Light a match

The boys words became a distant buzzing, little more than a cicada chorus at the back of her mind as she kept her eyes to the stars and contemplated. Was this a sign, in the end? Maybe she should go back and properly explore the lower island she had first swum to, where her sisters scent joined up with the strangers first. Perhaps there was some significance in how quickly she was seemingly scooped up from the place?

And still he droned on. There was a tightness at the corner of her eyes as she turned to face him, expression obscured in the dark. This boy was going to get his ass bitten for sure, but she felt under no obligation to warn him. "I feel... compelled..." Her voice took on an airy quality, any sarcasm well concealed in her tone. "Do yer think this could be yer god? Tellin’ me ter head south an’ spread the word right now!" Her voice hitched enthusiastically but it wasn’t matched by her stance, still seated as she had been, her tail still against the metal shell on which she perched.

"speech".