| Jay kept so still, he hardly even took a breath. He just kept watching the person in the tall skinny tree. Finally the person moved enough for Jay to see who it was. It was a girl that looked a little younger than Jay. She didn't look afraid of Jay. He didn't know if it was because he had not moved at all or if she was just not afraid. For two hours they just looked at each other with out moving. Then she either decided he was not going to move, or he was not really there. She suddenly started down from the top of that tree, and moved back toward the rest of the people.
Jay wondered if she was going to alert everyone that he was there. But he knew she had been watching him for several days and she had not told about him yet. He watched her closely and she seemed to have forgotten all about him the minute she was back with her people. The next night Jay went early again. He got to his place and looked at the tall skinny tree. She was there already looking at him. He gave her a nod of his head. She gave a nod back. Then she went back to her people and he watched. Each night was the same for several more nights. Then he took a pocket full of raisins. That night he gave a nod and then held his hand out with the raisins on it. She just looked at him. Then he put some of the raisins on a branch and left. The next night when he arrived at his spot, the raisins were gone, and in their place was a piece of lulo fruit. He looked at her and she gave a nod and he did the same. Then he smiled at her and took the fruit and ate it. She smiled back. Each night for another week they would nod at each other and smile. At the end of the third week he awoke in his tree hole with the feeling he was being watched. He looked around and saw his friend sitting in a tree not far away watching him. She smiled and gave a nod and he did the same. Then he noticed she was not the only one watching him. As he looked close, he could see farther away many of the spirit people. She had told about him after all. He wondered if they were going to capture him or use their spears on him. But something inside him said they were just going to watch him as he had done to them. So he went about his regular routine. When he finally headed toward the village, they followed him. He went to his regular place and sat. The rest of the village people were still there. Slowly the ones that had been watching him returned to the village. But as they all knew about him, they did not go about their regular routines. Instead they had a large council meeting with the entire village in attendance. Jay knew it was because of him that they were in council. Several keep looking at him. All had a turn standing and talking. It seemed well organized and calm. Even the children had a say it seemed. Jay found this interesting. He wished he could hear what was being said, but he was sure he would find out what they decided soon enough. Jay was right, he was about to find out what they had decided. It had taken about an hour for the decision to be made. Then his friend headed toward his tree. The others were watching. She came up to his spot and said something he was not sure of. He thought it meant to follow her. She looked at him for a minute, and when he did not move, she motioned for him to come. Then he smiled and got up and followed her to the village. She lead him to the person Jay had thought was the chief. Then she sat down and motioned for him to sit also. He sat and the chief started to talk to him. He caught a word here and there but not enough to know what they wanted. Jay shook his head and said to his friend he did not understand. He spoke in the language of his Grandfather. The chief nodded his head and said something to his friend. She smiled and started to say words and point at things. She was trying to teach him their language. Jay gave a big smile at her and then at the chief. He said the word after her and pointed to what it was. She smiled and gave a nod. He was learning and he knew it would not take him long to understand these people now. Each day he came to the village and spent the day learning their language. The people did not seem to mind him being there, tho they did look at him curiously. The children were friendly also. They would even talk to him and help him learn the language. Laughing at him when he said a word wrong. His friend was called Oncilla. The chief, Cohezel, worked just as hard as the rest of the villagers. He only seemed to hold a high office when there was any decisions to be made. He did not make the decisions, he just presided over the council meetings. Everyone had a voice in making the decisions. When Jay had learned their language well enough, they called for a council meeting to question Jay. He had been with these people long enough to know he liked them, but not long enough to really know what they would do if they did not like his answers. |
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| music: CUBA |
