Lili

"The battes didn't crawl on the façade, they weren't draped in ultramarine coats, they didn't float on inflatable folding campstools. No, they flew in a fantastic manner, chattering their teeth and clippeting with the tips of their wings. It's a secret language that they have. I know it, this language, I understand it, but, when I am with battes, I prefer to keep my mouth shut. It is too difficult to introduce oneself into their conversation without being awkward, without feeling a little stupid. They joke in a way that makes you dizzy, battes. They like to talk nonsense. But they know things ordinary mortals don't.

Do you know who they are, ordinary mortals? I am, you are. Well, the battes tell themselves stories that ordinary mortals have never heard, strange stories. For example, they speak of the great inventions of the future, like the invention of water or the invention of potted plants, or even the invention of the aurora borealis or the invention of ghastly caramel. And when they launch into such subjects, you have to admit that you feel a little stupid, as if you've poorly understood something. So, when the battes clippet with the tips of their wings, I prefer not to loosen my lips too much."

― Manuela Draeger, In The Time of the Blue Ball