Mother woke to the sound of a deafening click as a bright light suddenly filled the cave. Her young ones started to stir, so she repositioned her thin legs in a vain attempt to block out the light. They gradually fell back into a deep sleep, comforted by her presence and the soporific rumbling in the distance.
This had become a daily routine, ever since she had settled into this cave overlooking the white canyon. She would enjoy peace and quiet in the comforting dark with the occasional interruption of a blinding light and some loud noises. All in all, it was not a terrible place to raise her newborn babies.
However, something was wrong this time. The rumbling didn’t die down; it got louder. The ground began to tremble slightly. Something was moving towards her sanctuary. She heard a loud whoosh like the shrieking of fierce wind. The sound didn’t go away, but instead it gradually grew painfully loud.
Her young had woken up by now. They were frantic. Their legs were trembling. They looked to her for safety, but she was as clueless as to the situation as they. She frantically pushed them deeper into the cave, and herself set out for the entrance to figure out the situation.
Mother could barely see anything as her eyes slowly adjusted to the light. What she saw next almost gave her a heart attack. This giant thing the size of a tree was standing over her, it lifted a limb and eased its way down into the canyon below. She barely dodged a gob of water that flew towards her.
Scared and confused, she had absolutely no idea what to do next. Her kids were in danger, and this creature was so massive he barely fit in the canyon where she would let the children explore. More importantly, there was now a waterfall on the other side of the canyon, and the waters were rising steadily.
She didn’t have much time before the water would flood her cave and kill her children. She ran back to get her young and make an escape. It took minutes of cajoling to get them to follow her back to the mouth of the cave. By this point the water levels had risen dangerously high. She was about to start them on their way upwards out of harm’s way when the worst possible thing happened.
The giant moved one massive limb, which caused a wave to move towards the cave. Mother didn’t have much time to react. She pushed her kids against the inner wall of the cave, and held them tight as the wave hit. Somehow she had saved her children, but she was unprepared for the tug of the water as it washed back into the canyon. It seemed as if time had stood still for a second; she teetered on several limbs, but the water won the battle and swept her away.
Mother was now frantically trying to stay above water in the canyon. She had to get back to the cave and save her children. Her single-minded determination got her close, and she somehow reached the canyon wall and was about to get back to the cavern when she heard the giant shout.
It was enough to startle her, and that led to her last mistake. She turned her head in the giant’s direction rather than try to sprint for the safety of the cave. It’s eyes looked at her with absolute revulsion. It’s limb came down towards her body like a falling meteor. It blocked out the light, and she leaped to get out of its path. She didn’t make it.
Several of her limbs were broken. Mother couldn’t even hold on to the wall of the canyon; she dropped down to the lake below. Unable to swim anymore or help her kids, she filled with rage. She felt so powerless against this monster who had disturbed her home and maimed her. She wanted it to pay, so she fueled her strength with anger as she swam toward the monster. Mother wanted to hurt it.
The creature saw her coming, and leaped out of the canyon before she got to it. The massive ripples spun her out of control and she lost all of her sense of direction. When the water finally settled, she was floating peacefully in calm waters. Mother allowed herself to hope, for maybe she had scared the giant away and the worst was over. Then she felt a tug on her body.
A whirlpool had formed near the base of where the waterfall used to be. Mother tried desperately to swim away from the current, but her broken legs could barely move. She would’ve cried if she could. Her head got submerged for a couple seconds, and she fought hard to break the surface. This happened again and again, and her strength slowly sapped away. The water level was falling, and the cave was getting farther away. She was spinning out of control, the light around her was fading.
In Mother’s conscious last seconds, she got swept down into some dark ditch. This time the darkness did not comfort her, for she knew that she had failed. She had failed her children. She could only hope that they would survive without her.
Unfortunately, they did not.