Poodlecat sat crouched down in her tiny backyard, the backside of her faded overalls already coated in dirt. She could always be found out there, making mud pies or playing with a dead bird, being the grubby little child that she was. It seemed a little gruesome at times, but her parents weren't worried. She was a very well-mannered respectful child, and the three of them were a typical little family. Today she was herding a group of small black bugs into a prison constructed of rocks when the sound of the neighbor's gate opening caused her to look up. Another family of three was standing there, at the border of their yards. The couple had a young boy, about her age.
"Hello dear!" called the woman. "We're your new neighbors and we've just come to say hello. We've met your parents already and our boy is only a year older than you. Maybe you two would like to play together?"
"Sure", Poodlecat said, brushing her stringy mousy brown hair out of her eyes. "You can come over here I guess." She focused back on her bugs and the enthusiastic parents gave their son a little push towards her.
"We'll be inside chatting with your parents if you need us. Have fun!" They waved, and walked around to the entrance of her home.
"Hi", she said plainly to the sandy-haired boy, who nodded in response and sat down across from her in the dirt.
"What are you doing?" he asked, after a long period of silence.
"Stuff", she said, prodding the backside of one of the beetles with a stick, causing it to scurry along faster. The boy didn't respond after that, he just dug a stick into the ground. After a while he began to draw in the soft dirt.
"That's good", she commented, observing the image he'd created on the ground of a man-killing wolf.
"Thanks", he said, and that permanently ended their short-lived conversation. They did their own things in silence until their parents called them in to join them for cake. They had rushed inside, sitting beside their talkative parents in relative silence. Poodlecat decided that she didn't care much for the boy, but the company had been nice. Kind of. She stuffed her mouth with cake to avoid having to answer any question that she might be asked.