Tiresias was sitting by the riverbank, his blindfold loose, letting the breeze cool the sweat on his brow. The visions had been relentless all morning—colors and sounds and futures clawing at him like thorns. He’d finally found a moment of silence, a stillness that didn’t ache.

Until he felt a small tug on his robe.

He turned slowly. “Who—?”

“Hi,” said a tiny voice.

A girl stood behind him. No more than five, maybe six. Her coppery hair was tangled with leaves, her eyes golden and gleaming with the unblinking intensity of someone who never got told “no.” She wore a dark, oversized cloak draped like a curtain around her shoulders and little sandals scuffed from wandering.

Tiresias leaned back slightly. “Circe?”

She nodded solemnly.

“You’re… a child.”

“I know,” she said brightly, then added, “You look weird when you’re surprised.”

He pulled his cloak tighter around himself, suddenly cold. “How did you get here? Aeaea is an island.”

She shrugged, like that part wasn’t important. “I left. I got bored. I walked on the water a little. Then a bird helped. Now I’m here!”

Tiresias stared. “A bird?”

“He owed me,” she said, sitting down beside him as if this were all perfectly normal.

He was silent for a long moment, trying to gather himself. “Why are you a child?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I woke up and I was small. But I still remember everything. You’re Tiresias. You don’t like oranges. You have sad dreams.”

That last part pierced more than he wanted it to.

She leaned over, her tiny shoulder bumping his arm. “Are you mad I came?”

He sighed and turned his face slightly toward her. “No. Just confused. And confiscated.”

“Confiscated?” she asked, tilting her head.

“I meant confounded,” he muttered. “But… yes. Also confiscated. My peace, apparently.”

She giggled at that, kicking her feet.

He turned toward her more fully. “You shouldn’t be here, Circe. You’re… vulnerable like this.”

Her smile faded just a little. “So are you.”

Tiresias stilled.

She scooted closer and took his hand in her much smaller one. “We can be small together for a while.”

And somehow, that made the day feel less unbearable.