The scene unfolded underneath her pencil, opening up and letting itself be drawn. She sat hunched over, legs crossed with the sketchbook on her lap. It would have been uncomfortable if she was paying attention but she was focused solely on the page and the view in front of her. She was a pair of eyes and a hand, nothing more – she let the pencil make its own path and weave the scene out of graphite. It moved quickly, sketching out the jagged fangs of the mountains. She carved out the hard angles of granite that dug into the ground with titanic weight bearing down upon the Earth. She pressed harder, filling in the dark and hollow gouges rent into the Earth by some forgotten glacier.
    Then, using her graphite-smudged fingers, she caressed the page and created the subtle shadows of clouds on the snow.  At first glance it was indistinguishable from the white of the paper. But she could see it, and was enough.
    Far above the mountains, a streak of silver ran across the sky. She heard the distant sonic boom as the shuttle accelerated to orbital speed and followed it until it faded from view. She smiled to herself as she wondered how she might capture the sound of it with a pencil.
    A light breeze ruffled her pages. It was cool up here. Not cold, at least not unpleasantly so. Not so cold she could see her breath, but cool enough there were still patches of snow hiding behind boulders, and one magnificently frozen waterfall, caught in the act of falling as if a camera had captured it. A steady stream of water dripped down fingers of ice and into the pool below, making a lullaby just for her. The frozen waterfall was beautiful but she couldn't quite translate its translucency to paper – the ice looked like plastic on her page. She frowned, erased it and left it a vague outline.
    The skin pricked up the back of her neck as she heard something behind her. She looked back at the sound.
    It was a feline, some sort of lynx or bobcat. One of the anthropomorphic animal hybrids, or anthros that were introduced a couple of decade ago and only recently absorbed into modern society. Seeing one alone, and so far from the cities wasn't unheard of, but it was unusual. She was standing with her hands up in defence. “Sorry. I didn't want to disturb you. I didn't think anyone came up here."
    The human woman laid her sketchbook on her knees. “You're not disturbing me. I didn't expect to see anyone here either. Especially..." She stopped and studied the cat in front of her. Like most anthros, she was about human height. She stood on two digitgrade legs, freeing her forelimbs which were, for all purposes, human-shaped despite the claws and the fur covering everything but her fingertips.
    “Especially an anthro?" the feline asked.
    “Well, yeah." Then, not knowing what else to say, she said, “I'm Kacey. Are you from around here?" And immediately felt stupid. Obviously she didn't live on the mountain.
    The cat didn't seem to notice. “I'm Ellex."
    Kacey paused. “...Ell-ecks, does that stand for something?"
    “My full name is H-M, L-X, forty, eighty-one ninety-two. But that doesn't really roll off the tongue. They gave me a nickname but it's so pretentious I won't repeat it. So, Ellex it is."
    Kacey nodded. Anthros were given catalogue numbers instead of names, when they were genetically created from scratch instead of bred. GodGen had been doing that since the 2020's. Back when they were called Goddard Genetics, and they were simply a corporation instead of... what they were now.  Ellex must have an owner, then. Probably someone rich.
    She motioned to Kacey's sketchbook. “I've never seen someone draw with analog tools."
    Kacey picked it up. “It's a lost art, certainly. A slate would be a lot easier. I don't know how many times I've wished for an undo button. But that's its charm, I guess."
    Ellex shifted her weight from one foot to another. Her eyes were on the book “Do you mind if I..."
    Kacey held out the sketchbook to her.“Have a look,"
    A grin broke out on the felines face and she bounded towards Kacey and took the sketchpad. She held it up and Kacey saw the wonder spread across her face. Despite her catlike face, (perhaps because of it) her expression was easy to read. Her ears perked up and swivelled forward, and her bright yellow eyes darted across the page - she looked like a child opening a birthday present. She held the sketchbook for far longer than Kacey thought was necessary, long enough she started to think she might be finding flaws or mistakes.
    “It's just a sketch," Kacey ventured. “I've only been working in it for-"
    “It's beautiful," Ellex said as she handed it over. “Where did you learn to draw like this?"
    Kacey took it back and tried to ignore the pride swelling in her. She shrugged casually. “It's just something I picked up."
    Ellex effortlessly hoisted herself onto a boulder. She was in front of the frozen waterfall and covered most of it. Kacey picked up her sketchbook and started sketching her, filling in what she had left blank. As before, she barely had to pay attention to the act of drawing, and simply let the scene draw itself. Her legs and tail hung down and she lounged there, with that unconscious grace that only felines could pull off. She was well-groomed and neat - even pretty in a way. She tried not to let that distract her.
    “Why are you out here alone?" Kacey asked. She lightly flicked the pencil against the page to describe the delicate tufts of fur that stuck out from the tips of Ellex's ears. They reminded her of feathers.
    “I just wanted to be away from people for a bit," she said. “Sometimes they act as if I'm less than human. They're polite enough when they talk to me, but I can tell there's a kind of separation between us. The way they stare when they think I can't see the."
    Then she stopped when she realized what she said. “I didn't mean, like all humans in general. I don't have anything against-"
    Kacey stopped her with a raised pencil. “Yeah. I know the feeling.  Sometimes I get sick of humans too. It's amazing how one person can do that." She could taste the bitterness in her mouth. She returned to her drawing.
    Ellex looked down at her sketchbook. “I'm not ruining the scene, am I?"
    “Actually you're improving it. You're covering the waterfall so now I don't have to draw it."
    Ellex looked back again. “I wouldn't consider that a waterfall."
    Kacey's pencil stopped and she looked up without raising her head. “What do you mean?"
    “The water's not falling. A waterfall is defined by falling water."
    Kacey looked up. “It's still a waterfall."
    “How?"
    “Because that's what it is. It wouldn't exist if it wasn't a waterfall."
    “It was. It's not anymore."
    “So what is it now?"
    “I don't know." Ellex twisted around, forgetting for the moment she was supposed to stay still. She ran her eyes over it for a while. She looked unconcerned. “Maybe it doesn't need a name."
    Kacey finished outlining the feline and started filling her in. Drawing fur is easy she thought, implying each tuft of fur with a few quick strokes. It's just a bunch of lines.
    “It's dripping," Kacey pointed out.
    “That doesn't count."
    A smirk spread across Kacey's face.
    “Seriously, if water was just dripping off a rock, that wouldn't be a waterfall either. And I'm talking about the whole thing in general." She gestured with her furred hands, making a circle.
    Kacey shook her head. “I can't tell if you're serious."
    “I'm always serious." Ellex made a movement to jump off the rock but remembered she was supposed to stay still and stayed still.
    “I still say it's a waterfall." Kacey said. “What else would it be?"
    “It's the frozen corpse of a waterfall, captured in the moment of death."
    Kacey raised her eyebrows at that. She finished filling in the shadows and with that, was done the sketch. She signed the bottom. A silence came over them, broken only by the song of the water dripping into the pool. Now came the awkward part where she didn't know how to end the meeting.
    It would be best if she just left. But there was one thing she could do. She folded the page along its perforations and carefully tore it out. She walked over and handed it to Ellex.
    “Are you serious? I can have it?"
    “I make a lot of sketches. If you keep it, it's better than it staying hidden in my sketchbook."
    “I've never had anyone draw me before."
    “It's been a long time since I had a good conversation. Consider that payment."
    Kacey left the way she came and didn't look back.

    With the human gone, Ellex leaned against the boulder and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of nature.     Disappointment, but not surprised. At least she had a memento. She looked over the drawing. Kacey had captured her form well, despite how quickly she had done it.
    When she saw the bottom corner she grinned broadly and held the page to her chest.
    Underneath the signature was a phone number.