Sam sat alone on the grass at the SacU Quad, sketching a remembered face. Cobb was supposed to join he and Grobbler into the Hedge, but Cobb never showed up at the Quad.

Cobb seemed like a decent fellow. They had hit it off well from the start, sharing an interest in dreams. They had even made a short term pledge together, something to test the waters between them.

Sam had the face in general and started working on the minor details, things most people would recognize as Cobb, if they had ever met him.

Something went wrong, however, and for a week, Sam felt the loss of a broken pledge. Sam wasn’t there to help out Cobb I whatever trouble had befallen him. Sam knew the Wyrd didn’t care that Sam didn’t have an opportunity to act in Cobb’s defense. The only truth that mattered was that Sam hadn’t helped.

Sam’s sketch might have been finished, but Sam started adding little details most people overlook, things that may or may not have really been there, but in Sam’s mind, were needed.

Sam blames his failed Hedge walk with Grobbler on his own broken pledge. There were no real sanctions in the pledge, but Sam’s guilt, deserving or not, was felt by the hedge, and Grobbler lost the use of his Hollow for a week, the same duration as the pledge was to last. That was no coincidence in Sam’s mind.

Sam wrote the following words on the sketch: “I lost my friend.” A tear drop landed on the word ‘lost’, warping the paper and the letters. When the Lost become lost, it is a sad warning for all.

He stuck the sketch to a tree with rusty nail he found on the ground. There was no contact information, and the paper would fade into memory with the first rain or wind storm, but for a brief moment, Sam let the world know someone cared.