The silence lay thick between us. Nnnnnn continued to stare into my eyes. I realized that there was no way I could lie to him.

“Are you an adult, or are you a child?” he repeated.

I swallowed hard, then told him the truth.

“I’m both.”

Nnnnnn nodded, which seemed to mean the same thing on his planet as on ours. “I suspected as much. Come with me.”

He turned and walked away. I could have run in the other direction, but I didn’t. I followed him.

We left the forest. The purple trees were singing the song they sing when the sky is clear. I cradled Ralph in my arms.

Nnnnnn led me to the bank of a stream. We sat and looked up at the stars.

I knew what he was showing me, or at least I thought I did. He was showing me the community that Earth was being invited to join—or might be invited to join, if I didn’t screw things up.

Are you an adult, or are you a child?

The question burned in my ears. My father had given me the printout. He had told me to keep Ralph in my room. He had warned me not to compliment our guests on anything they showed us.

Every bit of the trouble I was in was my own fault.

“Will you take good care of Ralph?” I asked, my voice thin and whispery, like dry leaves sliding against one another.

Nnnnnn was silent for a moment. At first I thought he was trying to decide how to answer the question. Later, I realized that what he was debating was whether to answer it at all.

Finally he nodded.

“I will,” he said.

Trying hard not to cry, to keep the part of me that was an adult in charge, I lifted Ralph from my neck. Pressing him to my cheek, I wiped my tears against his fur, then passed him to Nnnnnn.

I wanted to say, “You don’t know what this means.” I wanted to say, “I am so lonely, and he is my closest friend.” I wanted to say, “I hate you.”

I said nothing.

Nnnnnn took Ralph from my hands. He placed him in his lap and stroked his fur. The water rippled past Nnnnnn’s green feet. The stars filled the sky, the clear sky of Kwarkis, in an abundance we never see through the soiled air of Earth.

“Over there, that way, is my home,” said Nnnnnn. “It is a sacred place of great beauty. I do not like to be away from it.”

I wondered why he was telling me this, then realized that it was a kind of gift. In saying this he was speaking to me as one adult to another.