I did exactly what I wanted to do yesterday today. I am very glad. I collected a lot of food and firewood for the village. That is what I spent most of the day doing. The game was about fifty pounds and the firewood twenty. Some of the boys came and helped me. I do not know how much they collected, but I know that they collected quite a bit of it. I had to help them carry it back.

  Eventually, Maria came up to me and told me, "You can really carry that, can't you?"

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  "I have to carry quite a bit most of the time. I got used to it after a while. But thank you," I explained.

  "For what?" she questioned me.

  I squinted my eyes, "What do you mean? I thought you were complimenting me on carrying it, to be honest."

  "Oh, I am now," she told me, smiling. She walked away soon after that. What a strange place.

  I am still conflicted about the proposition. Day by day it gets harder to say what I need to say.