Their small group rested in the rainforest. The egrets were sitting on Soma, who was chomping down on more leaves. A flash of light filtered down through the rainforest, followed by a loud rumble. While the sounds of an impending storm erupted around them, none of the rain had actually touched the forest floor.
Thunder was plopped down next to Soma worrying about Penelope when he saw Jennetta Blue fly by him. He smiled at the butterfly who had been his silent companion for all his young life. He stood up quickly and followed after her. “Hey! Come back!”
Jennetta Blue fluttered up into the trees almost completely from sight. Thunder stopped in his tracks. Large leaves shaped like his own ears brushed against his trunk. “I remember these!”
He turned to the others. “Hey! Over here! Look! I think we’re close!”
Without warning, the upright, Drago, crashed through the bushes with his rifle in one hand and rope in another. “Now I’ve got you. You’re gonna make me rich!”
Thunder froze in his tracks. He shivered in fear. When would they finally be free from the uprights that chased after them? What had they ever done to these uprights?
Soma chafed her hooves. She did not have any questions in her head. Not a single one. Instead, she huffed from her nostrils and prepared to charge at Drago. The egrets jumped up and flew away from Soma’s rear.
“Hey, you! Stop or we’ll peck you to death!” Cedric shouted at him.
“Ack!!” Yelled Sydney.
Persius snarled at Drago. “Argh!!”
Drago aimed his rifle up at Cedric. His finger was on the trigger when Sydney and Persius swooped down and pecked at his head. Sydney grabbed a hunk of hair between her beak and started ripping strands away from his head.
Drago turned and swiped at them. “Aarrgghh!! Get away!!”
Soma took that moment to charge him. She made a mad dash at him, but Drago stepped aside at the last second. Soma missed him and rammed right into a tree with her horn stuck inside it.
Thunder watched in horror. “Soma!”
Cedric called out to him, “Help us, Thunder!”
Thunder trembled slightly. “What should I do?”
“Help Soma get free!” Cedric ordered.
Sydney and Persius continued to barrage Drago with bombing attacks. They dived down and pecked at any part of them they could reach. Drago waved his arms wildly, trying to protect his head from the attacking birds. He took one more swing at them, but they attacked him from all sides.
Drago’s gun went off. Crack! Flocks of birds in the trees were flushed out from the forest. Their cries filled the forest in loud chirps, shrieks, and squawks. Before long the noises stopped as all the birds scattered from sight.
Drago dropped his rifle when Sydney pecked at his wrist. He tried to grasp her around the neck. “I’ll get you! Aarrgh!”
Thunder ran to the tree where Soma was stuck. He pulled one of the branches with his trunk. He bent it over until it snapped. “I’m trying, Soma. I’m trying!”
Soma pulled back as hard as she could. She yanked and tugged with all her might until she finally freed herself. A heavy branch broke off from above and came crashing down, barely missing them.
Soma turned around and charged directly at Drago. Her jagged horn pierced him in the rear.
Drago fell forward, completely caught off guard. He quickly pushed up to his feet and took off running. The egrets swarmed around him before continuing to harass him. “Aauurrgghh!!”
“We’ve got him on the run! Go, Thunder, go!” cheered Cedric.
“You, too, Ms. Soma!” shouted Persius.
“Yeah! We’re right behind you!!” Sydney soared after them.
Thunder and Soma hurried off. The egrets continued to chase Drago away. He disappeared into the foliage. When they were done, the egrets returned to Soma and landed on her backside.
Light rain started to fall through the forest canopy. The trickling water was a reprieve from the fear that raced through them. It was like a healing balm, even to the egrets who hated getting wet.
“Whew!” said Cedric.
“Whoa! What a workout!” added Persius.
“Yeah, but it was kinda fun, wasn’t it?” asked Sydney.
Persius grabbed a giant palm frond with his beak, tearing it off as they passed. He used it as an umbrella. All three egrets huddled under it while crouching on Soma’s back.
Persius glared at Sydney. “Fun? Are you nuts?”
Sydney chuckled. “Just as nuts as you for even being here!”
Thunder peered behind him to see if Drago was following them. “Do you think he’ll come back?”
“He’d be a fool to now. Look at the sky,” answered Persius.
They peered up and saw more lightning flashes. They heard thunder cracking followed by a steady flow of rain. Puddles formed quickly around them.
“Which way to the herd?” Cedric asked Thunder.
Thunder turned his head and looked around him. “That way…I think.” Thunder pointed his trunk ahead of him then stopped. Turning around, another worry filled his head. “But what about Penelope?”
Soma gave him a pitying glance. “Keep moving. No time to waste, Thunder.”
Thunder sighed. He sure hoped that Penelope was all right. He already missed her cheerful banter.
As the group traveled deeper into the forest, the air around them was darker as the sun that had once filled the sky no longer filtered down through the trees. The buzz of life was quiet too, since the animals were now occupied with keeping themselves dry under their hidden shelters.
Thunder looked ahead and saw the familiar break in the tree line. “I see it! It’s over there!”
Thunder trotted off ahead of Soma and the egrets. He came up to the forest edge and out to his herd’s watering hole. When he looked around him, he was confused. “Huh?”
Soma and the egrets caught up to him and stopped in their tracks. They were now standing at the edge of a clearing.
They sat in the soaking rain as they took in the sight in front of them. None of them could dare speak of the decimation they saw in front of them. Trees had toppled, their exposed core displayed jagged edges. The bushes had been trampled and the flowers that had once been full of life now lay wilted on the ground. The pond that had been filled with enough water to be drench you on a hot day was now nearly dried up. There was no sign of life, only large scattered footprints followed by much smaller ones.
Sydney’s eyes were huge. “What happened here?”
Cedric shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah, not much left.”
“No birds?” asked Sydney.
“They’ve flown the coop, sister,” Persius replied.
Tears were welling up in Thunder’s eyes. “My herd! They can’t be gone!! They must be here somewhere!”
Thunder dashed from one side of the clearing to the other. He searched everywhere around him for any sign of his herd. They had to be alive still, they just had to. He rushed between the forest and clearing, back and forth he zigged and zagged. He found scrape marks that indicated something large had been dragged.
He remembered the chaos of when the uprights had come into his life. The loud trumpeting elephants that tried to escape their attackers, the ones who had fallen to the earth, and the loud explosions that had filled the air. He remembered some of the elephants being pulled across the ground. “Huh!! Oh no!”
Thunder collapsed on the ground and all the joy he had left in his body evaporated. He was now filled with the desolation that one could only feel with the breaking of his heart. Big, fat tears rolled down his face, staining the wrinkled skin with his sadness. The raindrops fell hard on his head, but Thunder could no longer feel them. He was numb to their touch. Loud sobs came from his chest and burst from his trunk as he trumpeted a sad, lonely call. “Mother!”
A tear left the corner of Soma’s eye. The hardened rhino could not stand to see Thunder this way. “Those uprights!”
Cedric was uncomfortable with the emotional display before him. He tried to push it away. “Now what do we do?”
Thunder turned to look at him. “They’re gone! Our watering hole! My herd! My mom! Gone.” Thunder moved slowly along the edge of the pond, with his head down and his trunk almost touching the ground. His heavy heart was matched by his large feet that left prints in the sand. He sunk down next to the water and his trunk splashed into it.
Soma plodded over to Thunder and stood over him. His quiet snuffling tore at her hardened heart. She breathed a comforting snort of air on his ear and Thunder shrugged it off.
The egrets came out from under the palm frond and jumped down to perch at Thunder’s feet. One of his tears plopped down on Sydney’s toe and she did not even bother to shake it free.
Thunder did not want to feel so helpless. “We have to keep looking. Where’s Penelope? And why did she leave us? We’re lost without her! Penelope!!!!! Where are you?” He called for his friend as loud as he could.
Up above them a loud shrill answered. Penelope had broken free from her trap moments before and had been searching for her friends. She did not notice the devastation down on the ground. She was simply happy to see Thunder.
Penelope saw the egrets on Thunder’s outstretched feet and dived down to meet them. When she landed, Penelope jumped up and down, happy to see them. Her voice was enthusiastic, “Penelope’s back. How’s it goin’? Guess what? Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?”
Penelope stepped up onto Thunder’s outstretched trunk and reached for his ears. She pulled them so that he brought his face closer. Thunder’s grief shaken mind cleared for a moment for the parrot had completely caught him off guard.
Penelope saw the trail of tears running down his face. She reached her wing out to touch them and raised her wing tip to inspect it more closely. She looked up at his face again then back down to the tear stained feathers.
Hopping down from his trunk, she turned to face him. “Where’s the party?”
Penelope hopped over to the water’s edge and looked at both their faces in the water. She tapped the water with her foot and small rings rippled around it.
Thunder looked up dejectedly. “They’re all gone—all of them.”
Penelope tilted her head at him. “No one’s home. No dinner. Not tonight.” Penelope stepped closer to Thunder and snuggled against his foot. It was the closest thing she could give him to a hug.
Soma sniffed and tried to hide the tear in the corner of her eye. She reigned in her emotions and reached deep down to find the anger that normally fueled her. “Not anymore. Only death and destruction. The uprights again.”
“Not good,” replied Cedric.
Sydney shook her head. “This changes everything.”
Cedric shook his head. “That’s right.”
A dog barked in the distance. They turned to look at the interruption. The dog howled through the rain then started to bark loudly again. A female child was crying out for her uprights to save her. “Help!! Help!!”
“Huh? What’s that?” Thunder recoiled. The egrets now startled, leapt from Thunder’s feet as he jumped up and raced through the forest.
“Aahh! Run for cover!!” called Sydney. The egrets scuttled over to Soma and landed on her backside.
“Let’s go, Ms. Soma,” said Persius.
“Yeah. Let’s get outta here,” suggested Cedric.
Soma grumbled and started to move as the sound of the young girl’s voice carried through the forest. Penelope soared through the air and hopped back onto Thunder’s head.
“What is that?” asked Cedric.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Persius replied.
Soma huffed loudly, “Leave ‘em be. We need to stay hidden. Danger is everywhere.”
Thunder ignored Soma and continued to move forward. Soma had no choice but to follow.