||The Legend of Taavi ||

|the voice|

            Going home that day was the hardest thing Taavi had ever accomplished in a long while. But she set her course home with a sense of profound purpose; her head held high, and her mind clear. With each step on the thriving jungle floor, the hope in her chest swelled. A feeling she had never felt before.

Suddenly, her surroundings appeared different than they had been before. For a reason Taavi had yet to figure out, everything seemed brighter. The trees and flowers seemed to breathe along with her, swaying in harmonious serenity. Her skin and hair felt clean and refreshed, traits they rarely possessed.

But Taavi was still waiting for something inside of her to change. Yes, her mind was clear, and she could feel her blood pumping through her veins, but where was the change deeper within? Taavi knew she had something more than skin, bone, and muscle. She knew her body wasn't a mindless shell. There were some things that were alive, like birds and apes, and some things that weren't, like rocks, water, and dirt. What she didn't know was why, and how.

She was alive, she was sure of that. She had life. She breathed, and ate, and slept, like the other creatures did. But she also thought. And not just simple thoughts for survival purposes, but thoughts of conscious. She felt things that the other apes hardly felt; feelings she didn't know how to describe. Going against her nature left a black pit in her stomach, a hole that took what felt like forever to fill. Somehow, somewhere inside of her, a voice was given to her to make her who she was. A voice that knew her own nature, and was heard when she was making a decision for herself. A voice that told her what was right, and what was wrong. Taavi didn't know where it came from, but she always listened to her voice inside of her head.

Always.

And right then, the voice told her that being a human was right.