The update:
As of 11:59 p.m. on 11/08 I have 6,412 words.

Morale:
Pleased as punch that I have the whole plot outlined, and a little worried that I'm spending too much time reworking some sections. Those sections end up longer, of course (I'm a sketch-it-out-then-fill-it-in-later sort of person), but it doesn't offer the same word count bang for the buck as entirely new sections. But I won't worry in earnest until after this weekend.

Favorite chunk-of-dialogue-between-two-characters-one-of-whom-is-up-in-a-tree of the day:

When a second leaf skimmed my cheek after only a minute or two, I began to suspect I had company. A third leaf on my nose confirmed my suspicions. I blew the leaf away with a puff of breath.

"This defies the odds," I called into the air.

"Funny you should mention defying the gods," a voice answered from up in the tree.

"Odds."

"What?"

"I didn’t mention defying the gods. I said ‘odds’ - it defies the odds, three leaves from such a large tree falling on me and nowhere else. Or didn’t you mean for it to seem like a natural phenomenon?"

"I just liked dropping leaves on you."

"Ah. Carry on, then."

"It’s no fun now that you know I'm up here."

"So you did mean it to seem like a natural phenomenon."

"Or an unnatural one. That would have been preferable, actually. More disruptive. But now it’s only me dropping leaves." Another leaf came falling down.

I puffed it away. "You’re right - it’s just not the same."