Personality: Curious, adventurous, passive.
Story:
I don’t know why I went out that day.
It was bright and sunny when I set out. Honest. I just wanted to explore, like I had done a million times before. I loved wandering around and looking at new things, travelling far off of the beaten path over and over and over again. I loved watching the bright parrots as they squawked and flew off, startled by a sound. Of course, it was probably me, but….
I also loved watching the frogs hop around near the freshwater river. There weren’t many in the place where it spilled into the salty sea, but they were everywhere- and of every color imaginable- between the Far Mountains and the sea itself. They sung all sorts of songs, some hypnotizing, some downright annoying, and it was so cool, sitting in the midst of all of that noise!
I’d never strayed to the other side of the river before, though, so I simply had to that day… there was nothing else for it. I followed a frog as it crossed, ribbiting and croaking the whole way, and continued on my way, sure I’d be able to make it back before nightfall. I was so sure of my navigation skills… I didn’t really pay attention as I went along, smelling all of the new smells and looking at all of the new sights. It got colder the farther I went, until eventually… all of the lights went out, and the sun was gone.
I was lost. Completely and utterly lost… I tried to turn around and go back but… I guess I had turned in the wrong direction or something, because I didn’t find that river again. Instead, I was met with more darkness… until I found myself out of the forest, and looking up into an unobstructed sky for the first time in my life. I saw the moon- oh! She looked so beautiful!- And the stars! All of the stars that I had never truly seen before…. I almost didn’t want to go back home, just because I knew the canopy of the trees would cover up this beauty of a view, and I might never get to see it again.
I rested at the treeline that night, my golden eyes looking constantly up. I wondered what I would do… what the future had in store for me. I could always try to go back, though there was the possibility I’d never find it again, and would get eaten up by a jaguar or something. And then there was the unknown out here. What predators would eat a little cub like me? Where would I find a safe place to stay? Would I be accepted in this strange place, are there any of my kind out here, like my mother’s stories said? I just didn’t know….
I missed my parents that night. I still miss them, really, but I’ve moved on since that night, I guess. I went out on my own, and wandered into those grasslands when the sun came up, and I saw white clouds for the first time ever. For a moment, I felt my future was written up there… somewhere… I just hope it’s going to be okay.
Manchado is a pardusero; lineart, species and design by rainingdarkness.
