From inside the burlap sack, Penelope was just beginning to stir. She lifted her wings, trying to free herself from the material holding her down. She stood up and hopped a few times, before her body bounced all around the cage. Her muffled voice called out, “Let me out. Let me out. Craauugghh!”
Upon hearing the parrot’s quandary, Thunder stuck his trunk into the cage next to him. Picking the sack up, he gently wriggled it open and dumped Penelope out onto her cage floor. “There you go.”
Penelope teetered on her feet for a moment before looking him directly in the eye. “Whew! Out! No bag for Penelope.”
Thunder touched Penelope gently on the shoulder. “You’re welcome, little bird.”
Penelope took in her surroundings. “Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Not home.”
Thunder replied, “It’s not heaven. That’s for sure.”
“No heaven. Not home. Big trouble. Whhoooo!!” Penelope brushed the dust from her feathers. She was attempting to bring some sense of composure to herself, when Thunder’s trunk sucked her up like a vacuum hose in an attempt to help her out.
Penelope’s voice was muffled when she called out. Her wings fluttered wildly around her. “Aaahhh!! Unplug the parrot.”
Penelope wrapped her wing around a bar of the cage and tried to yank herself from his grasp. Thunder pulled his trunk back, and Penelope fell from his grasp hitting the bottom with a loud thud. She rubbed her head and gave him a reproachful glance.
Thunder ducked his head from her gaze. “Sorry.”
They sat there in the silence as the truck continued to wind down the long dirt road. Each one of them was thinking about how they could possibly get free from this impossible situation.
The upright, Drago, sat at the steering wheel inside the cab of the truck. He was whistling some tune oblivious to the plight of the animals in the cages in the back. His driving was becoming more reckless, the more he thought about the treasures that would soon be his. The weighted down truck dodged potholes and ruts, creating mass chaos in the back as cages rattled and squeaked relentlessly.
With the extra weight in the back, the truck struggled up the hill. Drago stepped on the gas as he texted on his phone. He did not notice the steep turn to his right. The truck veered dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. Drago corrected his mistake by over steering to compensate. This was a huge mistake as the heavy unbalanced trucked tipped over and started a mad tumbling dash down the ravine.
Cages tumbled out from the truck, spilling open all over the ground in haphazard heaps of fur, fluff, and scales. Steam gushed from the radiator in front and hissed into the air menacingly. The animals scurried off and the birds flew away from the wreckage.
A spare tire flew off the truck and ran right over Penelope as she stepped out of her spilled cage. Thunder’s cage also tumbled out, opened, and rolled away from the overturned truck, burying Penelope beneath its path. She was temporarily buried.
When the air became clearer, Penelope popped out from under the dirt. Now in complete disarray, she spit the sand from her mouth. “Pft! Pft! Pft!”
Thunder pushed up from his place on the ground. Quickly, he checked around to see where the upright was. Peering inside the truck, he saw Drago was still attached firmly to his seat. The upright appeared to be only semi-conscious at the moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Thunder saw the ivory skeleton swinging from the rearview mirror inside. His breath caught in his chest. He had never seen ivory anywhere else than the tusks that were worn proudly by the adult elephants in his herd.
Trying to ignore the dread in the pit of his stomach, Thunder gathered his wits and raced over to Penelope. He hovered over her, motionless, as he checked her for injuries.
Penelope put her feathers back in order, then looked up at him with fear in her eyes. “Not alone. Not alone.”
Thunder nodded at her. “Not alone…but we’re lost.”
Penelope searched his eyes. “Just you and me. Wooo.”
Thunder was about to reply, but at that moment the embankment he was standing on collapsed beneath his feet. Thunder tumbled down the hill and came to a rough halt against a downed log.
Penelope followed him and landed nearby. “How ya doin’?”
“Ah! I’m stuck! My leg!!” Thunder tried to pull his leg out, but the log against him would not budge.
Penelope made a high-pitched squeal that sounded very much like a rescue siren. She leapt onto Thunder’s leg and tried to help him out.
Thunder pulled again, but no luck. He grunted loudly and tried again. “It’s no use, I’m stuck.”
Penelope shook her head sadly. “Tight spot. Big wood.”
The two of them looked at each other hopelessly, each one wondering how they were going to get Thunder out of this situation before the upright came to full consciousness.