Cite gasped and stumbled backward, falling onto a pile of boxes. She tried to form words, but nothing came out, despite the fact that her mouth was hanging open. All she could do was sit there, staring at the creature in utter shock.

"Hey, are you okay?" It asked. The tone of voice sounded genuinely concerned.

Cite nodded. "Y-yeah... I'm f-fine..." she was finally able to say.

"You don't sound fine. You seem kinda spooked. Here, lemme get the lights. You probably can't see a thing." In one swift movement, it flew over to the switch hidden in the darkness and flicked it on, creating a dim glow in the room.

"Thanks... I... who ARE you?" She questioned, trying to ignore the previous comment.

The bat smiled and fluttered over toward her. "Name's Twitchet," it said, "I'm a fruit bat."

"I... I can see that," Cite responded, still in disbelief. As he landed next to her, she was able to examine him more closely. He had dark gray fur and green eyes. On his head was a tuft of spiky white hair. "But... what are you doing here? And how can you talk? And-"

"Whoa, whoa, one question at a time, girl." He interrupted, backing up and hopping onto another box. "Now, let's try that again."

"Right. Sorry..." she apologized. She took a moment to calm down and gather her thoughts, then asked her first question again. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh... kinda live here. Ever since I was kicked outta my family's tree, I've been lookin' for a new place. And this was the darkest, dampest basement I could find. Perfect for me."

"Okay... now, how can you talk?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Twitchet asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A valid one."

"Well... you can talk."

"Yes, but I'm human!"

Twitchet tilted his head. "What difference does that make? Are you saying the ability to speak is race-based? Ya know, I take offense to that."

Cite got quiet. "Oh... I'm, uh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Ah, don't worry, I'm just messin' with ya." He said with a wave of his wing. "I know you humans aren't accustomed to hearing animals talk." As he continued, he noticed the smile forming on the girl's face. She obviously liked his sense of humor.

The two of them talked for hours, sharing stories about their friends and families and all around enjoying each other's company. This was great news for Cite personally. Ever since she had moved to the town of Appa Hills when she was 11, her parents had constantly been away on business trips. Usually it was one at a time, but now that she was older, she found herself alone more often. For the longest time her only friends had been Jenn and Risa, but now it seemed she had found a new one in Twitchet. It didn't matter to her that he was a bat. A friend was a friend, and for Cite, a rare find.