Refuge
The three fugitives hastily dashed into the cave. The two humans were exhausted. Burke, the dark haired astronaut, leaned against the wall of the cave in an attempt to catch his breath. They had narrowly missed being caught by Urko and his troops. The weary as-
tronaut felt his entire body ache. Outside the cave, rain came down fiercely beating the sand. Pete noticed a pool of water further back from the entrance. He placed his hand in.
It was a spring, the water was at least seventy-five degrees. The tired astronaut removed
his clothes and got in. Virdon joined him, also removing his clothing. The warm water
gave the two humans relief from the reality of aching bones, empty stomachs and being
pursued by gorillas on horses. Both men were silent while Galen, their chimpanzee
companion stared at the entrance to the cave which was completely blocked by the down
pour of rain.
Burk closed his eyes for a moment. He slouched down so the water reached his chin. "At
least this is relaxing." Galen sat at the edge of the pool on a flat rock. "You humans just
love being wet!" He shook his head. He hated the rain. "It's not that bad, buddy." Pete
kept his eyes closed. Galen was still staring at the entrance, the pursuit had been rough, he was still shaken. The rain beat the ground with such intensity, it was if the sky were
angry.
'When the rain stops, they'll come for us." Alan was always thinking ahead. Galen faced the blonde astronaut. "They won't come as long as it rains like this. We simians
hate water. Urko will not force his troops to work in the rain and I remember times it
rained for days."
Burke sighed. He still didn't open his eyes. "Don't know if being stuck here for days is
a good thing either!" His exhaustion was overwhelming, his eyes were heavy.
"We have to come up with a plan,Pete." Pete opened his eyes slightly. Alan sat across
from him. He closed his eyes and opened them again. Behind Alan in the partial darkness of the cave were several pairs of eyes. Pete closed his eyes again, thinking he was seeing things. When he opened them again, more pairs of eyes appeared. Some were
bright green, yellow or blue.
"Buddy, we are not alone! The dark haired astronaut sat up quickly. Alan noticed his
reaction. "We are not alone……what are you talking about?!" Galen stood up. He saw the eyes as well. He moved backwards, almost falling into the pool. "Pete is right! We
have company!" The chimp became nervous.
All the eyes continued to stare and observe. Even more eyes appeared. The fugitives
didn't know what to do. The rain pounded the earth like an angry god.
All three fugitives remained silent for what seemed an eternity. Alan couldn't take it
anymore. "Who is there! We mean no harm!" The eyes were still. The fugitives felt
more uncomfortable. Burke got out of the water and put his clothes on. Silence hung
heavy in the air against the beating rain.
As Pete was buttoning his shirt, a light blue colored iguana scurried out of the darkness.
She studied the dark haired astronaut, tilting her head slightly sideways. Pete laughed.
"You're quite pretty. I hope we aren't disturbing you." Alan breathed a sigh of relief.
Galen was still nervous. "Lizards? We are in a cave full of lizards?" Pete put his hand on his simian friend's shoulder. "These are iguanas. Humans use to have them as pets."
Alan jumped up out of the pool and started putting his clothes on. "Yes, many humans kept them as pets but they live in tropical climates…..in the wild. It doesn't make sense
that they live here, in this cave. Pete laughed again. "Nothing makes much sense around
here, Buddy." Galen rolled his eyes.
The blue female still studied Pete. Alan finished putting his clothes on. "It is amazing
that she is this pretty blue color instead of gray or black from living away from sunlight." The iguana turned to gaze at Alan, almost like she understood him. More
iguanas came out of the darkness into the light. Many were various shades of green, aqua, blue and a few were orange. They all studied the fugitives. Pete was starting to feel uncomfortable again. "They seem to be very intelligent. I don't like the way they
are staring at us." "Oh, come on, Pete. They are just curious. We have been on the run for too long. Don't start getting bizarre ideas." The blue female scurried in front of Alan,
almost brushing against his feet. She stopped at another pool of water and turned around.
Galen pointed at the water "There is fish in that pool!"
Alan stepped forward. Several fish, at least ten inches long swam around. Alan walked to the edge of the pool and squatted down. He watched the fish swim for a few seconds and
then turned his attention to the iguana. She looked up at him and tilted her head sideways again. It was almost like she was communicating telepathicly. Alan pushed the
thought out of his mind. The three of them were too exhausted and it was too crazy an
idea. Superintelligent lizards. Urko's relentless pursuit of them was pushing their sanity
over the edge.
Galen walked over to the pool. Edible plants were growing out of the side. "At least we
have food." Pete smiled. "Our friend offered us food! The iguana peered up at him while he spoke. "I think we found some friendly creatures."
Weary fugitives harbor
in a cave,
An unusual dwelling
full of hot springs,
secret passages and
colorful iguanas.
The leader, a light
blue, inquisitive female
offers them food,
from her harvest of fish.
The eat, they rest,
contented with silence
and full stomaches.
Sitting amongst reptiles,
who appear to have
an interest in them.
Unusual hosts,
the chimp and
his two humans
re-energize,
able to run again.
The rain starts
to lighten up,
the pounding is
less intense, dwindling
to silent drops.
Sunlight gradually enters
the cave, warming
up the interior.
More iguanas greet
the fugitives.
Thousand reside here,
the day is peaceful
but the two humans
and a chimp must
move onward.
The rain has ceased,
the gorillas will come,
the blue iguana hears
the sound of horses' footsteps,
she leads the dark haired
human to a passage.
He follows, motioning
for his companions to join him.
The horses become louder,
replacing the pounding rain,
Urko enters the cave,
but all he sees are
thousands of colorful iguanas.
Eyes peer at him
and he feels threatened.
Stepping forward,
the curious lizards
remain still.
The angry gorilla
yells for them
to move.
But they stare
more intently.
The leader studies him
tilting her head.
The fugitives walk briskly
through a dark passage
that leads to a winding river.
The warm sunshine
feels good.
The chimp and
two humans
follow the water,
making a greater
distance between
themselves and
pursuing gorillas.
Burk speaks to
his companions,
we should have
thanked our
lizard friends.
Alan laughs,
the leader must
be a female.
She couldn't take
her eyes off of you.
Galen mumbles
"as usual".
Pete stares straight
ahead,
we owe them much,
Urko and his soldiers
can't follow us here.
Saved by reptiles
In a rainstorm.
The angry security chief
yells at the iguanas.
He is in a rage,
but more appear,
blocking the passage
to the river.
Urko gives up,
the fugitives must
have left this cave,
in the pouring rain.
Humans always love water,
to wash away their filth.
He tells his army,
the fugitives have escaped,
not mentioning the cave
full of colorful lizards,
and how they stared him down.
The blue iguana tells
her companions
all is well,
by the thoughts she sends.
Pete, Alan and Galen
rest and eat fruit,
freedom temporarily from
hostile simians
Pete is lost in thought.
Intelligent lizards?
He is much too tired.