“Hey there, little…thing,” she whispered on a croak, her voice strained from disuse. Two bat-like ears came into view on its long face. The animal was furry, kind of, but its fur was wiry, and each strand was tipped with a glowing blue light as if it weren’t hair at all but millions of strands of blue fiberoptic threads. “Thank you for the water. I think you saved my life.”

