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Stories written by Children and Teenagers

This is the joint first place winner in the category "Stories Written by Children and Teenager"

bc2: A Moment in the Kruger

by Mark Lindsay


Just before dawn, I made my way through the dense thicket towards the rocky outcrop. Sitting on the highest rock in the area, I watched the African dawn unfold before my eyes.
The distinctive cry of a Black Backed Jackal rose towards me from the lonely Bushveld landscapes below, the beautiful sound sending a shiver through my body. A lone firefly, his belly flashing shocking green, was using the last hour of darkness to find a female. After a disappointing night out, he rose higher and higher into the crepuscular abyss, as if he had fallen in love with a star instead.

As the deep red sun appeared over the distant horizon, the golden light from its stunning ambience filtered through the bush, giving the savannah and its exquisite creatures a burst of vibrant energy. A new day beckoned.

The grey matter moved silently through the trees, grazing peacefully on the pristine vegetation. The Matriarch of the herd kept watch, occasionally lifting her apprehensive trunk to gently caress the face of a sister or her calf. I kept watch from the outcrop until I eventually moved down towards the approaching herd, in an effort to get as close as possible to the giants of the African plains.

I moved closer and closer to the herd, keeping so silent that I could hear the very blood pumping wildly through my veins. Suddenly, the Matriarch lifted her trunk, sniffing the air for any sign of danger. I kept dead still, even more motionless than the very ground beneath my feet. The tension in the air was so strong that you could have cut it with a blunt knife.

She let out a terrifying sound, the waves travelling up her trunk and piercing the air, like a thousand sharp daggers. Without warning, the entire herd started crashing like tanks through the undergrowth.

I was directly in their path. I thought to myself that if I died, I wanted my ashes thrown from a plane, over this dreamland that given me so much joy.

I had no time to run, so I just stood there and waited for the dreadful prospect of death to approach me. The Matriarch flapped her mammoth ears wildly, her eyeballs writhing within her sockets with utter fury as the space between the herd and my fragile existence diminished within a few seconds. The beasts seemed to shake the core of planet earth, destroying every single living creature within their path.

In an unbelievable stroke of sheer luck, the herd parted on either side of me, so close that I could have grazed my hands on their coarse hides! The elephants ploughed through the plants behind me, until I could no longer hear them.

I just stood there in a state of shock while birds flittered around me and salty sweat stung my eyes. The whole world around me started spinning around, the plants, the clouds, everything! Then everything went black, blacker than the vacuum of space itself. I collapsed against an Acacia Tree.

The Bushveld and its creatures had shown me mercy this time, and I was so grateful for that!