saddest/best conversation ever...

...with an 8-ish-year-old boy named Alejandro.

Alejandro: If you could only pick one, what would be your favorite animal?
Malia: Hmmmm...Armadillo.
Alejandro: I have a really hard time picking between monkeys and snakes.
Malia: I think I like monkeys better than snakes.
Alejandro: But snakes. They're so long, and the way they move...
Malia: Do you have a pet snake?
Alejandro: No. I wish you could train a snake.
Malia: Yeah. That'd be pretty cool, if you could have a snake that could do tricks and stuff.
Alejandro: No, that's not what I mean. Like if you loved it, and cared for it...that it could love you back...I don't think a snake could ever love you back...


What can you say to that?