For the birds

Acai's face flared up instantly. He wasn't thinking ... Impure thoughts, was he? Maybe he was one of those who made a living in that type of business. Oh! Perhaps he had a strange friendship ritual of his own. She hadn't thought of it that way! Yes, she would accept his own customs! Hopefully it was the harmless type, though. She had discovered recently that her pain tolerance was not very high. "I would like to be friend!"

She had seen an article in the news on a man who had a gang after him. Everyone the man spoke to eventually had things happen to them at the hands of that gang. Perhaps he had a similar thing following him, too. Oh, that was so exciting. Tilting her head, Acai stared up at this potential friend. He did not accept any of her offerings, and she could not call him her friend truly. Inside her heart, she was a little melancholy. No one had ever turned her down before. An unhappy frown turned the corners of her mouth down, and she stared at the piece of grass that had fallen to rest on her knee. Shredding it systematically, Acai thought of what she wanted to say. In a low voice, she began slowly. "I do not have many friend. They are confuse when I try. No many people understand the speech of my people. I had a small hope to try again. I do no know what 'enemy' is. Are an enemy nice to acquire?" People she had interacted with had either been too confused or too stupid to understand her awkward way of speaking. When she tried to explain the nature of her heritage, they thought her to be crazy. Who talks of trees and nature when one could spend time thinking of money and figures?