people will decimate themselves by waging a pointless civil war and my mother will die. There was nothing that I could do to prevent this because I lacked the skill and the strength to do any better. I was the only one who could save them but I had failed. I will never be able to return home and with the future even being as it is I am not sure if I want to. I will be the last of my proud species. A potential leader who never rose to take her place, a source of hope that has expired.
Wisdom Earned by Attempting to Prevent a Cataclysm
I grasped the bars of my cage as I hung my head with my ears lowered in shame. There was no fight left within me, no hope of preventing what is to come. I simply had to accept the facts. My mother was going to die and the people were going to revolt. Merula and Syrugia will split my people and there will be war. The only positive thing seemed to be the prospect that the war could not last forever. There will be an end and when it arrives a new leader will be crowned.
I believe Merula will become the next leader because she is backed by the Death Stalkers and the royal guards who have been trained to fight and not to mention her strength and her fearless nature. She would surely win but will my people benefit from her leadership. I did not know her well but I knew that she held a great respect for my mother, a respect I believe that she one day wished to command. She wanted to take my mother’s place as leader but she had always dismissed it as being impossible. When my mother showed weakness and the idea of me taking her place emerged her ambition was allowed to flourish, that is why she wasted no time rallying the guards and the Death Stalkers. She did not want to miss her chance. Syrugia may have the majority of the people’s support but when Merula’s strength becomes apparent and the war claims its first victims they will reject her and embrace Merula as their leader.
The people will surely live through the war but I fear Merula’s desire for respect and power may be magnified by becoming the leader. The people will suffer from her dictatorship. She will abandon the traditions that once protected the people and she will recreate our society in a manner that pleases her.
I can’t let this happen but I was just a pup, a child faced with an impossible task. To prevent this war I would need to be able to return to my people as a respected warrior. I needed to find my mother’s cure but I was trapped and I had no way to reach this hospital.
I growled for there must be a way. There must be a way to stop all of this from happening and as long as there is a way I must seek it out no matter how unlikely. I needed to gain wisdom so I would know when to act in an effort to prevent stupid decisions and inactivity. I need to save my people but first I need to free myself from this prison. I closed my eyes as I tried to think what would Maya do in my situation.
I was thrown into this cage so there must be a way to open it I thought when I looked over the bars to find a lock off to the side. I stuck my hand through the bars to touch its surface but there were no moving parts that I had access to. I could not free myself but the humans’ intention may not be to keep me in here forever, at the very least they may open the door to feed me. When the door is open I may be allowed to escape but the humans will be present and I only had one shot so maybe I should form a more detailed plan before I think about executing it. I have already rushed into things and I do not want to do so again when my people are counting on me.
I was thrown forward as the metal vehicle came to a stop. I was here wherever that was. I got to my feet with my tailed raised when the back door opened revealing the humans who captured me. They gathered around as the one with a loop attached to a rod edged close. This was my chance I thought when the cage door was opened slightly. I leap forward but the door closed on me, the metal pressed into my sides. The loop was rung around my neck then tightened as I was pulled forward and the pressure ebbed away. I leap onto the floor snarling at the humans as they led me to a building across a paved ground covered in decorative yellow lines. The door was held open as I was pulled inside.
The titled floor was mostly covered in a long rug of rough fabric and molded rubber. The ceiling shown with long fixtures of mysterious glowing tubes covered in textured plastic. The air reeked with the smell of foreign animals and the hall seemed to have no end.
Finally I was pulled into a large room full of cages. Large grey cats with ringed tails and articulated fingers hissed as rodents with wings of taut skin watched me as they climbed about their cages on odd hook like claws. One of the humans opened a cage as the other lifted me with the rod connected to my neck as I yelled and I tried to remain outside of the cage but I was shoved inside. The loop released its grip as I turned quickly to stop the cage door from closing by pushing on it with all of my might but the human easily overpowered me as the door clicked shut. I grabbed the bars then began shaking them desperately but the lock prevented the door from reopening.
“I will inform our superiors that we found an unknown species.” one of the humans said as the others nodded then followed him out of the room but one remained. He walked over to me as I backed away growling.
“What are you? Tell me.” he demanded loudly hitting the metal cage with the metal rod that he used to drag me here. I bared my teeth as my tail lashed behind me.
“We are going to have to tell us eventually so tell me,” he said as many of the animals around me began to hiss with displeasure.
“Where did you come from? How can you speak our language?” he went on when one of the humans returned.
“She no going to tell you so stop terrorizing her. We will all find out what she is soon enough when our superiors come and deal with this. Now come help me prepare the food.” he said as the human by my cage then put down the rod.
“Fine I will be there is a second.” he said when the other human nodded then left when the one standing by my cage turned. “We are going to find out very soon so keep your secrets while you can.” he said then left as I backed as far away as possible from the cage door.
I had to get out of here or everything will be destroyed. I need to get out of this cage but surely I could not undo the lock. I needed to escape when the humans open the door but if I do so when they are still present I will be recaptured assuming I make that far. I need for them to open the door then to escape when they are gone. I need to keep the door unlocked but they will not leave unless they believed that it was locked. I need to trick them into leaving the door open, believing that is it closed. I could stop it from closing with my foot but they would probable notice that so I needed something much thinner. I looked around when I saw thin sheets of paper bearing the new. I picked it up then began folding it to make it thicker. I stuck it through the cage door and the metal frame of the cage but it was still too thin to stop the door from closing.
I backed away discouraged when I looked toward the lock. Maybe I did not need to be able to stop it from closing. Maybe all I had to was stop it from locking but how was I to do that? I walked over to the lock thinking about the complex mechanics within. I could not jam the inter working of the lock but there must be something I was missing. There must be a point where the lock holds the door in place. There must be a hook or a latch that can be detached and connected. If this is true then maybe all I had to do is disrupt this connection so the lock will be unable to hold the door in place. I may be able to use my folded paper to jam the lock and I can hold the door closed until the humans leave so I have a chance to escape. This could work but I think I should fold the paper into a thick rod to jam the hook instead of a folded square. I quickly got to work on the paper pleased that all hope did not seem to be gone like I feared.
The kind human that saved me earlier entered with a cart loaded with bowls and trays. He stopped by each cage then placed a bowl into the cage. The animals backed away fearfully, only approaching after he deposited the food and retracted his hand.
He opened my cage as I backed away giving him no reason to prepare for my escape. He placed the food bowl beside me then closed the door looking away briefly when the misshapen grey cat hiss
ed as I stuck my tail through the bars, into his cage, which worked as a distraction as planned. The human turned back to me after the creature settled to find me standing by the closed door with my hand grasping the bars with my other secretly holding the paper rod in place. He continued his rounds then left as I jiggled the paper rod as the door popped open.
“Yes,” I whispered then I leap down to the floor, “Now, to save my people,”
I ran to the door but I paused with my large ears raised as I listened for the sounds of the humans. All was silent so I rushed out the door then down the long hall staying low. I stopped by a door made of glass. I pushed against it but it would not budge. I did not come this far to be outsmarted by a door I thought as I located the hinges that connected the door with the wall then pushed on the corner farthest from them with all of my might. The door gave away as I rushed through before it could close.
“I am free,” I said as I raced across the paved ground. There was still a chance I could save my people and that was all I needed to continue. All I needed was hope to fuel my body for I know as long as it exist I shall not accept failure, as long as it was possible I would do all
The Creatures that History Forgot Page 15
