A loud snorting could be heard near where Thunder was trapped. Penelope looked up at him with fear in her eyes. “Uh-oh.”
Thunder trembled a little when he heard the snorting again. He had never heard anything quite like that before. “What was that?”
Penelope shook out her wings and stepped back a little. “Uh-oh. Gotta go. Not good.”
The snorting came again and this time Thunder heard the sound of giggles accompanying it. He watched closely and swore his eyes were playing tricks on him. He did a double take and found that his imagination was not messing with him. A small cattle egret named Cedric was being tossed into the air. The tiny bird remained in the air, momentarily suspended. The tuft of feathers on his head was sticking out and his broad rounded wings were open.
Thunder continued to peer closer and found that there was a large, grayish mammal shrouded in the bushes. “It’s one of us!”
Thunder heard repeated short air sounds. PFF. PFF. PFF. He watched in surprise as the egret fell back down and landed on Soma, a female rhino with a broken horn. Two other egrets, Sydney and Persius, rested on her head and tickled her nose with a feather.
When Cedric swooped down and landed on Soma, Sydney changed places with him. The egret was puffed into the air just like her friend. She giggled louder than Cedric, enjoying every moment of her flight in the air. As she came down, Persius followed.
Cedric tapped Soma on the back with the tip of his white feathered wing. “Do it again! Do it again, Ms. Soma!”
Sydney squealed above them. “Higher! Woohoo!! Higher!”
Persius chuckled. “You’re in rare form today, Ms. Soma!”
Soma did not respond in words. Instead she puffed up and sneezed. Each time she did so, the egrets flew into the air.
Thunder grunted at the playing group. “What fun! I wanna play!” He grunted annoyingly. “But I have to get my leg free!”
Soma, hearing Thunder, whipped her massive head around, causing the one egret in the air to crash to the ground like a rug pulled out from under him. Soma saw Thunder close to them and snorted loudly. She looked fierce, defensive, and ready to charge anything that moved.
The monkeys in the trees gathered above to watch the action below. They peered down from the perch making bets on how long the elephant calf would survive against the cranky rhino.
Thunder screamed and tried to get loose. Fear of the giant rhino gave him the extra boost he needed. He pulled so hard, his body bumped into a tree behind him. “Ahh! Ow!”
The egrets leapt up, startled momentarily, but when they determined Thunder was no real threat to them, they landed back on Soma’s torso.
Cedric was annoyed. He shook a wing at Thunder. “Hey! Hey!”
Sydney eyed him skeptically. “What are you doin’?”
Persius was still on the ground. He rubbed his head grumpily. “Givin’ us a fright!”
“Yeah! You just can’t sneak up on someone like that!” Sydney admonished Thunder.
“Yeah!” agreed Cedric heartily.
Soma faced Thunder, scraped the ground with her hooves and charged at the elephant calf. She stopped herself short when Thunder’s scared voice trembled. “I’m sorry. I…I…”
Soma gave him a stern look as she towered over him “What are you doing here?”
Thunder tried to stand up tall and brave before her. “I thought you were an….”
Soma interrupted him. “A what”
Thunder answered quickly. “An elephant.”
Soma shook her head at him. “Hmph. Likely story.”
Thunder gave her a shy glance. “I’m looking for my herd.”
She scoffed at him. “Your herd? You, sir, are trespassing!”
“I am? I thought I was just out for a walk.” He offered the only excuse that came to his mind.
“Not around here. This is my territory.” She snuffed in annoyance.
“Better watch this one, Ms. Soma. He’s been out in the sun too long!” Cedric warned her.
“Just move along, you! Go back to your herd before you get us all in trouble.” Soma kept her stone cold glare on Thunder.
Persius gave Thunder a sympathetic glance. “Oh, Ms. Soma. He’s just a little tyke.”
Sydney agreed with him. “Whoa. Give ‘em a break.”
Soma shook her head stubbornly. “Bah!” The rhino huffed in annoyance then grabbed a branch near her. She yanked it off with her teeth and started to chew on it.
A tear rolled down Thunder’s cheek. “I was just trying to find my mom and my herd!” Thunder added dejectedly.
Soma grumbled, ignoring Thunder’s sorrow, and continued to chew. Her mouth easily crushed the branch and she grabbed another.
Thunder sighed, wishing he could move on and head back to his herd, but his leg was still thoroughly stuck.
A monkey named Cole was watching him from above. He was sitting with his two friends, George and Lenny. “Don’t listen to her! She thinks she owns the place!”
“Yeah!” George agreed. He picked a bug from Cole’s fur and plopped it in his mouth.
Thunder turned his face to Soma wondering for the first time why the rhino was out here alone. “But…where’s your herd?”
Soma huffed loudly. “There is no herd.”
Thunder glanced closer at Soma and saw her broken horn for the first time. He wondered what had happened to it. A rhino’s horn was its greatest defense mechanism. Soma at one point would have used it to gore any predators bent on attacking her or others in her herd. “What happened?”
Soma snarled at him. “Stay back! I don’t need any more attention. I’ve had enough intruders to last a lifetime!”
Thunder stepped as far back as he could with his foot still trapped under the trunk. “Sorry.” While she may not have her horn intact, Soma was still quite frightening to a calf like Thunder. He backed away feeling dejected.
Cedric whispered to Soma, “Ahem. Aren’t you being a bit hard on the kid?”
Sydney and Persius both agreed. “Yeah! Yeah!”
“I have to be! Or else!” Soma answered.
Persius tilted his head and looked down his orange beak. His beady gold eyes were trying to understand why Soma had so much to fear from something so little. “Or else what?”
“More danger!!” Her answer wasn’t the kind any of them wanted to hear.
Thunder’s eyes got big and fear raced through him. He was not sure his system could stand any more shock in one day. If danger came, what would he do? He was trapped like a fly in a spider’s web. He would be easy pickings if the upright found him.
Soma barreled through the bushes with the three egrets bouncing on top of her back. Careless to the struggles that worried the tiny elephant, she continued on her way.
Penelope swooped down onto the branch of the trunk covering Thunder’s leg. “Woohoo! Old Beast.” She flapped her wings at the retreating rhino and imitated her awkward movements through the bushes. Holding her beak up like Soma’s broken horn, she piped up. “Whoa! Neanderthal.” Shaking her beak in disgust, Penelope straightened her ruffled feathers, and then glanced at Thunder again.
“What is your name?” Thunder realized he had never gotten it before. At least the gray parrot was gracious enough to keep him company through his troubled times.
Penelope tilted her sharp beak and answered, “Penelope. Penelope. Whatcha doin’? Peekaboo, who are you?”
“Thunder.” He tried to free himself again, but still no luck. He pounded one of his free legs on the ground and the earth shook.
This caught the rhino’s attention quite easily. Soma backed up, snorted, and rumbled toward him. Clearly, Soma was not in the mood to play any games. Penelope moved from sight as fast as her parrot wings could carry her.
Thunder’s eyes widened in fear. “Aauugghh! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He covered his eyes before he even saw who was heading his way.
Soma hooked her horn under the log and tossed it carelessly away from him. She snorted at him and stepped back a few steps.
Thunder opened one eye and peered cautiously around him. When he saw Soma in front of him, he did not know whether to be thankful or afraid of what the animal would do next. He gave her the benefit of the doubt. “Ahhhh! Soma! It’s you!! Thank you!”
Soma sniffed at him half in annoyance, the other half of her thawing just a little to the calf. She grumbled at him. “Hmph. Better be more aware of your surroundings.”
“I know.” He stood up and tested his feet. His leg wobbled slightly, before he straightened it.
Penelope called out from her hidden perch. “Whew! Safe now.”
Soma and the egrets looked up, but none of them could find where the voice had come from. Cedric shook his head. “Yikes!”
“Who said that?! Come out and be seen!” Sydney held up her wings like imaginary fists, ready to tackle whatever foe came their way.
“Yeah! Come out or she’ll spear you!” Persius called out.
Penelope peered out from behind the tree trunk, with one wing over her eyes. She lifted it up before responding. “Peekaboo. Peekaboo. Where are you?”
Soma backed up and turned in confusion. She grumbled. “Where is that silly creature?”
Penelope called out playfully, “In the tree. In the tree. I seeeee you.”
Soma eyed the tree speculatively. When she saw the gray parrot she was underwhelmed. “Are you talking to me, parrot?”
Penelope nodded her beak at Soma. “Yes. Talking to you, Penelope is.” The parrot gave a wolf whistle. “Ru—ruuuuuu!”
Penelope hopped on one foot then the other in a silly little dance. When she saw the jagged broken horn on Soma’s head, she stopped in her tracks. “Big weapon. Sharp edges. Be carrreful!”
Soma shrugged her ears back in defense and huffed at the parrot. “I have to be fierce! I have my reasons, you know.”
Sydney defended the rhino beneath her. “Yeah, she has her reasons!”
Persius jumped on the bandwagon. He raised his wings as if to say put ‘em up. “Yeah, that’s right! Soma has her reasons and we’re three of them. Hah! Ha!”
Thunder watched the display before him and giggled at the sight. None of the animals were aware of how silly they appeared threatening a tiny parrot in a tree. Thunder took that moment to reach out to Soma and hug her with his trunk. “Thanks, Soma! You’re my friend now, right? Mother always said never to tell your name to strangers, but you’re not a stranger any more. I’m Thunder.”
Soma grumbled and shrugged from his touch. “Meh. Enough with the feels already. So what? You’re Thunder. Oh happy day!”
Cedric was now staring at the intruders with suspicion. “So what are you all doin’ in these parts?”
Thunder answered him, “I’m trying to find my herd. Will you help me? You can come with us.”
The egrets turned and looked at each other with puzzled looks. Persius interrupted the silence. “Do we want to come?”
Cedric tilted his head at Persius. “I dunno. Do we?”
Sydney shook her head at her friends. She was always the daredevil of the bunch. She poked each one in the belly. “Oh don’t be chickens. A great adventure awaits us.”
Soma pawed the ground with her hoof. “Adventure, hmph. I’ve had plenty of adventure. Go away and leave me alone please. Adventure. Bah!” She grumbled more to herself than anyone else.
Persius tapped her head with his foot. “Aw, c’mon, big girl. We’ve got nothin’ else to do.”
“Why should I?” The rhino was old, cranky, and set in her ways. It would take a lot to persuade her at this point.
“Well, that’s quite the attitude. When did you become such a cranky pants? We were just having a grand old time too.” Cedric made a disappointed clucking sound at Soma.
Sydney’s eyes flew open wide. She raised one feather in the air, as if to say she had a brilliant idea. “But, you know Ms. Soma, the elephants always find the best watering holes…and the best trees to munch off of. What-a-ya think?”
Persius caught on to Sydney’s train of thought. It was far easier to tempt a fly with honey than vinegar after all. “Tempting, isn’t it?”
Soma squinted an eye at Thunder as her thoughts churned in her head. “Where did you say you’re headed?”
Thunder smiled at Soma, feeling hope for the first time since he was captured by the upright Drago. “To our watering hole! I know they’re out there somewhere.”
He waited to see if she would answer. When she did not, he continued, “You’ll love meeting my mom and the rest of the herd. And there’s birds, mud, salt…”
Soma interrupted Thunder. “Did you say mud? And salt?”
Thunder smiled all the way up to his big round eyes. “Yep.”
“Hm.” Soma was clearly thinking about her options now.
Cedric patted Soma on the head. “That’s the spirit!”
Sydney cheered, “Let’s go!”
Penelope peered at the animals below her. “Going home, dear? Yessssss!”
Persius looked up at Penelope. “Where’s your family?”
Penelope sniffed sadly. “All gone. Woooo.”
A tear ran down Penelope’s small feathered face. A memory welled up deep within her mind. She remembered a flock of carefree parrots picking up seeds from the forest floor. A giant fish net swung through the air and swallowed all them up.
The parrots had darted and dashed under the strong netting that held them close to the forest floor. Penelope got her foot stuck in the strings holding them close together. She remembered pecking at it, enough to squeeze through a tiny hole. She flew a few feet away from the net, while the other parrots remained trapped within its confines. Penelope stood there alone on the ground. Abandoned, hopeless, the parrot had no choice but to fly away and fend for herself.
Penelope dashed at the tears and shook away her memories. “Oooooo. Sad story. All alone now.”
Persius tried to cheer her up. “Come with us! Parrots are great guides!”
Penelope answered him with a cocky reply. “Yes, Penelope is a parrot. Pretty, pretty parrot.” She looked away from them and started to preen her feathers.
Sydney waved the bird closer. “Well, here’s your chance!”
Soma shook her head. Her grouchiness had returned. “Make up your minds, feather brains. I don’t have all day, you know.” She nodded for Thunder to lead the way and he started to walk slowly in the direction where he had last seen his herd. Penelope flew from the branch and settled on a branch several feet ahead of them. The animal party continued through the bushes in easy silence, at least for the moment.