World Leapers Book I: The Forest

The Island

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Terran popped his head outside the cave first.

He had insisted to River that he be the one to lead them out of the cave. He knew he couldn't see, but he felt like a coddled baby after having been forced to follow River everywhere the previous day. So with his brother behind him, he felt his way out to the cave's entrance, and squeezed through the crevice in the rocks.

As soon as his head emerged, he felt warm rays of sunshine against his skin. In the distance, he heard the crashing of the ocean waves. The salty, moist air filled his lungs. He paused to take a deep breath.

"Brother, your butt stinks like a barnyard. Can you please let me out of here?"

With a mighty heave and a grunt, Terran threw his cane out in front of him and pulled his body out of the crevice to make room for his brother. Both boys were still wearing dirty hoodies covered in leaves and debris. They'd taken the last remaining threads of their t-shirts and soaked them in the water, then tucked the water-logged cotton into the back of their pants. If water was tough to come by, they'd at least be able to suck some precious hydration out of the shirts.

"Which way is this peak, River?"

He heard River squirming out of the cave, and then there was a moment of silence. "Mmm... if we go back up the way we came we'll hit the same rock face we were at before. I don't think you can get up that without being able to see. I barely think I could get up it. We could keep going along this trail that led us to the cave, but I can't tell if it goes up that way toward the peak, or just keeps going along beside the rocks and the water."

"I wish that bird would come back."

"Yeah, I could use a good meal."

Terran grimaced at the thought of eating the same creature that had led them to safety the night before. "Is there anything down here that we can eat, River?"

"Not many plants growing here around the rocks. And it's mostly rocks all the way back up to where the forest starts. I didn't see much other than shrubs up there last night. But..."

River's voice trailed away, and Terran heard digging, fumbling and rocks scraping, "Help me with this rock, Terran. It's a big one on top of lots of dirt. Maybe we can find a big tasty June bug or a black beetle."

Terran bent down and slipped his hands into the dirt next to his brother's. He never thought his mouth would salivate so much at the prospect of eating a beetle. As he felt the rock budge, then slide, then slowly begin to flip, he grunted, leaned in and pushed his shoulders forward with a few small remaining shreds of strength.

River squealed, "Yes! Ants! And eggs!"

Terran smiled. While tiny darting ants could be tough to catch without grabbing handfuls of gritty dirt in the process, ant eggs were an entirely different matter. Back home, the brothers had experimented with taking the tiny white packages full of protein, vitamins, and minerals and frying them in a cast-iron skillet with butter and salt. Terran heard River ferociously scraping and digging, collecting as many eggs as possible before the ants could whisk them away.