To The Extremes *Finished*

ch.5

CHAPTER FIVE

Glancing at Sarafina, I pick up my backpack and first aid kit; walk to the edge of the ledge and gesture to Sarafina to follow. Slightly annoyed at having to move when she could quite happily stay where she is, Sarafina picks up Lucky and joins me and the two friends at the edge. Together, we slowly begin to make our descent.

Unexpectedly, we descend into quite a bit of trouble… Almost as soon as we had began our descent, the Vultures had swooped down to the very spot where Sarafina had given birth to Lucky. To their disappointment, the Vultures found nothing, not even the slightest trace of blood. Grumpily, they decided to instead, follow us down the mountain, hopeful of a meal. Can’t anything go right? I think to myself. Unfortunately, we run into a small group of Hyenas. I guess not. The largest of our two friends gets into a squabble with one of the Hyenas, which causes the other Hyenas; both the other friend and Sarafina to get involved. In the midst of all the arguments, I try and gain a short distance between me and the animals, but I lose my footing and end up hanging on for dear life.

It all happened so quickly. One minute, I was tiptoeing along a slim; sturdy ledge. Unintentionally, I kicked a small stone which then caused a chain reaction of things to happen. Timidly, I took two steps further, heard a stone fall into an echoey chasm, felt my heart hammering at my chest, felt something crumble, a little like leaves, under my feet; then I was screaming, “Sarafina! Sarafina help me!”

Now, my heart is still hammering its way out of my chest, and I can hear the deafening pain of the Hyenas as my three friends ward them away from our path down the mountain. It’s Lucky and his big sister, Nala who discover my position. Nala seems to have wandered away from the adults and Lucky just followed her as he was as bored as she probably was. Nala is making her way across the small ledge that I have just fallen from and she comes across my head sticking out of a gap in the rock. It seems to alarm her when I turn my head to face her and say, “Hello, Nala. Where’s your mum?” She doesn’t seem to understand English just yet. Looking over her shoulder, I see Lucky wobbling at the edge of the mountain and Nala seems to understand when I say “Careful, Lucky!” At this, she turns her head; then runs back towards her brother to usher him away to safety. When she comes back, she is followed by Sarafina and the largest of the friends. They pull up, out of the hole that I fell into, and when I realise how deep it is, my muscles tense up and I can’t believe that I didn’t disappear into that. I think to myself. At the same time, the only description that comes to mind is; a black, fathomless pit which is more or less what it is.