H.S.E
                                                  Higher Species Evolution
                                             THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA




  Sasha was sitting at her desk. Her homework was math. Again. That would be the third time this week. As Sasha twirled her black hair, she thought with a stern look on her light brown face of what 2, 345 divided by 7 would be. Scratch. She tried to think. 7 goes into 23…3 times. She was just about to put her pencil to the paper. Scratch, Scratch. “ Ugh!” she moaned. Sasha got up from her desk and dropped her pencil. She jogged down the hall. Scratch. “ I’m coming, Shy!” she yelled down the hall. She turned the corner and saw her black lab, Shy. Shy’s soulful brown eyes begged Sasha to let her go outside and sniff plants.
  Sasha let Shy out and watched her do her business in the yard with her brilliantly green eyes. She didn’t want to watch her; she only did because Shy would get into the garbage.
  Sasha let Shy back in. After an hour, Sasha finished her homework and went downstairs to see her dad, glasses, black, course hair, computer, and all.
  “Whats on the news?” asked Sasha. She had an unnatural liking for news; She pretty much never even flipped through a channel that had the word ‘cartoon’ written all over it.
  Shy came trotting down to the blanket were she slept and lied down on its cushiony softness. Shy stared at the T.V set with ears perked as Sasha turned it on.
“ And here’s Jerry Steinberg of Animal Planet with an announcement. Jerry?” said Carol, a news reporter. “ Thanks Carol.” Said Jerry, a man with a jacket on out in the rain in supposedly Oregon. Jerry put on a fake smile. “ A woman named Phyllis here says that her dog can talk.” Stated Jerry. “So we’re checking out the scene,” Jerry was obviously new to this business.
   The cameraman skipped to inside a small house, where an old woman with graying hair was sitting in a rocking chair and petting a shaking Fox Terrier. A voice over explained that the woman has taught her dog to talk.
  The cameraman skipped to an interview with Phyllis. A small tab at the bottom of the screen said ‘Phyllis Hatcher’. The old woman said, “ Honestly, I didn’t teach him how to speak! He must’ve learned to do it from all those shows he’s usually watching.” The terrier simply looked at the camera.
  Shy made a shifty look towards Sasha and Dad.
  The camera them skipped to an interview with the dog. He looked up at the old lady like ‘What the heck are you doing to me, lady?’  “Okay, Skipper, tell them your favorite show!” Skipper looked at her again. “Go on!” Skipper turned toward the camera screen and said in a growly voice, “ Spon Bob Sqer Pant on Nickleden!” the camera and sound crew gasped. Phyllis said, “ And what’s your favorite movie?” Skipper looked like he was frustrated, for his ‘eyebrows’ started scrunching up. “ It nonna yer dern basnes!” Only he didn’t say darn. He swore.
  Everyone gasped. Even Phyllis. Skipper trotted away from the room, the camera following at a safe distance behind.
  The news cut off right after that.
  Sasha looked a bit pale.
  “Dad,” she mumbled out. “Dad! Did you see that?”
  “Yes…” He mumbled through his computer. “Very nice weather…”
  Sasha rolled her eyes. Her dad never listened. He was as good as plugged into that computer of his.


  Th weeks passed, and every day more and more sitings of weird things had happened. As the weeks passed, also, Sasha was getting more and more excited about that trip to California her mom said she was planning.
  One day, on the news, as Sasha got even more used to weird things like this happeneing, an even weirder thing happened.
  “Live from Houston, here’s Jim Horton with the news, Jim?” said Carol.
  “Thanks, Carol. Here in Houston, things are normal, or so it seems. Here is Ginny Rudolph with another weird announcement; her cat can stand on two legs. And talk.”
  As the camera skipped to a voice over clip of the cat standing up, Jim said, “There’s been more news of animals walking on two legs or talking, or sometimes doing both.” The camera then went to a short interview where Ginny said “Literally! Sheldon just stood up one day and has been talking ever since!” The camera skipped to another voice over where the camera got close enough to get Sheldon, a gray tabby, to hold onto the edges of the camera on two legs. As the voice over ended, Sheldon said in a meow-like fashion, “Hiow!” while still holding on. Then Sheldon let go as the camera moved away.
  And he kept standing.
  Sheldon then walked to the kitchen and tried to open the kitchen door, all while keeping his balance. But the door was too far up.
  Sheldon then did something amazing. “I’we bee bark!” he said a little gruffly. He disappeared for a minute, and then came back with a piece of long string in his mouth.
  The camera crew laughed, and Ginny blushed a bit. But after a minute or two, the fridge door opened. The camera crew stopped laughing immediately, and Ginny positively glowed.
  Sheldon then jumped on the counter and said in what was supposed to be a human like voice, “Cowme Loork!”
  The camera crew did as told, and as they got closer to the fridge by the annoyingly plain flower wallpapered wall, they could see a knot of string tied to the fridge. It was almost so perfectly woven that the camera crew thought there was a person behind the fridge, a carpenter of sorts, helping the cat. Ginny was just going to open her mouth when Sheldon said “Wartch!”
  Sheldon ran up a little bit and then slid on the slippery argyle patterned floor, taking the string in his mouth and back up a little. He then stood on two legs and extended his claws and pulled on the string.
  The fridge opened.
  And the second Sheldon showed that perfectly woven knot to everyone on the set in the studio, everyone at home, everyone in the world… Sasha felt cold. As she got up to go to the bathroom to splash water on her face, she saw that she was shaking slightly and that her face was pale. Shy came trotting up to her, pale face and all, and perked her ears.
  Shy licked her nose nervously, and her tail began to twitch slightly, trying to act normal. But as Sasha looked down at the dog, which seemed to have lost some weight and was getting longer, Shy knew that nothing would be the same…She had to go now…
  

  Sasha woke up the next morning, still trying to compensate what had happened. But then she checked the clock. Oh no! It was eight forty! She’d be late for class! Sasha quickly brushed her hair, even though it hurt, pulled on some clothes, woke her dad to drive her in, ate stale frosted flakes with a dash of milk, and hurried out the door.
  As Shy watched the two humans run out the door, she noticed that the dad was too tired to remember to lock the door. Shy put on an evil smile, and pushed at the door with her weight. The door swung open.
  As Shy sat there, looking out at the mistakes that Dad had made, she realized this would be easy… The Hyooman forgot to lock everything…
  Then Shy heard a bark in the distance, accompanied by a howl. Her ears perked, and as she smiled, she trotted off to the forest, where no one could find her…



  “I’ve lost her!” Sasha cried as she blew yet another tissue into the ever mounting pile. “I’ve really lost her this time!”
  Shy had run off. Sasha didn’t know how. The dog didn’t know how to open doors, and Shy could never unlock a gate in a hundred years!
  As her dad patted her, she blew again. “Don’t worry,” said Dad. “We’ll find Cho.” “It’s Shy!” cried back Sasha. “Who said it wasn’t?” replied her Dad.
  “I’ve lost her!”



  Shy looked side to side and checked the outside clock on the brick wall. It was misty, and the small brick snack shop was losing its shadow as the night wore on. She made sure it was safe, then bonked her head on the back door five times, paused, and nudged her nose on the doorknob two times.
  A Bernese mountain dog came and opened the door with a click!
  “Oh, Kiesha,” he said in a burly voice. “Is it that time of night already?”
  “Unfortunately, yes, Havvard,” Shy replied. “Do you have the supplies?”
  “ Of course,” he said, and turned from the doorway to a shelf, while a man, the owner of the dog, slept in front of the blaring TV.
  The mountain dog pulled a thick rope with his teeth, making a board face down, dropping off a package with a loud thump on the floor.
  The snores stopped. The man was waking up.
  “Quick!” Whispered Shy. “Hand it over!”
  Havvard did as told so, handing the brown package to Shy.
  Shy bowed her head, “May the evening stars bless you, dear Havvard,” she said, and then took the tight rope the package was bound in and ran off down the street at a gallop, leaping to the side as a truck came down the path and honked it’s loud and blurting horn at her.
  Before this story goes on, you must understand why Shy had blessed the great mountain dog in such an odd way. The reason was simple; most of the quickly evolving animals traveled by night, and, not wanting to be caught, blessed each other with safety for the night and that they would not end up in a pound the next day.
  As Shy ran off, quickly curbing the corner, Havvard stared at her, a rather sad expression on his face. “Moon’s light and star’s guide bless you, dear Kiesha. Moon’s light and star’s guide.”
  “Bernie, what are you doing? And how did that door git open?”
  The mountain dog turned toward his owner, a rather unshaven man of around sixty, with a blue baseball cap on and jeans, white shirt under a cross-knitted sweater.
  The dog struck a pose of innocent staring, so that all his owner could do was shake his head and say, “Fine…I’m going to bed…when you want in”-he yawned a bit at this part-“Just nudge me.”
  Bernie tried to hide his smile as his head jerked around, listening for news from the neighbors. A yowl was sent up from around two hundred feet away, where there was a ring of houses. Bernie’s ears strained to listen, and he faintly heard the new story from the neighbor’s dog.
  “Sun Clan…powerful…supplies…shipped…forest…deer…Rut…”
  Havvard squinted, maybe to see if that would help his hearing, but then the dog from across that house suddenly yelped out the news to the world too.
“Sun Clan grows powerful…. supplies…shipped…forest has been…deer are in the Rut…”
  Havvard could not make out the rest until an orange tabby, across the pavement, looked left, right, and jumped back into the bushes by the cracked open fence across the way as a car whooshed quietly and slowly passed the feline. It checked from the sanctuary of the bushes, then, quietly and slowly, padded across the road toward Bernie. She stopped in the middle of the road suddenly and ran up to him, a little out of breath.
  “Havvard,” she heaved. “Havvard, have you heard the news?”
  Bernie smiled down at the feline. “Liatha, nothing is worth worrying about. Although I would like a review of the news, my hearing is not so good anymore and pups keep yelping as if they only did it against their will.”
  Liatha smiled, “Although the news is grave, there is hope among the Tamed.”
  Havvard smiled down at the plucky young feline; she was a pleasure to talk to, even if some of the higher forms, the so-called ‘Hyoomans’ ‘stereotyped’ that dogs and cats hated each other.
  Oh, sure, they would normally hate each other; common knowledge. But in times of need, the Tamed would have to join together; even if it meant that the mouse and cat would have to work together; the dog and rabbit; and so on.
  “What is the news, Liatha? Tell me. But quickly, my Hyooman would want me in a couple minutes.”
  “Alright,” said the cat. She paced around and thought for a couple seconds, took a big breath, and recited:
  “The clans are building up, yet even all the forest animals are not enough; the Sun clan grows most powerful, and the Pluto clan, even after much social arguments and pressure, has finally claimed two lands throughout the forest. One is by the old tree, which nobody likes because if Earth, Venus, Mars, or Saturn clan wants to go hunt through the Safe Space or at the Opening, they’ll have to go through Pluto clan most likely. And that means that we’ll have to have a system to track out the liars and rogues from the ones who want to hunt, and that will NOT be easy, as you know!
  “ The Hyooman supplies have been shipped safely, with some difficulty from Kaern and Nuana. All blankets, experimental objects, and even some mini TV’s have been collected! Every clan has a radio by now, and at least two members from each clan can speak English and know what the Hyoomans say. At least one cub, kit, or pup is being trained English as a second language, so we can keep up and understand the Hyoomans even more.
“ With the upcoming of the clans, the forest has been slightly cleared, hopefully not enough for the Hyoomans to notice. Everyone now has a loose border patrol, but that might increase with the whole hunting idea. There are ten clans; the Jupiter, Mercury, Pluto, Mars, Moon, Venus, Earth, Saturn, and Sun clans. There are also rumors of a Sirius clan; a bunch of rebels AGAINST the revolution. No one knows why.
  “ Also, the deer are now in the Rut, which the English speaking ones have confirmed is the time of year when the deer mate. Everyone also plans on giving the deer English lessons, so that generations of deer to come can communicate with the English speaking ones and tell us what has been happening. Although, unfortunately, the English-speakers told us that the Hyoomans hunt the deer for fun; no other reason at all!
“And that,” huffed Liatha. “Is the news. Nothing more. Until tomorrow.”
  Havvard was listening intently to Liatha, but then turned toward the door of the small brick house and sniffed, listening.
  “Quickly, Liatha, hide!” he said, pushing her against a trashcan.
  The door opened, and as Liatha froze against the cold side of the can, Havvard simply perked his ears and made his eyes sort of wide, so that, even though old, he would look like what the Hyoomans called ‘cute’.
  The dog just stood in the alley, the light mist circling his legs and partly clouding the lamp outside, which was starting to dim. It was getting lighter out.
  “Darn dog, get in here!” said Bernie’s owner. Havvard whined from his spot and stared at his owner with that ‘cute’ look.
  “Now!” Screamed his owner “Now!”
  Havvard looked at Liatha and quickly bowed, hurriedly saying “Star’s guide, Lia!” and then quickly trotted toward his owner, who put a collar on him with a chain attached, so he wouldn’t wander.
  As Liatha looked side to side to see if it was clear, Havvard suddenly got up and sniffed, listening, his ears perked. A car was coming.
  Liatha turned towards Havvard, “Star’s guide, Havv! Star’s guide!”
  Liatha stepped onto the pavement, sniffing and freezing, but then going on. Havvard kept sniffing; the car was coming, and fast.
  Liatha was just in the middle of the road when the car horn honked loud and clear; she turned to face it, and Havvard barked desperately for her to move, straining at the chain and barking so loudly that some of the neighbor’s lights turned on.
  A chain split, yet it still held to the rest of the metal rope, and the car wheels were screeching as the driver went faster and Liatha stayed in one place; she was petrified, and it was still pretty dark. Even though her eyes were accustomed to the light, this was blinding light, and she couldn’t help but stare at it.
  Havvard started to bark even louder “LIATHA!”
  The chain finally let free, and Havvard was running toward the road, and jumped quickly from the driveway, getting in front of Liatha, and then suddenly seeing slight stars, as he fell to his side, bleeding out of a place between his stomach and his chest.
  Liatha ducked quickly as the car went over her, but then ran toward the dog, even though he was only a couple inches from him.
  Her brown-gold eyes teared up as she saw that the dog had his eyes closed, and he was definitely bleeding a bit, if not hard.
  “No, Havvard!” she said, her light orange cheeks getting slightly wet. “No, no, no! You can’t do this to me! Wake up! Wake UP!”
  She bonked her head against his thick jaw, and stared at him.
  Havvard’s ‘eyebrows’ pushed down on his eyes, like he was squinting. Lia smiled and quickly bonked her head against his jaw, purring and tail flicking slightly.
  “Lia,” said Havvard a bit faintly. “You’ve always been a good friend. But now, I don’t think I can carry on.”
  “Don’t say that!” said Liatha. “Don’t!”
  “But it’s true,” he said. “You’re very good at giving news. Teach the others. Tell them the plans. Give them the news. But leave me. Remember, Lia, star’s…”
  But with that, the old dog took his last breath. His kind heart had given out.
  Liatha smiled but cried at the same time. “I’ll do my best. I’ll teach those pups. I’ll give them the plans, and the news. But you’ll always be remembered, Havv. Always. I’ll tell the others. Soon I’ll be a great news guide. And I’ll tell them that you helped me out.”
  The cat bonked her head against the dog’s limp jaw again.
  Liatha, out of pure sadness, meowed loudly, trying to howl like a dog.
  “Messenger found dead…we must work harder, Tamed, harder! Help the Revolution grow! Remember Havvard…”
  A small pup from her left started howling out the news, then howled as a remembrance. Lia joined in, and so did the pup across the street, and the dog across the way, and the dogs down the street to her right, and soon the whole street, neighborhood, town, and city, even the wild ones started howling, even if they weren’t canines.
  Liatha looked down and stopped howling, glancing back at the old dog in the street, then padding silently and sadly down the alleyway into the other street, to try and get the latest news from the Tamed.


  Now, what happened to Shy and that package? She seemed to have run off in a hurry, didn’t she?
  After Shy had run down the road and turned at the corner, the package safe in her mouth, she had hid behind a tree to catch her breath. She perked her ears and could hear Lia and Havvard talking, but kept running, down the street, turning with the road, and trotting fastly down the road, then starting to gallop again as she jumped the neighbor’s fence, her brown eyes reflecting off the dim light by the door and then quickly turning by the pipes, stopping to take a breath, dropping the package and sitting on her bottom, front legs spread to the side of her as she huffed.
  Her breath evened out as she looked up at the blue painted house, seeing that the Hyoomans bedroom was not lit up with light, meaning a safe visit to the forest and not a cover up of eating garbage. The stuff was barely edible, and it tasted like everything else, too.
  She stopped huffing and finally heard a light scratch at the door, trotting over to it and using her mouth to pull it open.
  A Pekingese dog stood at the door, his eyes slightly going off in different directions.
  “Kiesha!” he said huffily, and wagged his small tail, standing up on two legs and putting one paw on the side of the doorway to hold himself up.
  Shy smiled at him, pushing the package toward him. “Rogeroa.”
  The small dog looked at the package, then seemed to light up and search through a shoe. He took out a large cloth, and then tried to quietly skitter toward the kitchen.
  He, too, pulled a rope and a small metal pizza pan emptied out a package. He took it in his paws and walked over to Shy, placing it on top of the larger package, then using his mouth and paws to wrap and tie to package.
  Shy nodded, “Star’s guide, Rogeroa.” And then took the cloth in her mouth and carried the packages around the back of the house, towards the wilderness of forests.
  “Shy!” he called after her.
  She turned and trotted back to him. “Yes?”
  “Look!” he said, and then showed Shy his paws.
  Shy squinted down at them and gasped.
  There, on his paws, his dewclaw had started to grow, and it looked almost like a paw with five claws, not four.
  “I haff iht too,” said Shy, cloth still in her mouth. She put a paw forward and wiggled her dewclaw. It seemed that she had five claws now, and not just little growing stubs. A full claw.
  Rogeroa raised his small eyebrows at this. He turned and looked at a car, which passed by, the light just missing the open door.
  “Go! Quickly!” said Rogeroa.
  Shy nodded to him and set off into the forest with the package, tired limbs carrying her forward through the dark, elite paws swiftly turning her away from stinging nettles and low hanging branches. She breathed through the cloth, soaking it slightly, and eventually came to a tree with a deerskin on it, which had a faint and weird writing on it, like an ancient ruin or such.
  Shy stopped short of this writing, squinted at it in the dark, and then stood up on two legs, her height being lengthened.
  She then dropped the clothed package from her mouth and put it in her paws, looking back at the sign, then at the moon in the sky by the house, which was small and faint now. She continued on two legs, going into the forest, which soon chattered with small birds.



  Sasha looked out the minivan’s window, sighing. Where was Shy?
  Sasha and her family drove on, getting closer and closer to their planned California trip with every mile; but to Sasha, it wasn’t the same without Shy.
  The night soon came; the sunset looked beautiful over the water.
  Sasha and her mom fell asleep, but Sasha’s dad kept driving, coffee and the inner and outer lights of the car keeping him awake.
  The moon shimmered iridescently in the sky, small stars twinkling up in the blackness of the night. The moon was so bright, and Sasha’s dad so sleepy, that he decided to turn off the car lights, drowsily driving by way of the moon.
  After a while, he decided to turn on the front car lights, as the moon was getting slightly dim. He switched the gear, and the lights shined on to reveal a doe, standing on all fours in the middle of the road, staring directly at Sasha’s dad.
  He swore loudly and quickly halted to a stop, but then found himself in an accident.
  The deer ran off into the forest, the bushes rustling behind it.
  The car alarm rang out loud and clear, as the front of the car was crashed into a block of cement in the middle of the road. Sasha was wide awake, her dad slightly drowsy and finally asleep at the wheel, snoring loudly. Her mom was stunned, but finally took her cell phone out and called nine one one for a pick up.
  Sasha opened the minivan’s door, pushing it to the side. She cautiously stepped out onto the pavement, the waves crashing out below the cliff ledge, which was fenced. She leaned over, looking down as they crashed onto the small flat of sand and rumbled in the distance, thundering against the rocks.
  She heard something in the bushes; maybe it was the deer.
And maybe it was hurt.
  Sasha quietly went around the front of the car, the front lights blinking faintly and finally shutting off.
  She stared at the bushes; they kept rustling.
  Out of them came a being; it wasn’t clear what gender or age, but it certainly wasn’t small and young, nor thin and old.
  A trench coat adorned it’s stature, with a large cowboy-like hat on top, looking like it would possibly hide something. A bandana was peeking out of the brim, or, at least that Sasha could see in the darkness and moonlight. Another bandana was tied around it’s face; more specifically the bridge of it’s nose and lower.
  Sasha tilted her head slightly and pondered at the being, who’s face (above the bandana) seemed furry, like a facial hair problem.
  It’s hands reached out slightly and were balled into fists, under smooth and thick gardening gloves. The boots were knee-high and thick; it was hard to tell what gender this…this…thing…was, exactly.
  Through the trench coat, which was sloppily buttoned, there was a thick turtle neck, with another bandana around the neck area, and through one of these numerous bandanas a muffled voice came, “It w-would seem youu neeed help.” It said in a stuttery and slurry voice, trying to sound as bland as possible.
  Sasha looked up at the being, a brow cocked and staring, trying to see if she could figure out what was happening. How would this thing now what was going on? Was it behind everything?
  Sasha thought for a moment, and then said up to it, “Do you have medical supplies?”
  “Y-yess…”
  “Um, could you show them to me?”
  The being tried to nod through it’s stiff attire, moon reflecting off the glasses.
  Through the gloves the thing’s hands made a movement to come forward. Sasha lightly stepped forward, heart pounding slightly.
  The thing moved aside some bushes and looked at Sasha. She gulped and walked through them.
  An old, withered tree was by this clearing, and it seemed to have a path leading off to the right. The tree was definitely old, and it looked black and burnt. Some logs of the same hue were on the ground around it, and Sasha went up to touch it, easily flecking some of the bark off.
  The thing rushed forward just as Sasha went to open the hole of bark a little bit wider. Before Sasha could put her finger out to touch it, the thing took her hand and through it’s bandana said, “Don’t touch that, please.”
  It searched through it’s trench coat pockets and took out an old rusty can, which seemed to be filled with Oust, since that’s what the peeling paint letters said. The gloves pressed down hard and a foul-smelling rusty-colored spray came out.
  Sasha blinked and stared, and looked confusedly up at the thing again.
  “Come this way, please,” it said through it’s bandana.
  Sasha followed the thing, around the tree, but heard a stomping and quickly spun around.
  The doe was standing there, what seemed to be a halter on it’s head, and tied to that was string tied to a post, or, at least, a primitive-looking post.
  Sasha looked inquisitively at the doe. What was it doing, tied up to a post?
  The thing took her shoulder and spun her around, looking down at her. “Ignore it,” it said.
  Sasha pulled her shoulder away and backed up a step or two, looking worried, concerned, and nervous at the same time, her heart pounding against her chest, her fight or flight instinct kicking in along with adrenaline.
  “What’s going on here!?” she said, a bit loudly.
  The thing made motions with it’s gloves as if to say ‘quiet down’, all while saying “Shhh! Quiet!”
  “No!” said Sasha. “Tell me what’s going on!!”
  The thing looked both ways, as if suspicious, and then forcefully grabbed Sasha’s hand, running quickly and lightly through the brush, trees, and other flora.
  Sasha lightly whined as she was hit by low hanging branches, stinging nettles, and many other things. She yelped a little as a thorny bush scratched her cheek, leaving a light but stinging scar.
  The thing seemed to be slowing down, and finally stopped.
  Sasha breathed heavily and sat on the ground, her heart pounding. The thing had wrung her wrists as it had dragged her through the brush, and her energy was low.
  She looked up at the thing; it was still holding her by the wrist. So much for an escape plan.
  Sasha gasped. In the distance a howl was emitted. Under the rustle of the thing’s many bandanas it’s neck twisted toward it. Another howl was executed to the left. The thing, like a robot listening to a radio signal, turned it’s head in that direction also.
  “C-come.” It said in that same slurry thing that was called a ‘voice’.
  Sasha didn’t have time to think twice. Once it started running, she was again dragged, but her shock had worn away, and she was running. What else could she do? She had no defense moves or weapons on her. And she was going too fast to kick it.
  The moon wearily blinked down on Sasha and the thing, which seemed to have boundless energy. They were deep in the forest now; Sasha couldn’t go back without being lost.
  The thing slowed to a fast walk, and the trees got thicker; it would be lucky to see the light of the moon.
  The trees started thinning out after a while, and Sasha kept her watch on the ground, lagging a bit from lack of energy. She was tired, and it was surely midnight; too keep running or walking so late would take a miracle without food.
  The trees finally stopped, as did the thing. Sasha looked up.
  Through the twig-thick branches of the vulnerable and thin trees, the moon shined out towards a clearing. It was confusing, though. Why would the thing just come to a clearing with a huge dirt mound?
  Yes, in that clearing, all the dirt sauntered up and was a medium-sized heap of dirt. Sasha knew that, even though this probably wasn’t anything, it could be something bad.
  The thing walked forward. Sasha followed by the wrist.
  The thing looked around again, and then took out a gloved finger and picked a bit at the mound, some small pebbles falling to the ground.
  The thing let go of Sasha’s wrist; it was now digging, like a dog, a pretty big small hole.
  Sasha looked around; she was lost, and the only way out was to ask this thing. Wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
  The hole was pretty small; but it was not big enough for anyone to crawl through.
  Sasha looked around at the trees, trying to remember which way she came from. The thing gently and silently lifted one of the bandanas over it’s mouth, and stuck it’s muzzle into the hole.
  The thing yelped into the hole, and Sasha turned around to see it putting the bandana back on again.
  Sasha saw it looking at her through those black glasses, and suddenly jumped when she saw the dirt mound open up like a door.
  The thing waved one of it’s gloves sideways, as if to say ‘ladies first’. Sasha shook her head, and the thing just put it’s glove down and crawled down it.
  Sasha waited a couple seconds, and suddenly heard a very close howl. She panicked and slid down the hole, which wasn’t very comfortable. The dirt piled back up behind her.
  She moaned, scared, in the dark, being afraid of it for the first time.
  She heard the scrape of a match, and froze. She heard it again and a flame burst out of the darkness, the thing’s face right in front of hers.
  She squealed, scared, but the thing simply put a gloved finger over it’s mouth, saying “Shhh.” In what was possibly a feminine voice.
  Sasha nodded, and it lit a small lantern, shaking the fire out of the match. The thing turned toward Sasha, but she was still staring at the lantern hanging in through the dirt.
  “Now, listen,” it said. It was clear this was a woman or a girl by the sound of her voice.
  Sasha turned her head toward the thing; her hands slightly sweaty and warm sweat on her head from running. She nodded towards the thing.
  “You need to come with us. We need your help badly. If you’re smart, you’ll follow me.”
  The thing scrunched up it’s back and turned; the hole wasn’t quite big enough for turning around comfortably.
  The thing started running down the hole; it was almost flying.
  Sasha stood there, stupefied, at how fast this thing could move on four legs. The thing, down the dirt chute, echoed back to her, “C’mon!”
  Sasha shook her head and crawled down, keeping her back towards the ground so she’d catch up faster.
  She soon found that the chute was like a big dirt slide; She gently crawled on her back, and finally met up with the thing, which had it’s head turned toward her.
  Sasha followed the thing down the winding and (Or so it seemed) pretty long chute, facing the end of a trench coat and the bottoms of knee high boots all the while.
  It seemed harder than she thought to crab walk all the way down the chute; her feet finally gave in.
  Her left foot slipped on a loose rock, and she squealed as she slid into the thing’s rear, which also gave a gasp of surprise and started sliding down the chute.
  Both screamed as they went sliding down the tunnel, and soon they were flying through the air, a split second later crashing on a hard dirt surface.
  Sasha yelped a bit, and rubbed her bottom. That fall hurt. And…what was that? It sounded like a baby crying.
  Sasha looked around her; there was a rabbit and male wolf playing chess, the rabbit seeming to be on a losing streak; besides them, a female wolf was watching them and laughing, holding two whelps, one crying and one asleep. Across from them, a cougar female was talking to a bobcat male; they seemed to be discussing something interesting if the baby wasn’t distracting them. Two male coyotes were laughing, as if someone had told a joke, and across from them a male grizzly and female black bear were playing with some marbles.
  When Sasha fell, everyone turned his or her attention towards her.
  One thing, Sasha noticed, about these animals was that they were different. They looked human.
  But they still had their fur and tails, claws, jaws, everything. But they had human legs and arms, and hands with fingers on them.
  Sasha gasped, looked up at the thing, and fainted.


  “Hey…hey…hey…hey…HEY!!” said the thing, screaming at Sasha as she opened her eyes lazily.
  “Wake up!! WAKE UP!! Don’t make me get Pyewacket get water on you!”
  “Water…” Sasha echoed, and then sat up straight, cold sweat running down her forehead. Her vision unblurred, and she saw eleven wild animal faces smiling down at her.
  “We awake, sleepy?” said a vixen, smiling at her and giving her a clay pot full of water. Sasha noticed that she was in nothing but dirty, brown rags. She cocked a brow to the vixen and drank in the water.
  “EUGH!” Sasha spat as she drained her mouth of the super salt-spiked liquid.
  The animals smiled even more, the male grizzly and wolf laughing a bit.
  “Well, now that we KNOW you’re awake, welcome to our little niche, Hyooman.”
  Sasha sort of got over the animals looks after that water.
  “W-what did you call me?” she said, lifting a brow to the animals.
  “Why, a Hyooman, of course!” said the black bear. “Aren’t you one?”
  Sasha thought for a bit, then smiled.
  “Oh, you mean ‘human’. Right. Gotcha.” She said.
  She got up, and the animals followed suit. She brushed off her shirt, and heard a small brushing noise. All the other animals were copying her. She stopped. They stopped.
  And they were still in a circle around her.
  “Um…personal space, please?” she said, and the animals took a step back, except for the vixen, who took a step forward.
  The vixen put out her arm, her hand limp.
  “Hi,” she said. “I’m Moesha. And you are?”
  Sasha looked at Moesha’s limp arm.
  “Hi,” she said, taking her somewhat furry hand and shaking it. “I’m Sasha.”
  As Sasha shook Moesha’s paw, the other animals just stared and ‘oooh’ed.
  “Is that how you’re supposed to do it? I always mess it up.” Said Moesha.
  “Um...right…” said Sasha. “So…um…if you don’t mind me asking, exactly what are you? And exactly where am I?”
  The vixen smiled, “We are the animals of the forest, like every other animal in every other forest around the world.”
  “Then…why are you standing on tow legs?” inquired Sasha.
  The vixen looked the away from Sasha, her expression dropping from happy to guilty, her ears relaxing down.
  “We were animals, like any other animal. We walked on four legs, hunted like other animals, ate like other animals, did everything like other animals…but many were angry when, many years ago, the Hyoomans started tearing down our homes and trees, our shrubs and plants, and uprooting the good dirt that a lot of us needed for our food to grow in.
  “We wanted revenge. We wanted to tear down the other Hyoomans houses and see how THEY liked it. We wanted our forest back.
  “And then, one day, some of the animals that liked Hyoomans came into our smaller forest, giving a proposal of knowledge. One wolf, called Migramme, asked what would happen with this knowledge. The animals said that learning to speak English and to read and write would help the wilder ones like us have a better understanding with Hyoomans.
  “And then, Migramme came up with the idea to get back our forest. He told the other animals that if they shared their knowledge with us, we could help them with their things. He never said what these things were, but said that if us wild ones got knowledge from the Tamed, we could get the Hyoomans to stop tearing down our homes for theirs, and start reclaiming our land.”
  “So, what happened?” asked Sasha.
  Moesha sighed and went on, “I told him it would be easier to cope with the Hyoomans if we convince them to move away, and not just use brute force. But he got his ever-loving pack on me.” Moesha growled, her fists balled and her eyes becoming slits. Sasha took a step back.
  Moesha looked at Sasha happily, her expression changing and ears lifting, “But since we’ve found you, you can help them see that being with Hyoomans isn’t bad at all! Not all Hyoomans would tear down the forest, would they?”
  Moesha looked hopefully at Sasha, but she didn’t know what to say. Could the builders stop working on new houses and start working on re-planting trees? Sasha knew this would only happen for a very large sum of money.
  “Well…um…some people don’t think it’s a good idea that the forests are being destroyed…” Sasha stuttered, not one to disappoint.
  Moesha punched the air, “Great! Then come take a tour around!”
  Sasha saw the whole place; it wasn’t very big. In the very left corner, a baby cradle made of sticks and rags was swaying gently from an unknown breeze, and besides that, a table, which had small holes dug into it, and small clay balls to play Mancala.
  Against the other parts of the dirt wall were tables also, spread apart, and under each table was at least two sleeping bags made of rags.
  From the ceiling hung four LED light lamps, and it was, indeed, very bright in the small dirt niche.
  Everything except the lights was handmade, and, also, a small radio was in the corner, along with a T.V. Sasha guessed Moesha and her group didn’t make them.
  The group was actually very nice, and Sasha just had a nagging question at her brain.
  “Moesha, what are you guys all doing here?”
  Moesha looked back at her, and said, “This is the Sirius Clan’s secret hole. You must never-“
  “Wait. Sirius Clan?”
  “Why, yes.” Said Moesha. “Haven’t you heard about the clans? It’s always in the evening news!”
  “I don’t speak dog.” Replied Sasha.
“Oh.” Said Moesha. “Well, then, let me tell you about them all.”-She pointed to a table-“Have a seat, shall we?”
  Sasha nodded and sat in a chair that one of the coyotes opened for her. She looked up at him, “Oh, thank you.” The coyote nodded and sat down on the floor, watching Sasha and Moesha talk about the clans like everyone else, while the wolf whelps slept together in the cradle, gently poking and pushing themselves over as they slept.
  “Remember the thing about the Tamed and the wild ones?” Moesha started. Sasha nodded.
  “Y’see, some wanted different things. Some just wanted to show the other humans who were boss. Some wanted the females to fight only, and others just the males. It caused a great argument, and eventually everyone split up, causing the clans.
  “Our neighbor, to the west, the Jupiter Clan, thinks we should keep to ourselves and, after a few years, just go up and shake hands with your Alpha-“
  “Wait,” said Sasha. “Alpha?”
  “Why, yes. Your leader. Surely you have one?”
  Sasha thought for a bit, then brightened up, “Oh, ok. Go on?”
  “Like I was saying, the Jupiter Clan just wants to meditate until the Hyoomans come to us. What they DON’T get is that the Hyoomans will tear down the forests before hand, and simply destroy their territory.
  “To the south of us is the Mercury Clan. There all ok, but they are on Migramme’s side, to tear down the Hyoomans houses. The Mercury Clan is just for those who are raising cubs, kits, or pups, or for those who have lost their mates in the mini-wars that have gone on here.”
  “Mini-wars?” Sasha inquired.
  “Yes,” replied Moesha. “Many of the Clans have wars about territory, and a lot end up in blood baths and slaughtering of deer-“
  “What are the deer for?” Sasha interrupted.
  “The deer? We use them to travel. They are very good at hauling packages and such-“
  “Whoa!” Sasha interrupted. “You mean you RIDE deer!?”
  “Why, yes,” said Moesha. “Do you mean to say you don’t?”
  “Of course not!” Said Sasha. “We humans have never thought of it, actually.”
  Moesha smiled, “Maybe we could give you lessons.” She quickly added, “But there’s no time now.”
  “Like I was saying…There’s also the safe space, which is safe for everything there, although a lot of wars go on there. There is also an opening, which has an oddly shaped rock in the middle. Some call it ‘The Opening’ ‘Wolf Head Territory’, and others ‘Wolf Rock Opening’. The rock is shaped like a howling wolf’s head. We stopped there for a minute, remember? But those howls were alarm calls…stupid Clans, always sounding of when you’re not even IN their territory…Ahem…As I was saying…
  “An old tree is in the safe space, we passed it also. It looks burnt because that is originally where Migramme proposed revenge against the Hyoomans, and he burned the tree in honor of the mission. It used to be twice as tall; we’re just happy it’s still there, us at Sirius Clan splashed water on it afterward…it’s used for the official starts of deer racing- yes, we race deer.” Moesha told Sasha before she could interrupt, Sasha’s mouth ajar.
  “So, then…to the east is Pluto Clan. Although the planet is small, this Clan is by no means tiny. They have been able to claim two lands, and would’ve done three, if it weren’t for Mars and Moon Clan. Pluto Clan’s wish is for those who wish to own the forest and put an end to Migramme…be as good as that may sound, they are selfish, stubborn, and power-hungry. Some say that Migramme may have grown up there, but the Clans weren’t even assembled in his time…the Pluto Clan has a territory by the race track beginning and end, so they are a bit far apart.
  “Now, under the first Pluto Clan territory, the one by the end of the race track, is Mars Clan, a clan of only-males. Their one-sidedness of genders has caused many a battle, between Venus Clan and others. The same goes for Venus Clan, however they are only warrior females, none ever having children or a mate. They say that when a Mars Clan and Venus Clan warrior fall in love, they are banished to Mercury Clan, but before hand are tortured in very gruesome ways, and then as they say are ‘convinced’ never again to have a mate, and say simply wander to another clan, or stay at Mercury Clan if the female is expecting cubs.
  “Moon Clan territory is between Mars and Venus Clan territories, almost separating them except for a small strip of land, which is where most feuds start. Moon Clan is primarily nice, and mostly hunt and battle by night, yet are active in the daylight hours.
  “On the other side of the tracks is Earth Clan, the second biggest clan territory They surround the deer farms, the place where the deer are bred and sold, for a fee of a slip of bark, telling that the…erm…’person’ has been assigned to get said deer.
  “Beneath them is Saturn Clan, haughty followers of Migramme’s words, obeying every single word he says, and mostly the ones that go to war for him, so his precious clan won’t have to lift a finger.
  “Now…” said Moesha, seeming to get angry word by word about the next subject. “The last, and most deadly clan of all is the Sun Clan. Migramme is leader of this clan, and the most animals are in his clan. He rules the most land, and will maim, torture, or kill anyone who disobeys him, even in other’s territory or the safe lands.” Moesha pointed a finger to Sasha, her voice getting serious and her focus intent, “You must never, ever be sighted by him or his followers. Never.”
  Sasha gulped, “W-well…what can I do to help? You said you needed me to help you.”
  Moesha smiled in her canine-ish way, “That’s exactly why you’re down here. Do remember those pets? On the news? Who talk and do stunts?”
  Sasha nodded.
  “Well,” continued Moesha. “Those pets are betrayals. They have been banished from the information of the clans, and no one helps them. They’ve been warned that they could never come back to their clans and if they did, they would be risking their lives. Sasha,” she told her. “You must always tell us if you see another talking pet anywhere, speaking to T.V. or to it’s owner. People might think of this as a good trick, but they are revealing the others. They are revealing the clans. They are revealing us. And why? We do not know. But we just hope that they will not blow cover for us. Do you know what will happen if they do?” asked Moesha. Sasha shook her head.
  “They will cause rackets. They will cause hate. They will cause panic. They will cause the abandonment of millions of animals everywhere, which would be suspected of being murderous, thieving, and bloodthirsty, like Migramme. But,” she added. “There is hope.”
  “Because of Sirius Clan, more of these animals have turned over to the good side, the side were we believe that, at one point, humans and animals will finally get along naturally. We will rebuild forests and cities. You’d be surprised how much we can haul!” said Moesha, smiling. “But it all starts with you. Keep us contacted, send us notes, get a radio, learn our language, anything! Anything you do to inform us on these things, instances of talking animals on the news, people reporting things like werewolves, anything will help. That is why we need you. That is why you are here!” finished Moesha.
  Sasha looked stunned. “Me?” she said in a somewhat hoarse voice. “Yes.” Replied Moesha and her gang.
  “But how?” asked Sasha. “You have no address, no phone number, no computer, no nothing! How will this happen?”
  “Fear not, my friend,” said Moesha, standing up and pointing her finger. “Many Tamed and wild animals our on our side. In fact…” she said, lightening up. “There’s one you might know…”
  She put her fingers in her mouth and gave a low whistle.
  Out of the corner of the room, apparently coming from nowhere was a very familiar looking face, with no collar and dressed in rags like everyone else.
  Sasha gaped, “S-Shy!?”
  Shy smiled, her tail wagging, practically yelping, “SASHA!”
  Shy was on two legs, but Sasha didn’t care. Shy and Sasha ran up to each other and hugged.
  “I missed you so much! So this is where you’ve been.” Said Sasha.
  Shy chuckled, “Yes, I would’ve come home sooner, but my Clan was very demanding that I stay and told me that if I had any feelings towards them I would. Basically, I was busy.”
  Sasha looked confused, “Clan? But I thought this was your clan!”
  Shy nodded, “Uh-huh. We’re undercover. We report to different Clans, and then give the information to the others here, trying to figure out what’s going on. But don’t worry, no problems, everyone here speaks English as a second language. Although the T.V. signals are often heard by trespassing wanderers, as well as the radio signals. Which is why we need you to help fill us in.”
  Sasha nodded.
  Moesha looked down at Sasha (She was a very tall vixen) and said, “This is how you will get us messages. Shy will bring you messages and packages every week with updates on what is happening in the clans, written by every member of Sirius Clan. In turn, we expect a report of the news and possibly pictures or videos if you can. We can play videos on the bright screen, which you call a ‘T.V.’ No animals will pick up a signal, since it does not need one. Remember, you must always open these in PRIVATE. Some of us don’t have the best of writing, so ask Shy to translate.”
  Moesha gave a thick envelope to Sasha, “Here are your beginning notes. Keep them hidden, keep them safe. No wary eyes should be able to look upon this information, or it will cause a stir. OK?”
  “OK,” replied Sasha.
  “Now,” said Moesha, smiling at Sasha. “Do you know how to ride horses?”
  “A little bit. I know how to turn and stop and go forward-“
  “Good,” interrupted Moesha. “Then it should be no problem for you to ride a deer.”
  Sasha put her hands over her mouth and smiled, filling with delight. A deer! She would be riding a deer!
  Moesha smiled and pulled on the clothes she used to look like the thing Sasha first saw, saying “Well then. Off we go!”
  The other animals waved at Sasha as she and Moesha climbed up the steep and winding chute, Pyewacket, a white rabbit with a good heart and black eyes, following them behind. He was strong, and could lift them back up if they fell on the somewhat slippery chute.
  Sasha clung to the envelope the whole way up, climbing on only one hand (and two feet). Moesha kept looking back at her smiling, and Sasha only slipped once or twice, so Pyewacket didn’t have much of a job.
  A small flicker of light came from up head, and then went out with a light whoo sound. Moesha had turned off the lamp.
  A pale light entered the cavernous chute after a sound of light rubble falling to the ground. The amount of light spread, and soon highlights of the pale light were emitted onto Moesha’s, Pyewacket’s, and Sasha’s faces.
  Moesha climbed out, and Sasha afterward, but Pyewacket stayed behind to recover the dirt over the hole. He waved to Sasha and Moesha, they waved back, and they walked, side by side, towards a post with what looked like a rope that would be attached to a horse harness.
  Moesha lowly whistled, and two whitetail deer’s heads emerged from the thick brush. One doe, and one buck stepped forward towards the pair, and they snorted lightly, the buck going as far as he could while still being tied towards Sasha and sniffing towards where her pockets would be, while the other looked around and pricked it’s ears, listening for sounds.
  Moesha searched in one of her pockets, and took out some dry corn, the kind you would feed to chickens. The buck pricked his ears and stopped sniffing Sasha, going over to Moesha and eating out of her hand. She smiled at him, and gave Sasha a small handful of the dried vegetable. She made a sound with her tongue, and the buck wandered towards Sasha and began to nibble at the corn, while the doe stopped listening and came towards Moesha, feeding off her hand.
  “This one,” said Moesha, pointing to the doe, “Is Lollies Pop. Even though most of us animals hate you Hyoomans guts, we do like your candy very much.”
  Sasha smiled at this a bit, and then turned to the buck.
  “That’s Nala,” said Moesha. Sasha was confused, “Isn’t that a girl’s name?”
  “Aha,” said Moesha, pointing her index finger towards Sasha. “Just because it sounds one way in your language, means it might just sound like another in another language.”
  “What?”
  “Never mind. Here,” said Moesha, untying one of the ropes and handing it to Sasha. “You get Lollies Pop. She’s pretty gentle, she won’t cause you much harm. I, on the other hand…” Moesha looked towards Nala out of the corner of her eyes. He only snorted, pawed the ground, and seemed to smile, turning his head. Sasha looked up. Lollies only rolled her eyes.
  “Um…Moesha…are these deer in on it too?” asked Sasha.
  “Well, not much, but yes. They are very loyal, only work for so many people, and can say some words. Not much though. We usually only communicate in our language.”
  “Can I learn it?” asked Sasha, brightening up. Moesha smiled, “Not today. We’ve gotta get you back.”
  Moesha helped Sasha onto Lollies, who seemed to have a bridle on her, made, of course, out of brown rags. Moesha pushed off on the ground and swung her leg over Nala’s back, and once she was on he put his head down as if to fight and backed up a bit, then went storming off. He only got forty feet away before he was stopped harshly, sitting down and slightly removing Moesha from her bareback seat.
  Moesha waved at Sasha, and yelled to her, “Say Anash to go forward, Keypay to stop, and Enay to turn!”
  Sasha waved back and nodded, Lollies pawing at the ground and snorting slightly. Sasha’s hands trembled; she was good at riding, but what if she was bucked off or was given for the same sort of ride as Moesha?
  Nervously, she took the reins and made her voice steady. “Anash!” she said loudly to the deer, and whipped the strong and yet frail-looking reins.
  Lollies snorted, pawing the ground and looking down, sort of like what Nala did. Sasha hesitated, but immediately felt relaxed once the doe’s head rose slightly, and she started to walk forward.
  The deer’s pace was different than that of the horse; where as the horse had thick and sturdy legs to walk, trot, and canter upon, the doe’s legs were thin, nimble, and strong; the experience was different.
  Sasha smiled, feeling more confident and whipping the reins down again, saying a little louder, “Anash!” Lollies seemed to snort, and started trotting forward, looking back at Sasha out of the corner of her eye.
  Soon Lollies and Sasha were nearing Moesha, and just before, Sasha said to Lollies, “Anash!”
  Lollies started cantering. These deer, for such a spindly-looking frame, were more efficient at riding than horses. She could see why Moesha would say they could haul a lot of loads.
  Sasha and Lollies started to quickly approach the pair of rider and deer, and suddenly Sasha tried to remember the command to stop.
  “Keypay!” Sasha almost shouted. Lollies snorted, and stopped abruptly, almost in a sitting position and thrusting Sasha towards her neck. Lollies got up to a regular standing position, and Sasha breathed heavily, as if she was just running, saying “Sorry. I had to do that.”
  She was parked right where Moesha was, Nala raising his head from grazing at the sight of Lollies. Lollies tried to ignore him and eat before continuing.
  Moesha smiled and pulled on Nala’s sturdy reins, pulling his head up and making him reluctantly turn around and start forward. Moesha turned back to Sasha as she kept riding forward, waving her arm as if to say Come on! Sasha nodded and pulled on Lollie’s reins, making her back up, and then saying “Anash!”
  Lollies jumped forward and caught up with Moesha, then slowed her pace and walked side by side with Nala, Moesha and Sasha silently walking towards the Opening.
  Left hoof, right hoof. Left hoof, right hoof. Sasha counted the number of steps between each beat of the hoof that crashed to the terra between the Opening and the Hole.
  Light shimmered through the trees that night; for the late night that it was, it was very bright. Sasha yawned; it was SO past her bedtime.
  Moesha finally pulled on the reins, saying “Keypay!” Nala stopped, raising a hoof to paw at the dirt and bowing his head to the earth.
  Sasha echoed Moesha’s words, and Lollies stopped abruptly, raising a hoof and scratching at her head.
  Moesha wondered which way to go, sniffing the air and looking every which way; though evolved, these animals still had the natural better instinct of smell.
  Lollies Pop and Nala lazily pawed at the dirt for water, eating the shrubs and brush off the side of the almost heavily worn dirt path.
  Moesha put a finger to her ‘chin’, giving an inquiring “Hmmm”.
  She took her finger off her chin and grabbed into one of her trench coat pockets, taking out a map that seemed made out of parchment and drawn on in old ink. She bent her finger towards Sasha, and she leaned slightly off balance to look at the map.
  After a small conversation on what would be the best route to the road, Moesha was just going to point out where they were when…
  Lollies and Nala raised their heads, ears twitching, black eyes quivering and craniums jerking this way and that.
  Sasha and Moesha looked up; Lollies kept pawing the ground and bobbing her head, whereas Nala kept opening his mouth to bray and turning this way and that, trying to find a direction to run to.
  Moesha looked forward, even with her uneasy steed swaying this way and that. Her ear twitched, and she looked at Sasha, saying strangely, “Wanna try a deer race?”
  Sasha looked surprised, then happy, and nodded.
  “Can you tie a good knot?” asked Moesha.
  “Sure,” replied Sasha.
  “Here,” said Moesha, hand a thick and very long rope towards Sasha. “Tie yourself to your deer.” She twitched her head in a random direction, somewhere towards the Opening. “Leave some extra string,” she added, and then made hand gestures to say hand it over, adding “Quickly!”
  Sasha hastily made a thick and strong knot from her waist to her deer’s neck, but made it a little loose around Lollies neck so she wouldn’t choke. She threw the rope to Moesha, who, almost twice as fast as her, made another thick and string rope bond. She took out a very long, carefully sculpted knife-like weapon.
  Sasha gasped, “A machete? But you don’t even live in a jungle!”
Moesha smiled, breaking the bond of extra rope, tying it from her deer’s and Sasha’s deer’s neck, and from her waist to Sasha’s, saying “There’s more than roots you have to cut off here.”
  Without another word, a howl was emitted; straight across from they were, about a hundred feet away. Sasha gasped, and without another word, Moesha started to say “Elon toe tepe, Elon Elon Elon!” Sasha had no clue what she was saying, but she suddenly yelled in Nala’s ear, “ANASH!”
  Both deer immediately bolted into the large clearing, and quickly Moesha said, “The only command you’ll need for now is Enay, the turning command. This will get loud, so we have to say it together!”
  Sasha nodded, and Moesha nodded at her, both yelling at the same time, “Enay!” right before the crashed into the trees. The deer, slung together by the tight rope, both turned, and quickly jumped over a fallen log, back the way they came.
  “Enay!” shouted Sasha and Moesha over the clatter of the loud and yet slightly muffled galloping deer’s hooves. They both pulled their reins to the right, the deer, in turn, turning left and going back to the Opening.
  They leaped into the air, as another “Enay!” was emitted from the two, and the reins were pulled towards the right again, turning the deer straight back towards the road.
  Another howl was executed; closer this time. The deer panicked, but Moesha started to calm them by speaking to them in that foreign tongue that only the animals could understand.
  “Enay!”
  “Enay!”
  “Enay!”
  Several sharp turns were executed, but finally Moesha shouted at the top of her lungs, pulling back on the reins, (Sasha followed), “Keypay!!”
  Sasha pulled back, Lollies almost in a sitting position from the sharpness and suddenness of the pull, along with Nala, who bowed his head, echoing Lollie’s action.
  Moesha and Sasha were thrust forward into the necks of their steeds, which were backing up, their front hooves trying to stop them while their rear pushed forward.
  They finally stopped, just avoiding the Old Tree, Nala’s tines just barely chipping the ash-laden and black log.
  Barks were heard from behind; the wild dogs, even if in a safe space, wanted th