I laughed as Apachai jumped from tree to tree with me on his back. The wind whipped my hair behind me wildly and I tightened my grip on his neck. I had finally given into his requests to play with him. He wanted to take me to his favorite lookout point, which seemed to be high in the trees. We stopped and Apachai pulled me from his back, setting me on his shoulder.
"This is Apachai's favorite spot," he said. "You can see to ocean from here!" I looked out and saw that he was right. In the distance, I could see the harbor, full of ships. The city below looked so small, like some kind of miniature. I saw small dots moving that I recognized at people and the sweeping sky scrapers of the city beyond.
"It's wonderful, Apachai," I said.
He smiled up at me.
"Apachai is glad he could play with you today," he said. "Apachai was sad that you were sick and could not play."
"I know," I said. "I was sad, too."
"Akisame made Apachai promise that he would be careful and have you back for your nap," Apachai said. I laughed and patted his head.
"I know," I said. "Akisame doesn't want me to overdo it. I guess it's a good thing, since I probably would."
"Akisame is very nice," Apachai said.
"He is," I agreed. "But so are you." Apachai looked up at me again, a smile almost splitting his face in two.
"Apa!" he chirped. "After you are better, you will come and play with us again, yes?"
"If you want," I said, smiling.
"Apachai wants that very much!" he exclaimed. "So do many here. We like you very much." I wrapped my arms around his neck and dropped down from his shoulder, hugging him.
"I like you too, Apachai," I told him. "I would be very sad if I couldn't see you again." Apachai wrapped his arms around me and squeezed briefly.
"Come, we will get down and play more," he said, flinging me onto his back and climbing down from the trees.