By Vanessa Chen
Back when humans weren’t as sophisticated as they are now in the year 5083, we animals had a disaster that nearly destroyed the animal kingdom forever. Who am I? I’m Skalia, a female pika. We pikas are of the group Lagomorphs, the smallest representatives. Let me tell you about this disaster.
So, one early morning, I awoke starving. That was because some stupid bird wouldn’t stop squawking. I scuttled out of my rock den to find this huge black peregrine falcon squawking, “Skalia, WAKE UP! Skalia, WAKE UP!” over and over again. I relaxed; it was my old friend Breezebeak the seventh of Falconia. We went back a long, long time. “Hey Breezebeak!” I squeaked happily, “What’s up?” Breezebeak looked distressed, but he just said, “Come climb on my back, I’ll show you.” I did, wondering what was so wrong, and Breezy flew quickly toward Falconia, a tall mountain that was Breezy’s favorite place. We stopped at the summit, and I gasped because Animalia looked so DRY!
“What in the world is happening?” I cried. Breezy shook his beak grimly, “Someone is poisoning the land, taking all the sources of water. I don’t know who or why, but I bet Leafula might know!” I clung on and squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that Breezebeak would slow down! However, we went full speed all the way to Colugo forest. We found Leafula in a treetop and quickly explained why we needed her help. She seemed to think deeply for a moment, furrowing her brow, and then nodded. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asked, “Surely you have connected the clues?” Me and Breezebeak thought for a much longer time than Leafula, but still didn’t understand. “We haven’t,” I said, “Have you?” Leafula frowned and nodded, “Skalia, you merely scratched the surface. Don’t you know about Lernius?”
Stay tuned for part II.