The Warmth of the Sun

Chapter 3

A day passed. It was a single day, but it was one day too long. Maybe it was the worry getting to Alligator even though his siblings didn't think twice when he told them. He took up the mantle of reader that night and waited for them to all go to sleep. When they did, he cleaned up the scrolls and made sure he didn't look at any of Jetstream's notes. It wasn't quite forbidden, but rather respect to Jetstream's privacy. Afterward, Alligator watched the night sky until the moon passed over his head. Jetstream didn't come home.

The new day came; no Jetstream. Alligator passed on hunting making his sibs actual worried, but they went on without him. They came back to find that he had not moved from his spot. He was like a rock only showing that he was alive when he blinked. His muscles were tense and his stare at the sky was fierce. They were sure this time; something was wrong.

"You ok, Gator?" Mud asked the oldest sib. He was trying to avoid any problem if there was one.

"Jetstream isn't back," Alligator responded.

"Yeah, but he always does this," Said Leafall, dropping the badger in her mouth.

"But that's not the problem, is it Gator?" for the first time, Alligator moved to look at Treefire. "We all heard the conversation you had with him. Sorry, we were playing dumb. We just-"

Alligator interjected. "I didn't want to worry you either. I was hoping the same thing. 'He'll be back soon', I told myself. But he isn't." The air became heavy around them making it hard to breathe. The world was dangerous Jetstream would always say. After a while, the warnings became just words to the sibs. He would often come back with healing cut wounds and broken body parts, but he was Jetstream; their guardian that would always return.

Alligator could see his family slumping to the ground, so he relaxed his body and said, "Those are some good catches. Who took down the badger?"

Leafall and Mud both perked up their heads and they began to retell the story of how they grabbed the pesky thing with each telling trying to one-up the other. Alligator smiled at their banter, but over Mud and Leafall's shoulders, he saw Treefire still behind them. She was not smiling and could tell that Alligator's smile was a front. But his eyes told her to move on. In their heads, they simultaneously agreed to wait one more day. There was nothing they could do and they will continue to do nothing until Jestream returned as he always did.

Night came once again. For the better part of the day, everyone had forgotten the worry about where Jetstream was to the point Alligator and Treefire didn't think about it. Sleep came easily to them all.

At some point, Alligator was being stirred by Leafall. The haze of sleep kept him from getting up regardless of how hard he tried. Leafall continued to shake more and more intensively.

"Gator. Gator!" she said in a hushed tone digging her claws into him.

"Ahh! I'm up, I'm up!" Alligator quickly stood up from the feeling of claws on his side. "What's wrong Leafall? Also, don't do that. It really-"

"Something is wrong." There was fear in her eyes unlike any Alligator had seen from her before.

"What are you talking about?"

"I couldn't sleep. I thought it was because I had too much on my mind only to realize the forest is quiet."

Focusing in on the outside, Alligator found that it wasn't quiet, but instead of crickets and owls, he heard grunts and roars. As soon as he heard them, they got louder and multiple shadows raced across the moonlight ground. Wingbeats rustle the trees as firelight outshined the three moons' ray. A scream echoed through the forest and Alligator's heart sank.