animal jam - the first fox (book one) under editing

prologue

jamaa was blanketed by a shadowed curtain of night. gray clouds rolled across the sky and thundered above, making itself known to the great province. it was way past dark by the time mira finally decided to stand. she was silent, gazing up at the golden statue of zios almost patiently. crickets chirped in the undergrowth, and the wind howled furiously. but other than that, the new world was quiet.

i thought you loved me... mira's mind echoed to herself, her orange beak reflecting the moon's silver light. you promised that you would never leave. mira could feel her emotions building up inside of her, heating up her eyes with unspoken tears. she stared at the world that she and her "lover" zios had made... together.

and then, she broke.

"liar!" she squawked furiously, her blue-gray wings extending as she took to the sky, talons outstretched. she slammed them down on the base of the statue, and it toppled over and collapsed into the earth with a booming crash. power crackled throughout the heron's veins, curling through her feathers and shooting down her claws. she panted, suddenly feeling torn by the destruction she had made.

mira tried to stabilize her anxious breathing, but nothing worked. she curled back down onto the cold, mossy ground besides the crumbling statue... and cried. first, it was a light sniffle then sobs erupted from where she lay pathetically. mira just couldn't understand why zios had left her in this state; she didn't want to rule the newly-named jamaa without him.

she loved him too much to let him go.

her salty tears rolled down her feathered cheeks before splashing and soaking the ground one by one. a soft drizzle of rain fell over the world, following the lead of a boisterous crash of thunder and lightning from enraged clouds. they, too, seemed to sympathize angrily with their creator.

mira kept her blue eyes squeezed shut as her head swirled with feelings: anger, depression, anxiety. she put all of them into her tears and before she knew it, the world had gone completely dark, shaken by mira's rage. unknowingly, she had just unleashed evil over the once-perfect land of jamaa.

the heron's tears had cursed the land with black and gooey creatures. they scrambled to hide in the corners, taking to the darkness as mira had done before them. the monsters howled with delight from life, and the sounds and shrieks faded into the distance as they grew farther and farther away, evil strategy becoming one with their legs and single eye. the heinous shadows encircled mira with heartbreak and sadness.

ever since, jamaa was never the same. mira managed to continue on with her creation of jamaa, but she was cognizant to the nefarious acts happening around her and her pupils. they named the one-eyed evil phantoms. because of them, the animals of the dystopia were always afraid of certain danger lurking around the corner.