Twoo

Chapter 3

When I woke up, Twoo was nowhere to be seen. I started to stand up when I noticed that I was blanketed in hundreds of soft green leaves. They weren’t crispy like the remains from the fire, but juicy and fresh. As I looked around me, they began to look more and more out of place. Green was not an abundant colour, so I was quite puzzled, so say the least, as to where they came from. As I stood up and briskly shook the leaves from my back, I listened to the noises around me. There was not a sound to be heard other than the wind rustling the dry crunchy leaves that are scattered all over the hard forest floor. The owl was still nowhere to be seen so perhaps I should try calling his name, for he may be asleep up in the remains of one of these trees.

“Twoo” I called,

“Twoo” No reply.

“TWOO” I waited. Still no reply.

I fought back tears. He couldn’t have abandoned me. He wouldn’t.

would he?

Or perhaps he would. He wasn’t here after all and at this moment he didn’t appear to be coming back.

I should have known that it was too good to be true. After all, why would he want to help me. I’m just a small injured elephant with no hope of making it to the watering hole. It’s just a shame that he couldn’t have decided that I was worthless before he got my hopes up.

Suddenly a thought popped into my head. I had been sleeping a lot lately. Perhaps I dreamed him up. Yes, I liked that thought. Twoo was just a figment of my imagination caused by desperation and need of guidance and help. Unfortunately, if this was true then I still had problems. With no factual guidance as to which direction to travel in, I was still lost and still unlikely to survive.

Amongst all of my panic, I hadn’t realised that my feet seemed to have healed up. I no longer had bloody sores attacking the bottoms of my feet but instead a new layer of fresh tough skin. At least something good had happened.

I now have a choice. I can wait here to die, or I can pick a direction and walk in it and die trying to find the water hole. Either way it probably isn’t going to turn out well but that doesn’t mean that I should give up. So I will try. I will try to find my herd and even if I don’t, I will know that I tried and will be at peace with my mind.

I now just have to pick a direction. Left. Right. Forward. Backwards. I don’t even know which way Is north. Perhaps I could use the sun. I turn to face the magnificent globe of burning gas, that floats in the sky above me. I notice that it is creating hundreds of shadows that all point in the same direction. The trees. Blocking the light, the dark patches form many lines that all point in the same direction. Because the sun is in front of me and will set behind me, the line of the shadows should stay the same for the remainder of the day. It may not be the right direction, in fact it probably isn’t, but it’s a lead.

With nothing to lose, I decide to follow the lines of the shadows and walk. Because my feet are now healed, I can travel at a respectable pace. I even break into a slow jog at some points. Gradually I speed up, the rhythm of my large feet ever increasing tempo. In. out. In. out. I dodge the multitude of burnt trees in my path. Slaloming in and out rapidly, avoiding collisions, I might even say that I am starting to enjoy myself.

I continue travelling for what must be a couple of miles.

Even though I desperately want to keep going, I’m starting to wilt and tire so I stop for a rest. Sitting under the remains of a large but burnt tree, I rest my head on the ground. I start to wonder how far I have come and how far I have to go [if, in fact, I have come the right way at all]. Just as I am starting to drift off, I notice a strange object a few metres in front of me. I can’t work out what it is from here, so I get up and move over to have a closer look. Up close, I am still none the wiser as to what it is. It appears to be a long cylindrical barrel, made of a hard material that I have never come across before. Attached to the cylinder, are several levers and triggers. I have no idea what they do. On one end is a very fat grip that, to my horror, looks as if it is made from the skin of an unrecognisable animal. The main body of this object appears to be made from wood, but it is hard to tell as it has an almost shiny quality. Curiosity getting the better of me, I decide to pick it up. Twisting it round using my trunk, I look at it more closely. It’s purpose is no less clear to me now than it was when I first saw it. Recklessly, perhaps, I hold the leathered end and bang it against a nearby tree.

Clang.

Clang.

[I have no word to describe the noise that came next.]

A noise so great whipped through the trees, faster than possibly imaginable. The sound continued echoing for ages afterwards, rebounding off every surface. It must have been minutes until the forest was silent again.

In shock, I dropped the cylindrical contraption and took several steps back from it.

All of the excitement had gone and I was now fearful of the creatures in this forest. Twoo may have been a dream, but something definitely did start the fire. It is a thought that I would rather avoid, but whatever did cause the burning of the trees is no friend to me or to anyone else. I am sure that this creation belongs to them, in which case, they cannot be far from here.

And then a thought popped into my head. Perhaps this is what Twoo was talking about. Perhaps this is what all of the other animals had to go round. Although for what reason he thought that I could go through it I do not know. Whatever beast creates weapons like this will  be no friend to me.

And then I remembered. Twoo was just a figment of my imagination. There is no point in basing anything on what he has said, because he never said it. It never happened.

Finally realising that this whole train of thought has been a complete waste of time, I decide to continue in the direction that I have so far been travelling. So onwards I go.