“We thank you, we truly do, but, those trees…” Bob pointed at a new grove near his home half-hex. “Why are they screaming?” <That’s an insect called a cicada. It lives on the tree; it is not the tree itself. Minya brought me some as a present from the dry lands to the east. I was told people found the sound soothing. Not so much for you?> I explained with a chuckle. Of all inanimate objects I’d found, so far I’d only heard rocks scream. Screaming trees. That’s a good one. “The general consensus here is that they are rather terrifying.” He gave a weak smile. “Would you mind?” The cicadas
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