1

My stomach growled painfully as I lay inside the cave. I sighed and watched the ceiling for spiders or bats, anything to keep my mind off of my growing hunger. I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes, listening to the rain beating against the cave walls. We had been cooped up in here for 3 days by the rain, which meant that we couldn't hunt. I looked over at the Croods as they slept in their typical pile, Eep being on her separate ledge. We had decided to stay in here until the storm passed, no animals would be out anyway. I closed my eyes and leaned my head into my arms; a makeshift pillow.

When I was little, and my parents were still alive, we wove together pieces of straw to make pillows and mattresses. We'd also hunt whenever we could, even in the rain. The Croods motto of staying inside during bad weather was very different, I was starving. I was used to foraging for berries or at least picking off a bird or something to help ease it, but I hadn't eaten at all for three days now. Belt was also starting to get annoyed, constantly woken up by the awful gnawing in my stomach. He was able to eat the small bugs in the cave at least.

"What is that?" Eep's voice suddenly said, her finger jabbing me hard in the stomach. I jumped up and managed to keep my shout contained.

"What is what?" I asked, putting Belt up on my shoulder. Eep scooted forward and pointed towards my stomach, I looked down, then back up at her.

"That weird noise, it sounds like a bear almost." She said, looking at me with curious eyes. It suddenly clicked in my mind what she was talking about.

"Oh, you mean the noises my stomach is making? I'm hungry." I said and she had this look on her face that meant she had no idea what I was talking about. I sighed, looking up at Belt, who rolled his eyes at me.

"What is hungry?" She said, sitting down in front of me. I leaned against the wall and groaned, rubbing my eyes. I didn't have the energy to explain every detail to her.

"Ok, so you know that feeling you get right here when you haven't eaten in a while?" I asked, putting my hand over my stomach to show her. She paused for a moment and then nodded. "And it really hurts after a while? That's what being hungry is."

"But why does that noise happen?" She said, reaching out to poke me again. I grabbed her hand.

"I don't know." I said quickly. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Oh." She said and looked back at her family passed out in the pile. "What if we went out and tried to hunt?"

"I would love that very much." I said and jumped up. I tried to push the massive rock out of the way of the entrance but it was too heavy for me. Eep then walked over, pushing it out of the way with ease. I ran outside and dropped to my knees, thanking god that I was outside again. I hated that stupid cave, being trapped in the dark for days, starving to death on top of it. It was raining still but I had hunted before in the rain. Eep pushed the rock back into place and then ran out beside me, jumping to try and hit the raindrops before they landed. I scanned the area, trying to find something that was edible. The mountains ahead were covered in dark gray clouds, streaks of lightning zinging past and the thunder vibrating the earth we stood on. The large raindrops beat the plants scattered around the cave, the smell of rain was very calming to me. Belt poked me in the stomach, snapping me out of my trance and reminding me once again that I hadn't eaten for three days now. I stood up and headed towards the tree line just ahead of us. There was bound to be berry bushes or at least a birds nest in there somewhere.

"So, what are you looking for?" Eep asked, trotting up beside me. Oh yeah, that's right, Eep hasn't been allowed to hunt before since she's a girl.

"Anything that even remotely resembles food." I said as I felt my stomach growl painfully, Belt cooed in response and wrapped his long arms around my neck for a better grip.

"Oh." Eep said as she looked around, her eyes huge with wonder. I spotted a birds nest high up on a branch. Belt jumped up on my shoulder as he saw it too. I ran up to the tree trunk and climbed up, pulling myself onto the branch with the nest. I carefully inched my way towards it, not wanting to snap the branch. I peered into the nest to see 6 bird eggs, I took them all. I looked at them in my hand, they weren't much bigger than my eye, but it would have to do for now. I was so hungry I debated eating them raw right then, but my mother's voice entered my head to warn me. One of my sisters had tried to eat a raw egg, she got very sick and eventually died. I couldn't eat eggs raw like Eep's family could, I just didn't have the stomach for it. I climbed down and handed Eep three eggs, I kept the other three. She instantly swallowed them whole. I frowned and sat down, clearing a small circle in the ground for a fire pit. I lay some wood down and set a spark to them with some rocks. I lay a large flat rock on top and cracked the three eggs on top of it. I'd have to cook them before I ate them. Eep just watched in awe.

"Why don't you just eat them?" She asked, puzzled. I looked up at her and smirked.

"I'd get sick, I don't have the strong stomach acid you have" I said and she nodded, looking back down at the eggs. They were nearly cooked through; and the smell was driving me crazy. I was worried though that the rain would put out the fire. The rocks protected it but some water was dripping down into the flames. Belt was draped over my shoulders watching the eggs cook slowly, but then jumped down my back in surprise. I looked up to see Grug charging towards us, an angry look plastered all over his face.

"No one leaves the cave during the rain!" He yelled. He looked down at the fire pit and I panicked, grabbing the eggs just as he threw a rock into the pit and scattered it everywhere. The rock bounced over to me, knocking two of the eggs away and crushed into the dirt by Grug. I quickly swallowed the remaining egg, Grug yelling at me.

"Dad, we just wanted to hunt!" Eep yelled but he ignored her, walking up to me.

"You've caused too many problems for this family, especially for Eep. You've put all these stupid ideas in her head that will get her killed, or will get others killed!" Grug yelled into my face. "I want you gone!"

"If I leave, you will all die." I said, glaring at him. "You need fire and at least someone who knows this area!"

"We've gotten along without you in the past." Grug growled, grabbing Eeps arm. He turned and dragged her back to the cave, shoving her inside and sitting down in front of the entrance. I glared at him, and then looked down at my destroyed fire pit. I could hear Eep yelling and pounding on the rock but there wasn't any way she could get out now with Grug in front of it. Belt cooed sadly in my ear and I looked over at him. He sighed and leaned his head onto my shoulder. I sighed as well, turning to head into the forest. I stopped and looked back at Grug, who was now asleep as he leaned against the rock. I shook my head and headed into the forest.

"What was I thinking?" I yelled, kicking a rock out of my path. Belt hung around my shoulders and gurgled. "So what if I was hungry? If I had known this would happen I would have toughened it out." My stomach growled as if in protest and I put my hands over it, stopping in the path. "I'm still hungry." I looked around me at the large trees and boulders scattered in every direction. I sighed, walking down the worn path again. Deer used this path to get down to the river. I was hoping that I could find some fish.

I sighed heavily as I lay on my back in the tall grass, staring up at the gray sky. The river system was totally flooded from the rains; the fish had been swept out miles from here. Belt lay on my stomach, his chin resting on my ribs as he watched me. Images of steak and fish and my mom's delicious corn sauce on eggs flickered through my mind. Sharp hunger pangs felt as if they were vibrating my entire abdomen. Belt would poke me in the ribs every once in a while, trying to make me get up. I folded my hands over my stomach, Belt resting his chin on them and gurgled at me.

"I will, Belt. Just give me a minute." I said. The rain wasn't letting up, it was only getting harder. I sighed and sat up, putting Belt around my waist. I looked down and was surprised that I could now see my ribs clearer than I normally could. I shook my head and started walking down the path again. I'd have to use my old tricks again of foraging for berries, setting a few traps, and hoping that I got lucky.