The Prehistoric Herd: An Ice Age Tale

Chapter Three

"Ohh... this is bad... This is really bad."

20 010 Years Ago

The Ice Age

Towards the end of the dirt trail, nestled in the middle of a group of tall evergreen trees, stood a single dried up tree. Long brown branches were attached to said tree, all leaf-less and carrying nothing, except for one closest to the ground, housing a snoring ground sloth.

Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump

The ground shook, the vibrations startling the unconscious animal awake, causing him to slide off his branch before he caught it, hanging upside down, his claws gripping into the brown bark. "Ahhh! Hey, hey, I'm up. I'm up!" The sloth shouted, finally conscious due to all the commotion. He pushed himself up into the branch, holding the tree too help stabilize himself. He shook his green-ish, pale brown coat, ready to start the day. "Hey, rise and shine, everybody!" Greeted the lazy animal, angling his head upward.

The sloth stared up the tree for a second longer before he realized nobody was there. "Huh? Zack? Marshall?" Called the sloth, confused where everyone has gone. He jumped from branch to branch down the trees while proceeding to call out his family names. The sloth stopped on a low branch, scratching his head confusedly, "Where is everybody? Come on, guys." 

He slides down the tree trunk, landing on the dry ground littered with rocks and sticks, "Come on guys, we're going to miss... miss the migra.....migration-." The sloth paused his sentence, realizing he was alone.

It was so silent, crickets chirping in the distance to prove how quiet it was, as the clogs in the sloths brain moved about. He furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes turning sharp, "they left without me." The animal started pacing back and forth, "they do this every year," he ranted, with an exasperated hand gesture, "why? Doesn't anyone love me?" He walked back again, "doesn't anyone care for Sid the Sloth?" An ant eater-armadillo like animal walked by the sloth and was quickly scared away as the sloth extended his hand as if asking him the question.

The sloth or Sid stepped back offend as the animal scurried away. He brushed himself off, "All right, I'll just go by myself," he stated, deciding to pursue the trail by himself. He took one step before freezing mid-air. 

He stepped right into animal waste. 

"Oh, sick! Hey wide body! Curb it next time!" Sid shouted after the animal. He gathered himself and started wiping his foot on the ground, groaning in disgust. He stumbled backward, desperately trying to get the gunk off his foot.

A few yards in front of the tree, two rhinos were crowded around a pile of green leaves, a single yellow flower standing in the middle. The rhinos wore cheerful smiles on their faces, excited about their new find. " I can't believe it. Fresh wild greens. Frank, where did you ever?" Asked the darker rhino of the two, still amazed at his friends discovery. "Go ahead, dig in." his friend couldn't contain his excitement, overjoyed he was able to make his friend happy. The other rhino narrowed his head down, his eye leveled with the yellow flower sticking out in the middle. "A dandelion! I thought the frost wiped 'em all out," he exclaimed, his friend butted in, "all but one~" he sung.

Their faces quickly switch to a sour face, watching the sloth back into their feast. The sloth groaned and yelped as he continued to try and get the gunk off his foot. He picked up a leaf from the pile using it  to wipe the waste of another animal off his foot. He grabbed onto Frank's horn as he hopped on one foot. "This has differently not been my day, I mean, you know what I'm saying, buddy?" Sid asked, oblivious to what he just ruined.