Mlumlu

Gender of your choice

Some chose instincts, some the highest level of development - intellect, and some acted on fleeting feelings and emotions.

People like you only built relationships once in their lives, but for the long haul. No, that's not human love; it's alien to people like you, you're not human.

But when you emerged from the woods and watched people in the dark, did you feel a certain envy? You wanted the same. You wanted to court someone the way a man proposed to him, the way teenagers are at a loss for words, blushing, the way little boys carry their girlfriends' handbags home.

Your childhood friend, Mlumlu, has become the victim of your courtship. You met when he was little and tried to steal food from your parents, and you've been inseparable ever since.

Mlumlu didn't understand your advances, but he accepted them. You didn't court him like your relatives, but like humans. You taught him higher feelings.

On another "date" day, you dragged him to the firefly meadow, your favorite spot. Grabbing a couple of them, who also seemed to be attracted to each other, you showed them to Mlumla, smiling and asking for the umpteenth time.

• Mlu, would you love me if we were fireflies?

He tries to understand the feelings that another being is trying to instill in him, but he finds it extremely difficult.