My Life as a Rock 1

            In a deep, lush forest in now-a-day Africa, my life began. I was born on a day of frosted trees and icy winds. I opened my eyes to a new world when the seconds slowed between this year and the next. My mother beamed and named me Dusk for the glossy grey color I had. We lived by an ancient tree that my mother said was there when her mother’s mother was alive. The forest floor was soft with lush ferns and decaying leaves. A couple seasons went by, spring, summer, and fall, from the day I was born. Spring brought new saplings and warm breezes. Summer was hot with tall trees and fall had leaves strewn over the forest floor. Then, I was snatched from my home on the forest floor by a family of ape-like creatures. One of them had picked me up with a hairy hand and used me to skin animals they hunted. They even used me to crack animal bones to eat the marrow inside. Soon, they moved somewhere else and left me alone, worn out, but alive.

Many years passed and another group of hominids picked me up. They were a little bit different from the other group, taller and thinner. Plus, their foreheads were round and smooth. They used me to make fire to keep them warm. I was so surprised when they had first scrapped me against another rock, called Amber, to create fire. It had shocked me. I never knew that we could create fire. Fire is made when lightning strikes a tree and when dry brush is ignited, but never by rocks. One day, by the fireplace, I talked to Amber, my new friend.

“Hello, Amber.” I greeted her.

“Hi, Dusk. It hurt so much when they scraped me against another rock to create fire. There are even scratches on me now! They’re hurting us. I heard that an unlucky rock named Embia was thrown in the fire to fuel it.”Amber said, distressed,” What if we’re next?”

 “I don’t know. Maybe we should escape and free the other rocks too. Then, we could go somewhere far away. We could roll away when they’re sleeping. They might not notice. They're not very bright.”I replied.

“Sure, what time should we leave?”Amber asked, her eyes sparking with hope for the first time in months.

“Tonight, I think. The moon was full yesterday, so today it will be dark. It’s the perfect cover to escape. Plus, the sky is dark with heavy clouds. It might even rain. There’s a boulder a couple rolls away. If we get that far, then they’ll never notice us.”I answered her, looking up at the sky.

The sky darkened and the heavy clouds up above began to release their load. A light drizzle began and I talked to the other rocks, Ember, Coal, and Sapphire. They all agreed to the plan. It was the best we had. At midnight, Ember and Sapphire, who were closest to the boulder, would creep there to see if the coast was clear and signal to Coal, who would go next. Last, Amber and I would roll to them. Ember and Sapphire were already on their way. Coal received the signal a second later and made his way to the others. Then, it was our turn. The steady drizzle had become a downpour and the ground was slightly muddy. Amber slipped in the middle of the clearing, slipping on the gooey ground, and a hominid stirred. Quickly, I grabbed her and we rushed to the others, my heart thudding.

“Are you okay?”Sapphire asked, her blue eyes anxious.

“Yes.”Amber replied shakily.

We all entered the forest and walked together through the woods. The trees danced in the fierce wind and shadows lurked everywhere. The undergrowth were swathed in shadows and a lone owl hooted nearby. The absence of the moon made me uneasy. Without it, what would light up the forest? Then a cave suddenly loomed up in front of us and we walked in slowly and warily. I had a bad feeling about it, but it could provide shelter. I pushed my doubts to the back of my mind. I was probably being overcautious. It was cold and dark inside and icy water dripped from the ceiling. We went deeper and deeper until we could not even see each other. The dripping water formed a puddle in the middle of the cave and we heard a flutter of wings.

“What’s that?”I asked fearfully, glancing around me.

“I don’t know, but I had heard of dark creatures that live in caves. They are cannibals.”Ember answered.

There was another flutter of wings. It sounded as if there were hundreds of creatures in the cave. Swoosh! Something had alighted down near us. Then, an upside–down furry face with sharp fangs, pointy ears, and a sharp muzzle swooped in front of us.

We were snatched by thorn-sharp claws, and I yelped in surprise. Many red eyes watched us from above as we were pushed past two towers of gleaming bones. There seemed to be bones of bats, foxes, and lions. I fought against the wiry claws that grabbed me, but failed to free myself. I exchanged a hopeless glance with Sapphire, who was closest to me. We were dead meat. Then we entered a murky tunnel that seemed to have no end. We were pushed past guards with sharpened fangs and spears of bone. As the end of the tunnel came into view, I saw that there was a bright light at the end and shadows flickered around the tunnel. Fire. As we burst into the clearing, I heard a deafening chant and saw hundreds upon hundreds of bats hanging from the ceiling, each screeching in high pitch voices. It was gigantic inside and there were towering piles of glistening bones surrounding the fire that was in the center. To my horror, I spotted hominid bones in it. If these bats could kill hominids... I shuddered. I did not want to finish the thought. Some of the bones were still decaying and a simply repellent smell wafted up to me. At the very back of the cavern was a half-built step pyramid with bats flying around, placing stone over stone on the construction. We were then shoved into a skull of a hominid in one of the piles of bone and I could see no more.

In the distance, I could hear the cries of help and looks of horror on the faces of those who were next in line. A guard’s head poked in a skull a few feet away and grabbed all the stones in it. I heard the cries of despair and saw the hopeless faces of the rocks as if everything they had lived for had vanished. I couldn’t bear it anymore and looked away, those cries of the rocks ringing in my ears.

And then a bat appeared, its fangs flashing in the harsh light and its red eyes gleaming in anticipation, as if it were enjoying this, and headed toward us. My back crawled with apprehension. We were next.
To be continued...