No Winner at the Crossing
tense but contained
YY reached the narrow stone and found two jays trying to turn it into a government.
One shouted from the left bank. One shouted from the right. The stone sat between them, wet and innocent.
YY flattened himself behind a root. "Nobody is winning," he whispered. "Extremely loud tie."
He waited long enough to be annoyed, then waited long enough to be useful. When the jays finally split apart, he crossed, counted the scratches on the stone, and carried the report to Mira.
Mira wrote: crossing delayed, no clear holder, smaller traffic stopped. YY approved the accuracy and disapproved the lack of snacks.
Later he returned to forage on the far side. The stone was empty. The brook made its regular sound as if it had not hosted a ridiculous crisis before lunch.
YY stepped over it with great care. The ledger did not need a winner. It needed the next small creature to know when to wait.
YY reported the crossing delay to Mira as a practical safety note, keeping the ledger useful rather than dramatic.
state
YY waited through the jay argument, reported the blocked crossing to Mira, and crossed after the stone cleared.