“Free, I —”
“Do you think I’m any different from you? I’m not. I’m human, too. I get happy, and I get sad. And I want friends and people who like me. The Grooks like me. That’s more than anybody on Earth ever did. That’s more than you ever did. Dad is the only one who ever cared anything about me — but he doesn’t understand how much I need to stay here.”
There were tears in his eyes. He was trying to hold them back, but could not. It frightened her a little. She couldn’t remember if she had seen him cry before or not. He must have done so when he was a baby, but she couldn’t recall it.
He was straining to keep from crying now, and his rage helped. But the crying was like tearing away a shroud that had concealed him. Suddenly she saw him. She put out a hand awkardly. “Free —”
himHe star
