The Unheard Voices - Vol. 1

I never expected today to end up like this. 

The African sun beats down harshly as our crash travels on through the East of the savanna; another lengthy journey made because of the drought season. My mother leads our small group through this area of expanse dryness, lethargically languishing the cool sensation of the river that we were so desperately trying to reach. My big sister is trudging along just in front of me, while my little brother toddles from one side of her to the other. 

We hadn't seen many of our own in a while, aside from the dominating male who guards his territory from potential rivals. The only activity in sight was the herds of zebra and wildebeest; their young flouncing and frolicking with such jovial spirits as they make the most of their day.

There have been a couple of new creatures that have been travelling through recently. I overheard an elder elephant once telling her herd that they were some sort thing called 'man'. Despite the fact that they are probably the most unusual looking thing I have ever seen, they're also quite intriguing. Some would be walking around with these strange little objects on their head going towards their little hill-like caves, whereas others would be in these big shiny objects that would go grunting and growling whilst they rode on top, holding their little flashing objects as they looked back at us. Strange things, but I can't help but feel compelled to stay away from them. 

A loud noise followed swiftly by a sudden pain in my side awakens me from my thoughts as my mother and siblings cry out in terror. I have no idea what is going on, frozen in place out of sheer agony and fear, as another loud noise sounds. I feel another round of pain coming from my leg, causing it to buckle beneath me as I plunge down into the earth below; dust rising around me from the impact of my enormous bulk of a body as I roar in excruciating pain. My heart begins to race erratically as the adrenaline pushes through my veins. 

I attempt to get back to my feet, but with the echo of one final noise, something hits me in the head, and I collapse once more. I can see the faces of my family, my mother and sister are distraught, tears in their eyes as they look towards me; my little brother cowers into my mother's flank, whimpering and trembling from all of the commotion. I still don't quite understand what is going on, but I feel a warm and wet feeling from my head, as though something is oozing out of me.  It takes me a while before I notice a shadow of something standing directly above me. 

A large, pink two-legged figure with strange dusty garments adorning most of its body, some hair protruding in uneven proportion from the top of its head and on its rounded face. It holds a long shiny tube that seems to be glistening in the sunlight, along with a shiny object with teeth on one edge. It reeks of negative intentions as it holds the tooth-laden object towards my head, bringing it closer and closer. I clench my eyes shut in anticipation, as I feel him running it back and forth across me. It seems to go on for a while as I lay in fear of what is happening. After a minute or so it ceases; finally mustering up the courage, I open my eyes. My horns, which were on the top of my nose, now lay in his hands as my face is left with two stumps where they once sat. I feel violated as it smiles smuggly and clambers back onto the back of the large beast it came with and disappears into the horizon. 

My body shivers as my heart slows down, my breathing becoming shallower with each shaky breath. Darkness slowly seeps in as my vision is blurred, taking one last look at my family as my eyes close inevitably for the last time.