Maurice watched from the sidelines as the trio chased each other around the lot, kicking up gravel and dust all around the property. The guardian was impressed at how she could keep up with the boys with such ease, whether on twos or fours. She was agile and swift, dodging their tackles and using the empty gas pumps as obstacles to her advantage. She even tricked them near the truck, making herself vanish in mid chase around the vehicle by hopping in the open bed fast enough before they could turn the corner.

He couldn't peel his eyes away. They all looked so happy.

Sarah…looked at peace.

Maurice brought his gaze to the ground, staring at and tracing the outlines of their intermingled footprints in the dirt. He marveled at how similar in size and shape they were, how in tune their positions harmonized. He looked back up to the children, it was as if they were running on air, so ethereal and light. Just like how they made him feel. How Sarah currently felt. He sighed, could he take her away from this life? Should he?

It was a necessary ordeal, and he had to make the appropriate choice, the best choice for her future. He already had told and scorned himself it was the right thing to do. Standing, he decided it was best to make most of what little time the four of them shared; and he knew just how.

Maurice long-called over to the trio, catching their attention in mid wrestle, and he motioned them to come with a curl of his fingers. The three of them were absolutely covered in chalky, white dust, and had a few scrapes from the fine, thin gravel stones. Neither of them seemed to mind though. Maurice couldn't help but let a few bubbles of laughter escape him when he saw the state of Ash. The once ebony chimp looked more like his father with his new silver, stone coat. The young one tilted his head perplexed, then he felt the brushing hand of Sarah on his shoulder. The chalk dust wiped away with her fingers to reveal the shining, onyx fur beneath. Ash shook himself like a wet dog, letting the energy flow from his head and neck down to his toes, a white cloud erupting from him. It blinded the three surveyors, lightly coating the fine hairs of their body followed by dry coughs. Once the cloud cleared, Ash was the cleanest of the group, but had mistakenly covered his friends in the white dust. He looked down with a sheepish grin, half-heartedly wiping a patch off his cousin's shoulder.

Maurice merely patted himself down, and looked back up. Focusing on the boys, he lifted his hands with a stout mass on his shoulders. "Winter is coming early this year. Sarah must leave before the first snow. So…" he sighed heavily, "I've decided that today will be our last day together."

Sarah didn't understand what was happening. A sudden change of expression fell over her new friends' faces, and they shared an almost fearful gaze. Like mutts threatened with a raised, folded belt, ears flattened and tails between their legs, they stared into each other's broken hearts. Blue Eyes looked past his brother's shoulder, and gave Sarah a very similar gaze. She could feel a grieving child from behind the soulful windows, sensing a hand reaching out to her from behind the fogging glass. Though Blue Eyes didn't say or do anything different from the rest of them, she could feel something had chipped and cracked within his heart, but she couldn't understand why. What was going on with them?

Sarah looked up to the largest of the group, concern lacing her features. She wanted to ask what Papa was saying, but he continued signing before she could say anything.

"She'll be brought home by the end of the week. However, I wanted to make today special."

Turning his eyes to his little girl, Maurice extended his hand with a smile. Sarah's head perked up with the acknowledgment, and her gaze dragged down his arm from his shoulder to the center of his palm, studying it with uncertainty. Taking it with timid hesitation, Sarah felt herself being pulled from her seat, and off the ground!

The abrupt tension in her arm stung for a moment, and she cringed, her eyes shutting tight. It singed the ball of her of her shoulder like hot coals, and the heat blossomed across the skin of the arm's crook like stray embers as her own weight stretched the thin skin, and pulled on the petite joint. She felt herself being lifted high, dangling by her frail wrist, and was placed on something warm and woolly. The gentle low radiated under her thighs, and unique texture tickled her skin. Her fists clung to a hairy grip, and she blindly, instinctively pulled herself up to where she could sit upright. The grip on her wrist was released, and her arm's skin and muscles could relax from the stretching. Once she opened her eyes at the relinquish, all she saw was crimson. Dark, welcoming, familiar crimson. She noticed her line of sight was much higher up as she looked past a broad shoulder, and saw that she was looking down on her friends.

Wait looking down?

Then, she saw Papa's face peer from over the shoulder she gazed over. His shoulder! It was then she realized! Maurice had placed his girl directly and comfortably on his back!

He had seen the females of the colony do this for their young, so he felt it oddly appropriate. In fact, he found he liked this much more than carrying her in a single arm. He felt more balanced and sturdy, and more reliable that she'd be safe up there. He felt her hands buried deep in his blades, like she was gripping the reins of a horse. He only hoped she didn't try to control and direct him like one.

He looked up at her, seeing her awed expression and comfortable posture. "You alright?"

She took a moment to compose herself and digest what was happening, but she nodded excitedly, and her face warmed with a brightening grin. "Yes, yes, Papa! I feel great!"

Maurice was glad she wasn't appalled by this sudden shift, and he didn't seem to mind the new weight either. She was much lighter than he remembered. He threw a glance to the boys who looked just as astonished as Sarah, and watched as Ash attempted to jump up and grasp one of her dangling legs. Sarah reacted with a playful, startled yelp, and laughed as he tried to jump like a toddler reaching for a cookie jar secured on a shelf just a few inches too high. Maurice purred with amusement, and he started to walk, motioning for the two ape children to follow with a nod of his head.

Sarah clutched her guardian angel with her legs as they begun to move. His lumbering mass swayed with each step, but she didn't feel off balanced. It was a familiar feeling, like the motions of a horse in a saddle. Sarah leaned in close, nearly hugging his backside with her chest. She cupped his hunched shoulders in her hands, using them a grips rather than his fur. She didn't want to hurt him. She hated it when her hair was pulled, and she didn't think he enjoyed it either.

On the ground, Blue Eyes and Ash scampered a few meters ahead. They rolled around in the piles of colorful leaves, shoving each other to the ground, and snaking around the trees. Sometimes, she would see them weaving around the orangutan's legs before darting off again, one of them often grazing their fingers along the smooth, ticklish bottom of her feet. She reacted the same each time, shriek and recoil. Sarah had a great perspective from atop her savior's shoulders, and could see over the shrubs and smaller bushes that would've once obstructed her view. The longer the four of them hiked through the forest, Sarah could start to feel a new serenity for the environment that once terrified her. Being guided, she felt much more at ease, and could fully appreciate the beauty of the mountain. Birds filled the trees, and scurrying rodents like chipmunks darted across their path more than once into the brush. She could see Ash pounce after them like a wired kitten once or twice if they were close enough, but the mouse-like mammals were too quick for his grabby paws.

The next one we saw didn't dart into a bush like Sarah anticipated, but into a wall of swaying, long grass. Her head perked up at the sudden change in foliage, and her eyes widened with awe. The forest was clearing up to reveal a wide, open sea of green and bronze. The sound the wind made against the blades sounded like gentle whips, and she could see the shimmering waves move across the surface like actual water. The flat landscape stole any words she could've used to describe it; save for breathtaking. In the distance, she could see the mountain range stretch over the canopies on the other side of the field, reaching to the heavens.

The wall that protected the apes.

Ash immediately attempted to give chase, playfully colliding into the young prince as he passed. Blue Eyes snorted, and pounced on his hyper cousin before he could go after the defenceless animal. The two summersaulted deep into the tall stalks, and Sarah could see their dark bodies swim through the green mass from where she sat. Her laughter riled something within Maurice, and an arousal of energy sent the giant into an exultant, frolicsome canter. The tall blades only came up to the ape's belly, and made the orangutan look like he was floating through the field. Weightless, powerful, and surreal. Sarah held on tight as she was given the ride of her life, feeling her petite body bounce in place, and hair fly wild all around her. She couldn't tell if it was all hers or not, but she was having too much fun to care. Half of her wanted to let go, and spread her arms out wide to feel the breeze under her arms. But, the other knew that she would be gone with the wind if she did. The fresh air felt crisp, and tasted sweet upon licking her drying lips.

Below them, Ash and Blue Eyes continued to roughhouse. Sarah could see their backs race around and part the dense greenery like a hot blade through butter, serpentining around boulders and dodging each other like a couple of fox kits. Sarah wanted to join them, but she felt she would easily lose them in the grass before they lost her.

Suddenly, Papa started to slow his gait, and move his swivel his head to the side inquisitively. Sarah lifted her head from between his shoulders, and attempted to peer around his wide cheek pads. His eyes fell upon a patch of sequoias along the perimeter of the field, and it seemed to get the gears in his head to turn. If she could see his face, she'd imagine his eyes to be wide and attentive, as if he'd just seen something move in the corner of his eye. She turned to look in the direction his head was turned, and studied the forest carefully. There wasn't anything that he could see from out of the ordinary or dangerous, but Papa must've had a keen, trained eye for spotting trouble.

Unknown to her, that wasn't the reason why Maurice had stopped. He said he wanted to make this day special, special for her. He wanted to give her a day and an experience that she wouldn't forget. So that she wouldn't forget them. What better way to do that…then to show her the world through their eyes.

Calling out over the swishing stalks and the whipping of the blades, he cried for the children to return to him. After a few attempts of hailing the duo, he could finally see a black head pop out from the tips of the grass, followed by a second, silver scalp. They were almost halfway across the field from there they stood, and the wide open, endless plains. He waited till their bounding bodies arrived at his feet, a cognitive, thoughtful gleam in his aged, emerald eyes. With a nod towards the redwood giants, he then pointed to himself. "Stay close, and follow me."

Sarah felt her gargantuan guardian turn his body towards the wooded area, and sat back down against the top of his ribcage under the impression they were heading back to the gas station, that their fun was done for the evening. Little did she know that was the last thing on the orangutan's mind. Looking over his shoulder to gaze upon his child, Maurice cooed comfortingly. Raising his right hand, he brought it up, and gripped one of her wrists.

"It's ok, Papa" she clamored, nervous that he might hurt her arm again if he lifted her the same way as before. "I can get down myself."

But before she could slide off his back, he grasped her hand anyway. Sarah's head snapped up in surprise to this, and her eyes filled with perplexion when Maurice shook his head "No". Instead of lifting her up like she anticipated and assumed, he gathered both of her tiny hands in his thick fingers, and gently pulled them up the spine, and over his head so they wrapped gently around his firm, muscular neck. Sarah had to scoot her bum a few inches up his back, and her feet now had to wrap around his ribcage rather than his abdomen. His grip fastened a fraction tighter once her hands were clasped together, and he grunted assertively. "Hold tight."

Sarah followed his instructions, and didn't relinquish her own hold once Papa removed his hand. The orangutan locked eyes with his child for a good few extra seconds to let her know he meant it, and with good reason for what he had planned. Maurice started to walk again with the boys close at his heels, one on each side of him. Sarah assumed that they were going straight, and that they'd be taking the hills to take her home.

But to her complete bewilderment, they started to traverse vertical!

Instantly, her gradually loosened grip fastened tighter than iron, and she braced her mount with her entirety. Maurice's large hands gripped the full-bodied trunk with ease, and she could feel as his mass lifted, and left the security of solid ground. She felt his legs and arms tense as soon as he started climbing, feeling the soft, fleshy limbs transform into solid logs. She heard the bark of the redwood creak and chip under his grip, like the tree was groaning in pain. "Please, let me go!" she imagined it would cry out.

From below, she heard a duo of chittering and pant-laughter. Opening one of her eyes a crack, she stared down at the boys with a tinge of fear cast over her face. She silently pleaded for help or some kind of assistance from either one of them. Ash had a cocky grin smothered over his face, and seemed to be enjoying her uneasiness. He wasted no time in speeding his pace to get to the head of the pack, not without giving her a swift, teasing nudge on his way up. She growled as he did, tightening her grip on Maurice for safety, sticking her tongue out at ebony jackass.

Sarah felt a second touch on her other side. Expecting to be poked and prodded again, she tensed and curled back her lips. However, Blue Eyes was the mature one. The young prince merely laid his palm on her arm, reassuring her with his gentle gaze and touch that she was in safe hands. He had a much more sensitive nature, and she softened her hostility under his sapphire surveillance. His touch felt infantile and placid, comforting her mind and settling her nerves. He gave her a dove-like coo with a slow blink and curt nod, encouraging her trust and regaining her confidence. A small smile spread on his lips, and he received one in return. The prince held two fingers up, and pointed them into his eyes, not breaking contact with hers. "Watch."

Sarah swallowed a growing knot in her throat, but nodded, steeling her nerves. Blue Eyes continued up the tree to join his bully brother, and as soon as he left her side, Maurice recommenced his ascendance. The breeze grew stronger and cooler, and the birds increased in volume. It almost made the hairs on her arms stand on end, but she luckily had a huge hot water bottle beneath her. The girl's eyes fell back to the ground once they were about a quarter up the trunk, feeling a shallow sickness swirl in her stomach. Her grip tightened a fraction when she watched as the earth seemed more minuscule the higher they traversed, not doing any wonders for her fear of falling. Sarah felt her upper body sway to the left and right as her guardian scaled the sequoia, turning her head back to the canopy when she heard one of the boys call down to them. The two of them had stopped at a branch about halfway up the tree, looking down at them like a couple of owls. Maurice looked at the area around them, and he gave the duo a nod of approval. Sarah kept her gaze on the two chimps, unaware of the conversing happening under her nose.

The orangutan hauled himself and his precious cargo to a set of limbs just beneath their companions, taking a perching stance on the thicker end closest to the trunk. Sarah kept her will and grip strong, observing the aerial scenery with wary yet inquisitive eyes. It was a sight to behold she gave them that much, but was it the safest? Couldn't they just had given her a hike through the mountains to give her the same experience; minus the direct vertical risk and gravity being constantly against you? Maurice thought of that, sure. However, the view wasn't the only reason why he brought her there.

"Are you. Well?" he chimed up, peering over his shoulder.

Sarah nodded, bracing herself against him as she batted away a pair of teasing, ebony paws. Maurice shot a stare and low bark to Ash, warning him to behave himself. She was going to need both hands for what he had in store. Cooing to the boys, he angled his head to the side, sweeping an open arm out. Across from where they sat, a wide open jungle of branches and trees stretched out as far as the eye could see. Healthy, strong, thick sequoias. Stretching out, cascading over the mountain range and setting the stage for the real reason why the orangutan brought them all out.

Ash got the picture almost immediately, and was the first one to swing to the next cluster of branches. He got a few meters before Blue Eyes caught up with the concept, and chased after him. Sarah watched over the top of her angel's head, attentive and intrigued by their movements. The way they swung looked so loose and effortless, like their arms were made of yarn. Blue Eyes took a perch beside his brother, calling back to the two left behind. Sarah's head perked, confusion riddling her expression. What did he expect her to do? Did she look like a chimp to them?

However, she wasn't the one he was calling for.

Maurice looked back to his girl, and gently grasped her two hands again, bringing them back around his neck like before. Sarah didn't say anything or retaliate out of puzzlement and shock, but it took her a few moments after Maurice rose from his seat before she realized what he was about to do.

"Papa…?" she warily asked, feeling the uneasy ball form in her gut again.

He gripped her hands tightly together, and fastened her ankles to his ribcage.

"Papa?" she said with a bit more urgency in her voice.

She felt his gaze fixated on the horizon, her words falling on deaf ears. She felt her heart start to vividly pick up in her chest, and a nervous sweat broke down her spine. Her mouth grew dry within seconds, and her interlocked fingers trembled. Her voice spilled out in a jumbled, panicked slur, her hysteria falling out into a cry. "Papa, wait! I don't know about-!"

As she started to fall.

Her body embraced and gripped the only thing it could as a rush of cool air and blood raced from her toes to her head, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her face against a warm, hairy surface. She felt the world spin and move around her, feeling gravity force her down to her emanate, instant death.

But…she felt her body be thrown back up, and no impact with the solid forest floor.

Wind cascaded over her body, hair tickling and blowing over her face and legs. Feeling another curvature force on her body like the Y-axis lines on a negative to positive quadratic chart, and was still alive and unharmed…she opened her eyes.

The entire world around her was moving. Trees appeared from the front and disappeared behind, like looking out the window of a moving car. Sarah twisted her head all around to see that she wasn't falling at all, but that she was flying! To be precise, flying on the back of a giant, crimson angel!

Maurice had wanted to give her the one thing she didn't have, and a final parting gift. One thing that he knew would stick with her forever, and no one could ever take away:

Perspective of their world through his eyes.

The feeling, at first terrifying and traumatic, transformed into pure euphoria and astonishment once she realized she wasn't actually falling. The autumn colors and aging daylight painted a purely spectacular once-in-a-lifetime landscape portrait for the little girl's awestruck eyes, catching herself doing 100-yard stares into the canopies and air. She was completely star struck, her clench onto the swinging great ape gradually loosening. Maurice caught this, and long-called back to her to get her attention. Sarah snapped back to reality, and wrapped her arms secure back around his neck. Brilliant reds and warm oranges filling the trees as far as the eye could see, and the movement giving the illusion that the forest was on fire. It wasn't a surprise that Maurice could hide from those scavengers so well, he could spook a ninja in these woods he blended in so well.

Sarah heard a voices to her sides, and saw Ash and Blue Eyes were swinging parallel to Maurice. They were both so skilled in the trees regardless that they were so small and young. They were natural tricksters and acrobatics, pulling off stunts like logrolls and flips from one branch to the next, gliding through the trees with ease and grace. At one point they completely caught her off guard, and swooped over her in a curved X formation, slapping each other's hands as they crossed with cocky, but well earned, success. They were like trapeze artists, and she was the volunteer from the audience atop a great elephant. Spectacular and talented, she felt the anxiety completely shed from her mind. Her eyes widened, and a beaming smile grew across her face. She felt like Rose at the bow of the Titanic, like she was on top of the world with the wind through her hair and confidence that could dwarf a skyscraper. She never wanted to let go of this feeling.

Maurice could feel her body relax against his back, and hear laughter ring in his ears. Her hands, while still clenched together, didn't feel like a stone was being drilled into his throat. They were soft, and hung around him rather than strangled. He could breathe again now that her legs weren't constricting his lungs like an anaconda, and had a wider range of motion. He was relieved that she was enjoying herself now. She had him worried for a moment, like this treat wasn't a good idea. That he would leave her with nothing but a pat on the back and good luck to the rest of her life. She deserved something much better than that, and he was proud that he could provide this. With the help from the boys, this was a truly special moment. It was a symbolic moment that they pulled through with their duty, and Sarah defeated death. She was strong, but with her new friends by her side, she must've felt unstoppable.

He felt unstoppable.

The further the four of them traversed through the canopies, the more stunts and tricks Blue Eyes and Ash saw themselves doing. They were nailing everything from shooting stars and double summersaults to half turns and whips. Sarah could tell that they were getting pretty competitive, and a little daring. She could say borderline reckless even.

"Try and beat that!" Blue Eyes challenged as he performed a flawless double flip with a licorice twist, surpassing his younger cousin in balance and flexibility.

Ash huffed through his teeth, narrowing his eyes at the royal show-off. While Blue Eyes had the skill with the fancier, coiling feats, Ash knew he was the stronger of the two. While Blue Eyes could've beaten him with flare, Ash knew he could beat him in height! T

Taking a running start at the next thick branch, Ash threw all of his energy in into his fists and feet, punching the log like he was tenderising a raw slab of venison. He used his anger as a catalyst, and threw himself to the next branch. He was going way ahead of his friends, using each branch he could as either a running or vaulting platform. Blue Eyes was a little perplexed at what trick he was trying to perform, or if he had a point he was trying to prove. The prince and teacher watched from the distance, and Ash climbed higher, faster, and brasher. Blue Eyes called up to him, signing and hooting that he was going too high. Maurice halted his swings at the next branch, and long-called up to him to come back down. Ash refused to listen, and allow his brother to beat him in the one thing he loved to do.

As he climbed higher, the limbs grew more and more thin. He saw these as bendable, and trick-worthy tools. His thought process was that if he jumped at one, it would slingshot back up like a spring, and catapult him into the air to perform the greatest aerobatic stunt his snobby brother had ever seen! He ignored his friends' cries from below, and prepared himself. Taking a running start at the desired tree, he reached out to catch the bendy branch. The second his weight pulled the tip down, he waited for his mass to be shot back up, and he could rub his victory in Blue Eyes's big, fat-

SNAP!

As soon as his weight pulled the tip of the branch to the lowest point, its center snapped like a twig, and sent the young, onyx chimp plunging back to the world below with its other half still gripped tightly in his right paw.

Ash's eyes snapped wide as saucers, and he couldn't feel his hands or feet on solid branches any longer. His heart flipped in his chest, and he felt his dark skin pale to a light silver as he realized what was happening. Blue Eyes screamed in terror, his throat going dry and limbs stumbling to unknot out of their pretzel-like state. The second Blue Eyes attempted to climb as high as his descending cousin, Maurice wasted no time in beating the child to it. He scaled the trees like there was a raging fire growing up the trunk, and he was racing to freedom above the canopies, to safety. He ripped through useless branches and stripped the body of the trunk nearly naked of bark. He scrapped his hands almost raw against the rough bark, and just as he got to the center point of the tree, he prepared himself to catch the falling star.

Using a branch, Maurice swung just at the right time when Ash plummeted within his line, and he caught the boy using the body of a second tree, embracing the tree with the superstar between him. The amount of force in the swing combined with the orangutans superb mass caused a ground shaking ripple of power to surge from the great ape, and into the redwood. The giant tree quivered like an earthquake had struck it; enough force capable of toppling a small building. Maurice panted heavily into the face of the young chimp, searching his eyes if he was OK. Ash was healthy and unharmed, but that didn't explain to Maurice why he was screaming for dear life. He followed the chimp's anxious and panicked gaze to over his shoulder…to which he saw no human girl.

With the rapid rushing up the trunk and shattering collision of the ape and tree, the rupturing power was enough to force the girl to unravel her hands from the angel's neck, and send her flying back several feet. Sarah locked eyes with her guardian, terror just starting to fill her expression as he turned. Within a flash, Maurice uncurled one of his arms from the sequoia and reached out to her, stretching out every ligament and fiber in his being. He couldn't let go of the tree without dropping Ash, it was too risky. Sarah raised her hand back to her Papa, descending the redwood back-first. Time slowed to a fraction of a second between the two of them. Just as it seemed that he would be able to save her…the tips of their fingers merely grazed against each other, and Maurice could feel an icy shock shoot through his arm and throughout his body as their skin touched. Ash reached out over Maurice's shoulder in desperation, locking his gaze to her hopeless, forlorn face. The trusting, confident spark in her eyes was lost the moment her hand slipped from Papa's grasp, watching her guardian fail her.

Maurice stared down at her, feeling his heart and lungs rattle and convulse in their cage. He snapped his head this way and that, hoping that there was something around him to help her. Blue Eyes was below them, and he could see him trying to make it towards Sarah's falling form. Maurice knew that she would be much too heavy for him to catch. If she went down, she was taking Blue Eyes with her!

Maurice roared below him. Both for Blue Eyes to stop, and the final cry to his daughter. There was no hope in saving her without losing someone. He'd drop Ash if he went to catch her, and Blue Eyes would be dragged down into a fatal fall with her! All life and light drained from Maurice's eyes as the weight of the world came crashing down on him. He embraced Ash against him, shielding his young, innocent eyes from the tragedy.

Sarah wasn't going to make it…and he couldn't watch!


I could feel the icy wind rush beneath me as I lost touch with Papa. Ash's eyes were just as wide as his, and even though it would've been impossible for him to reach me, he still tried. I could feel myself inwardly smile at his attempt, and was grateful for it. I locked eyes with Papa the second our fingertips touched, and I felt my whole body shut down. Somewhere in my mind, a voice whispered that I was going to die. That there was no getting out of this. A shriveling cold blossomed through my arm the second our hands left each other, and I somehow accepted the fact it was all over. I imagined I would at least be screaming and crying, wouldn't anyone?

But now…I couldn't find the energy or motivation to do so. What was the point? Giving one last weak smile to Papa as I heard his distant, echoic roar fill my head one last time…I leant back…and braced for the impact of solid earth. "Goodbye…" I whispered in my head.

Suddenly, I was yanked from my dying thoughts from a rising, rumbling thunder I was once deaf to. The sound grew louder, stronger, and was filled with urgency. I felt the vibrations of the sound rippled like stringy fish swimming around me, ticking the hairs on my arm. It was coming right for me, and as I felt it was right beneath me, I did land on something.

Not solid land…but into a lap!

My backside was caught into something curvature and soft, feeling my back bounce against what felt like a pair of firm pillows. The thunderous sound was beneath me still, and I could feel my once thought corpse moving at a rhythmic pace. Up and down mostly, jostling to the side under a round, jumping mass. My body refused to respond to me as I tried to open my eyes, but my trauma-filled mind wouldn't allow it. The bouncing and urgent pace of whatever was moving started to slow, and I could start to hear through a faint ringing in my ears. I could hear heavy, animalistic breathing right beside my left ear, and what sounded like snorts and nickers. The slowed pace eventually came to a steady halt, and the bouncing and swaying seized as well. It was several, agonisingly long seconds before I heard anything besides the heavy breathing.

"Are you. OK?"

There was a voice. A soft, feminine, caring voice. It was unlike any voice I had ever heard before. It pierced through the terrorized fog that prevented my body from responding to my commands with extreme ease, and I started to peel my eyes open. Forced to look up from how my head was resting on something, my vision was extremely fuzzy at first. But as I started focusing on the thing looking down at me, I could see a face was being formed. It started to look like a person…but it morphed into something that looked closer to Blue Eyes!

Above me, a pair of gorgeous, emerald eyes stared back at me. Similar to Papa's at first, but held much more gold flecks and pools to them. The chimp wore a woven crown around her brow, and gave me the softest, sweetest of smiles. She cradled me against her breasts like I was made of paper, feeling her finger carefully trace a line from my cheek down to my chin. I parted my lips a slit in awe, and I hesitantly lifted my hand to mimic her actions.

My eyes were fixated on her face in a hypnotic trance. She was beautiful!

"Cornelia!"

Her head rose to the sound of the name, a slightly raspy, baritone voice calling from above. I knew that had to be Papa, and my head turned over my shoulder to see his furry red form slide down the tree with Ash and Blue Eye's grey and black blobs not too far behind. I could feel my spirits lift, and sight return. I half-heartedly wriggled in the chimp's lap, but, she wouldn't let me go; not before Maurice was beside her, and she could safely slide me off. Apparently, that heavy breathing and thunderous noise I heard was from a big, black horse! Papa held me against him in an everlasting, relieved embrace. He lowered me down to his own lap once Blue Eyes and Ash caught up with him, and they too started to shower me in compassion and concern.

"Are you. OK?" I heard Papa rumble, to which I nodded. As the event replayed in my head, the realization of how close to death I actually was washed over me like a tsunami wave against the shore, and I could start to feel myself start to break down. I could see the moisture in Papa's eyes well up as well, and he held me against him once more, allowing me to sob into his shoulder, and constrict him in my arms like I would fall again if I ever let go. I could feel a pair of little hands stroke my back and tiny, worried whimpers sound beside my head. The boys were equally as concerned.

Cornelia was very patient with the four of us, but eventually she had to chime in. "Maurice…" she spoke, getting the orangutan to lift his trembling head. "Take her back to wherever you're keeping her, and get the boys back home safe. You and I need to have a talk…"


While writing the outing with Maurice and the Kids, I listened to "The Egg Travels" from Disney's Dinosaur Soundtrack. It goes all the way perfectly from when they leave the gas station to when Cornelia catches Sarah! Try imagining it while listening to it. Goooosebumps!

Cornelia will be explained next chapter. Hopefully I'll get it out sooner than this one haha. College is haaaard and time consuming haha.