Grains of Sand

Chapter 2: The Hyena

Water surrounded her. The hyena frolicked in the small puddle of water in the middle of the desert. Her bliss only lasted a few seconds before the puddle was absorbed by the sand. The hyena licked her lips and looked on the horizon. The cold desert looked even more desolate at night. The blue sky had disappeared and only a large black abyss was visible on the horizon, a never-ending path to nothing in particular. The sun had been so hot that day that the sand was still burning. Still, the hyena, who's name was Charcoal, ran about on the hot sand. Each time her paw touched the grains of sand, it burned with searing pain. But that did not stop her from her happiness. She knew only to look into the future and forget the past. She did not care for anything at this point.

Charcoal stopped after a few minutes. She had grown too tired. Her back was slightly burned from the sun and her body was covered in sweat. The hyena tried licking some of the sweat off her leg. It would have tasted horrible and salty if she had not been extremely thirsty. The sweat tasted like the purest water from any freshwater spring. It was cool and refreshing as it trickled down her throat, soothing her dry esophagus. Charcoal finally started to canter off into the distance.

She had been a troop member in the Great War. Her leader had abandoned them at the wrong moment, and cost them their safety. Charcoal had been terrified at that moment. Their leader was nowhere to be found and her best friend had also disappeared. Loud gun shots and missiles exploding erupted into Charcoal's sensitive ears. There were animals all around her. Some had their bones snapped off. Some were still alive, screaming in agony. Charcoal went towards a lion that had been shot in the shoulder. The lion was roaring a terrible din, and scratched Charcoal on her back. She dismissed this however and started licking the lion's wound. Her efforts proved worthless. The lion whimpered in pain and finally twitched uncontrollably. The hyena stepped back. The lion bit his paw in his pain and promptly died on the spot. Charcoal had never seen death before. She wanted to comfort the dead body that lay before her. But before she could, a large giraffe came galloping towards her. The giraffe stepped her long heavy hoof on the lions's face, breaking the bones. The giraffe didn't care. His only intention was the incoming tank. Charcoal saw the lion's mangled face on the singed savannah grass. It was completely bloody and cracked bones were sticking out of everything. The lion's eyes were completely smashed and its residue was left on the grass. The hyena could not process what was going on. Everything seemed to be a blur. There were humans with ropes running around and rhinoceroses piercing their tiny bodies in their hearts. There were elephants trumpeting loudly and tiny foxes who bit and scratched any human in their way. Charcoal stepped back from the lion's body. Her troop was nowhere to be seen.

The events of the Great War had completely destroyed her. The hyena bounded about on the hot sand and slid down a dune. She landed on a pile of bones. The bones were pure white with hundreds of flies buzzing around. The smell was extremely nauseating and could make any animal want to rip their insides out. Charcoal felt curious enough to inspect the wonder that lay before her. She noticed each bone was fractured in places with white bits scattered all around the sand. There were shards of bone inside other bones and a large skull lay a little to the left of the pile. She went to inspect the skull, noticing its giant proximity. This skull seemed to be the skull of an elephant. She wondered how the elephant survived for so long in the hot desert. But then she thought of how he must have spent his last days. She imagined him sweating loads of water onto the sand yet his throat being bone-dry. Charcoal shuddered at the thought. She could not bear to even think about the traumatic death the elephant must have faced when he crashed on his side and felt the searing hot pain of the hot sand on his already painful body. She hoped the elephant died peacefully. As she cantered off, a leaf blew from a nearby cactus plant and landed on the elephant's skull. It glinted in the sunlight before dropping to the ground and sliding off the sand away into the sky.