The 'Uncle ' kept chattering and gushing. I didn't speak a word the whole time. When he calmed down and the flow of words slowed down that I cut in.
" Uncle, I'm fine."
It came out quite naturally. I saw that some habits were ingrained deeply in this young body.
Uncle calmed down. He let out a huge sigh of relief. Hearing my voice eased his worries.
"Good. Good...."
His voice trailed off into a choked tremble. My disappearance had scared him to death. I felt warm. The feeling was as sweet as candy.