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"You uplander?" The girl suddenly asked in heavily accented English

It was the first ti and lish words coirl nodded as if it had been a foregone conclusion to her We'd stopped in a grouping of boulders in an area of the jungle that was broken up here and there and devoid of tree cover

We were afforded a filtered view over the surrounding landscape that ran along this side of the stonyIn the distance as far as I could see was coastline My sense of being on an island intensified

My gaze cama to me She was all but naked except for a brief skirt about her waist that appeared to be rass like reeds She was the picture of unspoiled naivety and oneness with nature and yet she spoke English of all things How on Earth could that be possible?

"You speak my words?" I asked

"A little A woood woirl said pointing upwards with a finger

To ood bit more interaction froovernirl shook her head no and pointed towards the sea, "She on the far islands No irl seele at a lack for words and to ether and rocked back and forth suggestively

"A baby" I filled in for her and she nodded with a pearly toothed smile Then impulsively she reached forward and felt at several strands of my blonde hair, which had pulled free ofsince at so in her own language and though itswas hidden I was pretty sure she was quite taken by the color of my hair I very well may be the first such woman she'd ever seen and so I let her touch my hair

I watched her eyes scan downher head to the side she asked, "Why you wear so much?"

"Umm, I just do It's hoe dress from where I come from"