The forest held an atmospheric serenity of silence and the only sounds were the birds chirping and the insects buzzing.
It was a perfect day to hike.
A perfect day to spend some quality time with your family.
But...
There are times tragedies start even in a beautiful morning dew.
BOOM!
A loud crash disrupted the peace in the forest floor as the birds gave startled squawks and the neighboring animals stood tense at the sudden sound.
***
Black smoke and fire spread around the wreckage of a car. On top of a medium sized tree sprouting on the cliff, a 4 year old girl sat and stared at the wreckage with an unreadable expression.
She was just on a family trip with her entire family when a flash of lights caused them to swerve at the edge of the cliff.
How she survived was all but a flash in her memory. Her mother holding her tightly in her arms, her father trying to stop the fall and the last thing...
Her brother placing her on this very tree before the car gave way and they fell.
She watched the wreckage again, clutching the tiny teddy ape she had acquired from her father. She felt nothing but plain confusion.
Why am I here?
Where's mommy and daddy?
How can I get down?
The little girl held on to one of it's branches tightly before slowly making her descend.
***
As soon as she reached the ground, she rubbed her red palms and looked around, the wrecked car behind her long forgotten.
She felt awe as she watched the sunlight hit the trees creating small rays on the forest floor.
It's much better to see it personally than just pictures.
She jumped when she heard the sound of sirens.
"Is anyone over there!?" A loud voice called from above and the girl grew afraid.
She didn't know that voice, not at all!
Not wanting to be caught, she fled to the forest and the voices faded the more she ran away when she tripped on a root.
She breathed deeply and searched around only to find herself alone again. She breathed a sigh of relief when a low growl was heard and she found herself being surrounded by a pack of wolves.
***
The apes living in the forest had heard of he crash and had come out of they hiding place to investigate.
The alpha male and female stood up front on top of the trees as they watched the humans scan the wreckage of the car.
"It's just that Julius, nothing more" a scout said. The ape alpha nodded when the female ape, Amelia, heard the sound of wolves howling and growling. Curious, she wondered what had made the wolves sound so...excited. She turned to Julius.
"Julius I will be right back, I need to check on something"
Julius turned to Amelia and nodded before signing "be careful and call when you need help"
Amelia nodded and proceeded to follow the sounds, wondering what caused them.
***
The little girl sat still as stone while the wolves advanced on her, jaws opening and looking at her like a price of meat.
Someone, Help!
She clutched her little stuff toy and curled into a ball when the wolf in front of her pounced.
"NO!"
The little girl stiffened when she heard the sound of pounding and the wolves howling and yelping in pain before silence settled in.
A rough hand caressed her back and the girl slowly uncurled herself to meet a tall regal female ape.
Amelia gazed at the child in wonder, most human kids in this child's age would run at the first sight of something big and scary looking but this girl looked at her in wonder and curiosity.
Amelia's eyes went to the little stuffed animal on the girl's arms and she slowly held out her hand.
The little girl eagerly took it and she slowly climbed behind the back of Amelia.
Like a baby chimp.
It was then at that time, Amelia decided to keep and raise the child as her own.
***
The entire ape colony were stunned to see a young human child in Amelia's arms. Julius approached her and stared at the girl.
"Why bring her here?" Amelia gazed at the child and noticed a few burnt marks on her arms and her raven black hair was smelling of smoke.
"Her parents died on the crash we saw. I cannot leave her alone Julius" Julius looked at the little girl in his wife's arms.
She stared at him when a small toddler ape about a year older than her walked out of Julius's back and towards the now gaping girl.
Both ape and girl watched each other silently before they tackled each other to the ground and started play fighting.
The apes were amazed at the little girl's antics towards their kind when Amelia handed Julius the little girl's stuffed toy.
"She really loves apes like us"
Julius turned to look at the girl before he reached his hand out to her. The little girl and ape stopped their play and looked at Julius in confusion.
The little girl saw the hand and went up to hug it. Julius grinned and scooped the little girl up, less hostile than before.
"We have a new addition to the family"
The apes hooted and the others pushed against one another, trying to catch a glimpse of the child. They had rarely seen a human child this young before.
"What shall we name her?!" One of the apes asked excitedly. Julius looked at the girl and furrowed his brows.
Amelia hooted in excitement "I've always wanted to name my baby girl Kira" the apes gave noises of approval and Julius nodded.
His son reached out for the girl and she squirmed to be down on the ground.
"Well then, welcome to the ape family, Kira"
The apes hooted in excitement as they gathered around to welcome the newest member of their growing colony.
YOU ARE READING
Rise of an Era
Fanfiction"I've lost my family and everything I loved. I don't want to lose this one!" - Kira "It's impossible for a human to understand the ways of an ape!" -Dodge "She is my daughter, Kira" -Amelia "I may be a human, but my heart beats for the apes" -Kira B...
