Kinkajou
Stumble.
Ouch!
"Look at her. She's so weird!"
"She can't see? She really can't see?"
Tamarin stumbled over her own talons. She'd never be able to keep track of where was where or what was what, and she wasn't about to get any help, either. The queens didn't care about what she looked like.
"Hey weirdo, you're about to bump into a tree!" Said the first voice.
What's a tree? Tamarin wondered again. No one was there to tell her what was what, because the RainWings didn't keep track of her eggs. Tamarin didn't know what a mother was. Parents weren't a RainWing thing.
But what kept Tamarin from walking forward was that she did know what bump meant. Bump meant the painful scrapes, scratches and wounds on her underbelly from walking into things. Bump meant scrape, snap, ouch!
"Hey, leave her alone!"
It was a happy voice, full of glee, but with something else, too. Anger.
"Can you really not see?" The voice asked.
"N-no," Tamarin whispered. She didn't know what seeing was. She had no idea what blue was, what color was green, or what in the world was yellow. She told an orange and a mango apart by their texture and scent.
"Can you change your scales?" The voice inquired.
"Change?"
"Change their color."
"Color?"
"Oh," said the voice, realization dawning. The voice changed. "What's your name?"
"Tamarin," said Tamarin.
"I'm Kinkajou," said the voice. "What are those gashes on your underbelly?"
"From bumping into things," said Tamarin.
"Oh, you poor thing!" Kinkajou gasped. "You don't know how to fly around stuff because you can't see them! That must really hurt." Tamarin felt a cool talon on her underbelly.
"C'mon, Kinkajou, leave the freak alone," said one of the voices.
"But she's hurt, Anaconda," Kinkajou insisted. "She has no one to show her how to do things. Just look at those gashes on her belly. Yowch!"
"Suit yourself," said Anaconda nastily. "Just don't get too attatched, 'cause soon she'll be banished from the rainforest because of her weird scales!"
Tamarin heard stomping and guessed that the two mean voices had left.
"Don't worry," Kinkajou soothed. Judging by her voice, Tamarin guessed that she was about a year older than Kinkajou. But the little RainWing was still willing to help her.
"D-do I have weird scales?" Tamarin asked self-consiously.
"No," said Kinkajou defensively. "They're the most beautiful blue. And your underbelly is a pretty gold."
"Blue? Gold?" Tamarin asked quietly.
"Well, they're colors. Everything is a different color," Kinkajou said, struggling to explain.
Tamarin thought. "What's a tree?" she asked, remembering how one of the voices had said, you're about to bump into a tree!
"Um..." Kinkajou took Tamarin's talon in hers and drew carefully on the ground. Tamarin saw a picture in her head of what she'd drawn. A long, thick stick, and a big circle at the top, she somehow knew.
"The long line is the trunk," said Kinkajou. "Stand up!" Tamarin obeyed. She felt a talon on her back, guiding her to walk. Kinkajou took Tamarin's talon and placed it in midair.
Wait, not in midair. She felt something going up. It was rough and hard. "This is the trunk of a tree," Kinkajou explained. "Up here- okay, fly upwards a little, don't worry, I won't let you hurt yourself- these are the leaves. That's the round part you drew." The leaves were softer and broke in her hand.
Tamarin panicked. "I broke it!" She dropped a little and landed on the ground. Pain on her underbelly.
"It's okay," Kinkajou soothed. "It's supposed to happen."
"SUUUUNTIIIIIIIME!"
Normally, Tamarin would follow the sounds of stomping talons to the suntime platforms and curl up on the ground, unable to fly to the platforms. But today Kinkajou guided her to a small hammock.
"Th-thank you," said Tamarin. "No one's ever done that for me before."
"Of course," said Kinkajou. "I gotta go now. See you later!" Tamarin heard the sounds of flapping wings, flying away. Kinkajou had left.
Tamarin fell asleep peacefully for the first time since... well, ever. She couldn't see anything, but dreamed of feeling that smooth "dirt," the rough "trunk," and the crumpling "leaf." She dreamed of Kinkajou's voice, saying you're the most beautiful "blue". And your underbelly is a pretty "gold."
It was the first time in a long while she'd dreamed of something good. She was usually haunted with words like weirdo! and freak!
Tamarin had a feeling things were about to change.