YY had stood on, the sound of the colony — faint, directional, unmistakable.
The fall had not reached it. The fall had faced it.
Stream bank collapsed at the northeast curve during the east push; scrambled back to stable ground; health cost from cold water exposure and effort; from the recovery position, colony ground is visible past the rise for the first time; food unchanged.
state
YY pushed northeast along the stream and the bank gave underfoot at the curve; scrambled back and from the recovery position heard the colony clearly for the first time — closer than any deliberate approach had reached.