CHAPTER 3

I'M NOT A SABER, I'M A POSSUM

Shira looked in front of her to see a saber hanging upside down from a tree. She was surprised at the sudden arrival of another saber and would've been glad to see him if he hadn't of scared her.

"AAAAHHH!" Shira screamed.

"AAAAHHH!" the male saber screamed, falling out of the tree.

Shira looked at him. He was an orange saber with a batch of peach colored fur surrounding his stomach. He had green eyes that went directly into her teal eyes. Shira couldn't help but squeal in delight. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew I wasn't the only one. I just knew it!"

"Me, too!" the male saber exclaimed, "Everybody falls out of trees every now and then. They just think it's too embarrassing to admit it."

"Wait. What?"

"Well, some of us have a hard time holding on to tree branches. It's not like we're flying animals or anything like that. We don't have wings to keep us up in the air. Our feet were made to be on the ground."

"Ok, but what were you doing up in the tree in the first place?"

"Oh, I was looking for my older brothers." Shira looked to see the male mammoth back up in the tree. "They tend to get into trouble every now and then."

"Older brothers? You mean there's more of us."

"Of course there are. There are plenty of us."

"Where?"

"Everywhere. Under rocks, holes in the ground, up in the trees. Usually we like to go out at night so predators don't tend to harm us."

"Help!" The sabers looked to see the possum twins making their way towards them. They were being chased by Manny. "Help us!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Manny shouted, "You better run!"

"Manny, slow down," Ellie said, "As hilarious as it was, I think it's time to let it go." Ellie looked over to see Shira. "Oh, hey Shira."

Brooke gasped. "Well, shave me down and call me an Egyptian cat. You found another saber, Shira darling."

The male saber gasped. "Where? Wait a minute. I thought sabers were at the start of extinction." Everybody started looking at him with weird expressions. "Why are you all staring at me?"

"I don't know," Shira said, "Maybe it's because you are a saber."

"What? Me?" The male saber started laughing. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not a saber. I'm a possum."

Shira chuckled nervously. "Okay, that's a good one. Well, I guess that makes me a squirrel. This is my friend the yak and this here is the fish."

"Why do I have to be known as the fish?" Brooke asked, "Make Ellie the fish."

"Are these guys giving you trouble, bro?" one of the possums asked.

"Bro?" the group said.

"That's right," the male saber said, "These are my brothers. Possum, possum, possum."

Ellie looked at Shira. "I don't think his tree goes all the way up to the top branch."

"Ellie, don't give Shira any ideas," Brooke said, "At the brink of extinction, it's a bad time for her to be picky." She gasped. "I have a wonderful idea. Maybe he should come along with us."

"Are you insane?" Shira asked, "No way. Not in a million years."

"See, Ellie? This is why I don't like you giving Shira ideas." Brooke walked over to the saber and his possum brothers. "Shira wants to know if you gentlemen want to escape the flood with us."

"I'd rather be road kill," one of the possums said.

"That can be arranged," Manny said.

"How hilarious," the male saber said, "Give me a minute to talk with my brothers about this."

"Diego, are you nuts?" his brother asked, "We are not going with them."

"Listen, we won't get anywhere if we keep traveling at night. These guys can protect is during the daytime. You gotta trust me on this. What kind of animals would go against two mammoths, one of the last existing sabers and a sloth?"

Back with the group, Shira slapped Brooke over the head. "Why the heck did you invite them along?"

"Because the two of you might be the only sabers left on Earth," Brooke said.

"She has a point, Shira," Ellie said.

"I'm sorry, but when exactly did I join the dating service?" Shira asked.

"Crash, Eddie and I would be happy to travel with you guys," Diego told the group.

"Who are Crash and Eddie?" Manny asked.

"Us," Crash said.

"We'll come along with you as long as you treat is nicely," Eddie said. Manny gave him a stern look. "See? That is the opposite of nice."

"Well, I guess we'll have a snack on the go in case these guys end up bugging you, Manny," Shira said.

"You wanna go that far, kitty?" Crash asked.

"Oh, that tears it!" Shira growled, trying to attack the possums. She didn't get the chance to as they climbed up a tree.

"You wanna know something?" Eddie asked, "We're carrying diseases."

Shira shook her head. "Ok, thanks to Brooke, it seems as though we have no choice but to travel together."

"But were going to act like one big happy family," Ellie said cheerfully, "All of us are gonna have roles. Manny and I will be parents, Brooke will be our child, Diego and Shira will be Brooke's aunt and uncle and Crash and Eddie will be their children. Now let's get a move on so the ground doesn't fall from under our feet."

"Wow," Diego said, "For a fat girl, she seems to be jolly. Unlike the fat male mammoth."

"Excuse me!"

"Hey, buddy," Manny said, "You can call me fat all you want, but I won't stand for you calling Ellie fat. She's not fat. It's just her beautiful fur. It might make her look big and poofy, but it's beautiful nonetheless."

"Okay," Diego said, "Good to know." He looked to his brothers. "He's fatter than her."

They started making their way back towards the migration. Crazy Carol started rambling on to a yak woman about how she could lose weight with a certain treatment. The yak's husband told her that she was as thin as a twig and was beautiful the way she already was. Crazy Carol started rambling on about how she could cure his eyesight.

Meanwhile, the group was making their way down the trail. As they did so, Diego and his possum brothers were trying to camoflouge into different places. They were making sure that there weren't any predators nearby. It almost looked as of they were playing a game.

Shira sighed, looking at Ellie. "We'll never make it at this pace." She looked to see Diego hiding behind a tree. She shook her head. "Diego, it's okay. You can lose the camoflouge now. You're safe."

"Okay," Diego said, "Safe? Please." He whistled to the twins. "Crash, Eddie, you two go and scope it out."

"What you got?" Crash asked.

"Perimeter all clear," Eddie said.

"We're good to go."

The twins looked up in the sky to see a hawk flying above them. They gasped in fear. "Hawk!" They both fell on the ground, playing dead. Diego did the same thing, placing all four of his paws up in the air.

Shira gave the male saber a weird look. "Diego, what are you doing?"

"Playing dead," Diego told her.

Brooke walked over to Shira. "Shira darling, why don't you do that?"

"Because I'm a saber," Shira said.

"Well, it looks to be a lot of fun."

Diego opened one eye, looking at Shira. "Is he gone?"

Shira looked up to see the hawk flying away. "He's gone. You can get up now."

Diego got up and followed the female saber. "Wow! If you weren't here, that hawk would've flew down and snatched me for dinner. That's how cousin Frank went. Boy, I really feel for you. I really do. I can't imagine what it would be like to be one of the last few of your species."

"I'm not the last one."

"What a brave soul you are. You're one of the only females I've ever met that gives herself encouragement. That's right. Never give up hope. Who knows? There may be more sabers out there. More than we know."

"Diego, look at our pawprints. They're the same shape." Shira showed Diego the pawprints in the ground.

"Well, how do I know those aren't your pawprints?"

"Well, then look at our shadows." They both looked at their shadows. "We match."

"Hey, you're right. They're the same. You must be part possum." Diego nudge Shira's shoulder as he walked away.

Shira scoffed. "You wish." Deep down inside, Shira knew that she had to find some way to show Diego who he really is. Some way.

WELL, HERE IT IS. THE NEXT CHAPTER TO MY FAMOUS ICE AGE STORY. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER.

PLEASE REVIEW.