50 Million Years from Now

Act 10

It had been raining for nearly a week. Flashes of lightening and cracks of thunder tore through the dark clouds. The wind howled like a pack of wolves and the tree branches were swaying violently. The weather in fact was so horrid that none of the Black beaks would go outside. Not even the lookouts. A branch from a nearby tree snapped and was taken away by the rushing torrent of wind. A bolt of lightening struck a boulder breaking it in multiple pieces.

The Black beaks were hiding at the very back of the cave. Chicks huddled against their parents. The elderlies were also held by other Black beaks, their frail bodies not only unable to fight against the powerful gusts of wind, but also searching for warmth. The nests closest to the mouth of the cave were quickly blown away. Another crack of thunder was heard in the distance.

"This is the worst storm I have seen in a very long time," Kay hollered to Vall, trying to be heard above the storm.

"What? I can't hear you!" Vall replied.

"I said this is the worst storm I've seen in a very long time!!"

Even though the two were only one meter apart they still had a hard time hearing each other. As the Black beaks attempted to speak to one another over the screaming wind, down below other animals had gathered. Insects of all shapes and sizes scuttled and crawled into the crevasses of the rockface. Small rat-like creatures called Savannah rats tried to follow them into these same crevasses in hopes of escaping the storm, some succeeding, some failing, and some getting stuck. Those who were unable to find a hiding spot were soon snatched up by another animal. A small fox-sized canid quickly snatched one of the grey rats. The Savannah rat squirmed in its jaws, its huge whiskers twitching and feeling everything. And then, nothing. With a quick crunch from the predator the Savannah rat was dead.

This canid who was taking shelter in the cave was one of the last predatory mammals of the island. It was known as the Climbing fox. It may have been a descendent of the jackal, yet except for the ears, it looked nothing like its ancestor. Its face was rounded, looking more like that of a Pitbull or a Pug. Its teeth design was strange. Its front teeth had fused together into one large tooth like those of rodents. Meanwhile, its back teeth looked like a strange combination of molar and canine. Its body was long and lean like that of a weasel. It had a large stiff tail that stuck out directly for balance. Its legs contorted in strange ways, almost like those of an ape or monkey. But the strangest part of its anatomy was its paws. It had five toes, all looking shockingly similar to hands. At the end of each toe was one sharp claw, made for piercing the bark of trees and climbing them. This strange animal truly was able to get anything it needed. And if it wanted to, it could have easily climbed up to the Black beak chicks, but with so much prey on the cave floor, the Climbing fox did not feel compelled.

As all this commotion was going on below, Vall turned to Kay during a respite in the storm and asked, "Do you think you will be able to fly soon?"

"From what I can see Vall, I do believe that I will be able. The feathers have almost completely grown back."

"Good! It will be nice to have you back."

"What was that?" Kay asked as the wind picked up again.

"I said it will be nice to have you back!"

"What about my back?"

Vall was now right in Kay's face and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "NO, Kay! I said it will be nice to have you back!"

"OH! Now I understand! But you know that you've been doing a good job."

"I know, but you'll do even better."

"Vall, I cannot hear a single thing you are saying."

"I said... Oh! Forget it!" Vall growled giving up on trying to converse with his friend.