“Now,” said Danal, “he has two birthdays. ”
She smiled down at them and went on, “Now that they know you have kept him alive, he has many relatives who are anxious to have him home as soon as possible…”
He heard but did not listen to the other things everyone was saying because he was hugging and saying good-bye to the only family he had ever known. He was careful not to squeeze their thin, shiny bodies too hard, and he was especially gentle with little Wana who had always been his best friend. Without knowing why he did what the giant, gray-haired woman had done to him, he pushed his mouth against the top of her tiny, round head just between the eyes.
Her eyes were not like his because they opened and closed from the sides and they didn’t get wet, but he had the feeling that she wished they could.