Now I know why.

Billy walked across the room to the first set of doors . Inside the room was another set of doors. There were also some nurses who were going to decontaminate him. The set up reminded him of a cartoon he watched when he was younger called SpongeBob.

In the cartoon SpongeBob visits his friend Sandy the squirrel. It is set under the ocean , so SpongeBob can breathe underwater . Sandy on the other hand is a squirrel who needs a helmet stuffed with air to breathe underwater. She lives in a habitat where water is replaced by air. To go to her habitat SpongeBob (or any other sea creature for that matter) has to go through the first set of doors, then grab a helmet full of water. then go through the second door, where the water surrounding is expelled. Finally, they are in the habitat where the squirrel lives without the helmet as its full of air (but the sea creatures take a helmet of water so that they can breathe instead). So yes, this two-room setting was kind of like a SpongeBob situation.

Billy had to first get decontaminated in the first room. He wasn't sure he had ever even spelt the word. The nurses made him change clothes. He also washed his hands and feet , and then his face. Then the nurses nudged him towards the second door. He was excited and nervous. He had never spoken with a non-human before. But he was also sad.

As soon as he entered the second room, he closed the door behind himself. Inside the room there was a glass window. Behind it stood a creature he had never seen up close. This creature was also one of his very distant family members.

The creature signed first. Hello. Welcome.

Billy signed Hello back. The he finger spelt his name.

The creature finger spelt theirs. It was Lolo.

How old are you , signed Billy.

15 signed Lolo.

Ten signed Billy.

Do you like Pokemon asked Billy via the appropriate signs.

No signed Lolo.

What about tennis? signed Billy.

No signed Lolo.

Why are you behind the glass wall? signed Billy.

Disease signed Lolo.

I'm sorry signed Billy.

There was a silence as Billy didn't seem to get the response that he wanted.

Why are you here signed Lolo suddenly and eloquently.

I do not know. Teachers told me to meet you signed Billy.

Do you like your teachers? Lolo signed.

Only Mrs. Roach. She told me we are connected. Billy signed.

How so? Lolo signed back; her head tilted.

Billy then broke down. He forgot that he was meant to sign and spoke. "They are dead. They died saving an animal. They were killed by a poacher".

To his surprise Lolo seems to have understood and replied via signs.

Mine too.

Billy looked up.

Lolo signed back to him. Cry. She put her fingers on her eyes, but no tears came. She made a wailing noise like a cry, but also very different.

Billy carried on in English "He killed them and took them away from me. He killed my parents and made me an orphan".

Mine too signed Lolo back.

Suddenly the gears clicked in Billy's head. This was the animal that they saved. He had been told that his parents had been an anti-poaching squad in Africa when they saw a poacher kill a silverback gorilla and his mate. They had engaged him in combat, but he had shot both dead. Only the infant daughter of the gorillas survived and had been taken away to be hand reared.

Lolo stretched out her arms. At first, he thought that she was going to sign but it looked like she was giving a hug from behind the glass wall.

All his life Billy had been resentful of other children who had parents, and he didn't like the fact that his had apparently died heroes. Mrs. Roach had given him one on one sign language lessons for a year and arranged a special meeting to help him understand their actions. But now he understood. At his tender age, he knew that his parents sacrifice had mattered. Here was standing an engendered animal that was one of the few species that could talk to humans.

Finally, he singed back the following- I'm very proud of my parents.

Me too, signed Lolo.

He went back home to his aunt and uncle and told them the story. He then told them that he loved them. Soon after, Billy had a new appreciation for his life.

Over the years, Lolo and Billy would often meet and have conversations about virtually everything. Billy grew up to be a linguist because of Lolo.