SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 9: Thunder Moon

Today I fell asleep on a rock. I think I swallowed a hair, it's been a day like all others, passing away quietly. There have been constant winds, those that blow and swirl and there have been squeals of delight, the ones that make your toes curl.

How I wish my life meant more, why can't things change? How come I feel stuck over here? Must I offer something rare?

Truth be told, my life has been on hold, so if I want to end up right, I need to get off this rock to see the light.

Excerpt from the personal journal of Gadi Reyes, leader of the Survivor tribe, @ 2055.

Chapter 9: Thunder Moon

Sabis' bones vibrated with the memory of how his father had loved him and would do anything for him─sing him a lullaby, tell him tall tales, and even dive into the deepest parts of the Sea to search for rare stones for his school show and tell presentation. This memory of his father's love trumped any fear that he felt and allowed him to commit to a course of action─save a fellow tribe member and prevent her death.

Just like when Davis had fallen off of the cliffs and lay close to death, this female appeared in severe distress. First, he moved the tribal drum away from her legs. Second, he bent over and used the back of his hand to feel the heat of her breath.

She was breathing.

Her black hair, partially unraveled from a loosely hand-tied knot, lay across her face concealing the edges of her mouth and nose. As his gaze followed her muscular neck, down the jugular notch and along her chest and bosom, he became entranced in between the border of her neck and chest. Then he moved her hair away from her eyes and watched for sudden rapid eye movements underneath her eyelids to determine if she lay in a dream-state or if she suffered from brain death.

He wanted to blow his life's energy into her, to inflate her lungs with the oxygen-rich air that her muscles and vital organs needed to function. But instead, he watched her breathe listlessly as if she was giving up on her struggle to live.

Suddenly, her chest heaved and she moaned like a medieval mummy that had arisen from the dead. He stretched his two arms behind her back and hoisted her up to a sitting position. She groaned. His hands trembled as he unplugged his canteen. Then he brought the half-full canteen containing the Sea of Serenity water to her lips and asked her to drink from it.

The cavern walls started to glow brighter as Sabis tended to Claris. It was as if the walls were watching the proceedings. Unable to swallow what Sabis had offered to her, she let out another groan. So he poured the glowing green water into her mouth. As tears streamed out of her sunset eyes then down her fiery red cheeks, Sabis prayed for Mother Earth's intervention:

"Please Mother Earth, may it serve your honour to forgive my indiscretions when gazing upon one of your daughters. Your healing power can do wonders. Let it be!"

Then Claris' sunset eyes were transformed into a sunrise. She looked up at the boy who she was supposed to track down and return to the tribe, and she smiled. In the shadows of the underground cavern, near to the emerald Sea of Serenity, and adjacent to a rocky alcove is where Sabis saved Claris.