The Prehistoric Herd: An Ice Age Tale

Chapter Five

    "My mother once told me that even
     though things look bad, there's a   
          rainbow around every corner. " ~Sid                                      
                                                                                 20 010 Years Ago
                                                                                     The Ice Age

As the day goes by, the sun begins to set over the horizon, painting the sky a beautiful pink and blue. The multi colored sky cast a glow upon the amount of rocks making up the mountain, creating little bright silhouettes, dancing across the stone.

Thudding footsteps could be heard as Manny walked into a little space between the two mountains, carrying fallen branches between his tusks with the objective of creating a shelter to keep him warm throughout the night.

A little ways behind him (Y/N) could be seen walking with an armful of branches, which looks much too heavy to carry with her small form. The girl wore a neutral expression, showing she wasn't struggling with the extra weight, unlike her friend behind her. Sid could be seen dragging a stick through the dirty ground, huffing and puffing as he went. After a few more steps and pants, Sid had finally caught up with the two mammals, tossing the stick a little ways behind them.

"Wew, I'm wiped out," Sid raised his hand towards his forehead, swiping his hand through it as if he was wiping sweat away. With his head tilted down and his eyebrow raised, Manny looked down a Sid and asked, "Is that your shelter?"

(Y/N), who was now starting to build her own shelter, leaned back get a sneak peak of Sid's shelter, holding in a laugh as she stared at the small singular stick. Sid looked between the two before looking up at the mammoth with an offended expression, "Hey, you're a big guy. You got a lot of wood. I'm a little guy."

"You got half a stick. Look at (Y/N), she's got like, 10, and she's the same height."

The two glanced at the girl who was currently building her shelter, not having to have heard them. With furrowed brows, Manny continued to walk forward, Sid following behind. " Yeah, but she's probably used to this. And with my little stick and my highly evolved brain.....Ow!" Sid yelped, holding his eye as he had poked himself with his stick before proceeding with his speech. "I shall create fire!"

"Fascinating," Manny said flatly. The creature had almost finished his shelter during the time of their conversation. The final touch being put on top of the structure working as a roof. "We'll see if brains triumph over brawn tonight, now, won't we?" Sid said, breaking his stick in half.

Over the next few hours, thunder and lighting started flashing across the dark sky as rain fell from below, landing on the ground sloth and drenching him with the murky water. The sloth sat on the rocky ground, rubbing the two sticks together, hoping to create fire. "Hey, I think I saw a spark."

Manny was sitting in his shelter comfortably, staring at Sid. He turned his head to glance at the girl beside him a couple yards away, sleeping soundly in her own shelter, her coat wrapped around her to keep her warm.

Sid looked at the sticks in hope before slumping down in defeat. "Uh, any chance I can squeeze in there with you, Manny, old pal?" The shivering animal asked desperately.

"Oh, isn't there someone else you can annoy? Friends, family, poisonous reptiles?" Manny knew if (Y/N) was awake, she would be surely looking at him with disappointment.