Something shifts.

The jaw softens. The eyes change.

Or maybe the light changes.

The face flickers between hunger and fear.

I blink, and the expression is different.

Are they lunging?
Or perhaps reaching instead?

Their hands are open.

No — they were claws!

The image will not hold still.

My certainty wavers.

I realize how quickly I named the shapes.

And how quickly a name becomes a verdict.