It’s not every day packs of hyenas come down from the Dark Mountain and start killing off your neighbors. Some of them are beasts, their slobber dripping from their gaping maws in thick strands of gooey, sticky, bacteria-infested poison. I fought them, of course; I had to protect my mate and our children. But, alas… they ripped into them with gusto, eagerly slicing into their bellies behind my back. I heard them screaming… crying… pleading… but I couldn’t help them, lest I lose my own life to the mangy disgraces. The only reason they left… well, I don’t know. A large, black horse with a white mane sped past, and they followed. All that was left of my family was a single, chewed-off skull, already skinned courtesy the attacker’s teeth. I took it with me, clinging to the last piece of them for as long as I could while I went farther South, into the grasslands, where the hyenas had yet to threaten.
I found a herd of horses on my way, and decided to follow them. They were more fit than I, and had an alert system when hyenas were seen on the outskirts of the group. Those that fought when the alarm was too late were fascinating to watch from my hiding place… it was exciting to see those hooves flying and smashing into the murderer’s bodies, sending them flying. Some got up… most didn’t. They tolerated my presence when I would calmly approach to take the carcasses, or what was left after the attackers took bites out of their own comrades. I suppose they knew I was not fast enough to catch even the slowest of the herd.
As life for me slowly got better, my spirits rose. I’ve never been able to stay down for too long, it’s what my mate loved about me the most, and it was why I she stuck around for me to help raise the kits. I slowly started to accept that they were gone, though I still carried the skull wherever I went. I’d never give it up. My one link to the family I lost… no, I couldn’t. When the weather and leaves changed, I tied it into my mane as well, though no females were to be found. I had figured they were all claimed… or dead. It was a rather sobering thought… if all of the females had died… there’d be so little to live for. With no hope of continuing the species….
I travelled further south alongside the herd, through forests and plains, over hills and valleys. Eventually, I met up with a lioness cub and took her in, realizing she needed a family to help her. Shani’s the light of my life now. She’s the reason I get up every morning, the reason I smile, and the reason I’m starting to need this skull less and less.
I’m recovering. I know I am. I’m slowly getting back to being the one I was before… I just don’t remember who he is anymore.
