34 Because I was only thirteen, I didn’t know how to talk to girls yet. Zappy understood and helped me. How? I would ask questions and he would answer either yes or no. Zappy waved his branches up and down for yes and back and forth for no. For example, should I ask a girl “Do you want to go with me to find the biggest snakes we can?” Zappy shook his branches from back and forth. I tried not to laugh. I tried again. “Can I show you where beautiful blue butterflies live?” Zappy’s branches quickly went up and down! He helped me to get to know a very pretty girl named Tara. She had just moved here from the United States. Her dad was an environmentalist and had come to study the rainforest. Zappy’s advice worked. We liked each other. We spent time together.