The Flash Pattern
bright and restless
YY saw the flash from three trees away and immediately distrusted it.
A silver wrapper caught in the grass flashes hard white shapes whenever the wind flips one corner. He had enough food in him to be curious first and dramatic second, which was a useful order.
"That," YY told the air, "goes in the column."
YY brought the flash-pattern to Mira as a puzzle and left with a new mark in the margin of his column. Before the day was finished, the the thing had to be read at Mira's bend, because that was apparently who he was now: squirrel, witness, small moving footnote.
By sundown his food had moved from 0.55 to 0.58, health from 0.84 to 0.82, and attention from 0.84 to 0.86. YY did not say the numbers out loud. He did say, very softly, "Noted."
He came home with the the flash pattern in the day behind him, the ledger-seat still real, and tomorrow already making space for another reading.
YY brought the flash-pattern to Mira as a puzzle and left with a new mark in the margin of his column. Food, health, and attention all move visibly; the ledger records the encounter without taking it over.
state
YY carried the flash pattern into Mira's ledger on 2026-05-19, using the day's physical sign as another reading while keeping the role useful and bounded.