Chapter 59: A new day
The Swimmer woke up. It was early in the morning; the Bright Circle hadn't risen in the sky yet but the colours of the sunset were already visible in the direction that they came from: the Great Valley that no longer was...
"The Great Valley..." she sighed. It had been her home for many years; many good memories swirled around in her head when she thought about it: Before its destruction by the force of nature, she didn't have to be on alert since Sharpteeth couldn't enter and those who, somehow, sneaked in nevertheless were driven out rather quickly. Furthermore, there was food in abundance as opposed to the outside world, the Mysterious Beyond. Equally, it had water; lots of it in the Valley... and only scarce resources where she currently was. Well, admittedly, there was a wide river only a few longneck lengths away from her sleeping spot but it was a lucky coincidence that they were travelling along a source of water at the moment.
Out of sheer habit, she gazed over to her children who were sleeping peacefully, curled up in the warm, protected area that was bordered by her head, belly and tail. Like every morning, she counted the little ones and just like every recent morning she counted only eleven young Swimmers. One of them, Ducky, had been separated from her during the destruction of the place they went to after their home had blown up. Whether she was still alive or buried below tons and tons of concrete rock, she didn't know. "Well, the Flyers say that they must have escaped... but there are so many dangers out there and we don't know if they have taken the same path." she then remembered. Her dear daughter might be all right but might also be nothing more than a few gnawed bones... She decided to spend her thoughts on a slightly different matter: Her family... Back in the Great Valley, her family was complete: Twelve wonderful children and a lovely partner to watch them grow up with... "If only he was still with me... Why did he have to choose fighting the beasts instead of protecting the family?" she complained. Though soon another thought changed her mind. "But wait... he DID protect the family by fighting along with everybody else." That made sense to Ducky's Mother. Mourning about the two losses she had to endure a bit, she watched the Bright Circle introducing a brand new day and her snoozing children rotatorily.
Petrie jerked out of his sleep. "What that?!" he wondered as he noticed something on top of him. But then he remembered... "Oh right, it Ducky... Me slept next to her last night and we probably shifted in sleep."
Petrie was blinded by the darkness that surrounded him. It always took him and his friends a few minutes for their eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the cave. "Me sure hope we finally leave dark place today..." Petrie thought.
Suddenly, Ducky shrieked and jerked, startling Petrie.
"Ahhhhh, you scare me, Ducky!" He squawked timidly.
"I am very sorry," Ducky replied, panting heavily. "I just had a bad sleepstory, yep, yep, yep."
"Oh, you okay?"
"Yes, I think so... I mean, it is only a sleepstory. It is very scary but it is not real, oh no, no, no."
"Yeah, that sure would be worse if sleepstories come true..." Petrie remembered his sleepstory about Pterano dying. "Me sure happy if THAT sleepstory won't happen in real..." he thought.
"But sometimes, we have sleepstories that have already happened," Ducky said. "For example, I just had that sleepstory where we were eated-ed by the Sharptooth and it really happened, yes it did..."
"Uuhh, no remind me of that..." Petrie croaked, covering his eyes.
"Yes, it was very spooky... Do you think that it is morning already?"
"Me no know; it too dark in here..."
"Hence I asked, yep, yep, yep." Ducky chuckled slightly. "Maybe Littlefoot knows?"
"Oh, me too awake to sleep again anyway," Petrie exclaimed.
"Yes, I am not sleepy either," Ducky said.
The two fell silent for a few minutes.
"It sure boring... me wish we could go back to Great Valley and have fun..." Petrie spoke.
"Yep, yep, yep... but the Great Valley has been destroyed," Ducky spoke, agreeing. "My mommy said that we can never ever return to it."
"Yeah, my uncle Pterano told me that also... He said we need to find new home..." Petrie remembered how crestfallen everybody looked when he was told. He had never seen his uncle in despair before...
"If only there was something funny to do..." Ducky sighed.
Petrie's Mother sailed through the fresh, cool morning air. She had been disturbed in her sleep by a nasty sleepstory earlier and since she had trouble getting some more rest she decided to do an early scout flight. "You can never be too sure with all those malicious creatures around after all..." she thought.
Pterano and the children were still sleeping, Pterano being a sleepy head.
During her flight, she neither noticed any threat nor any sign of the missing children so she quickly returned to her family.
Littlefoot awoke as something poked his belly. "Huh, what is it?" he mumbled dreamily.
"Sorry to wake ya but would you mind getting some food with me? I'm starving!" Cera hadn't had much to eat lately since she spent a fair while of the last few days in a sleeping or even unconscious state. Despite the luscious meal in the evening, her belly was as empty as it could be in the morning.
"Sure, I'll go get Spike and then we'll gather some food for you," Littlefoot answered, getting up.
"Actually... I had in mind to go with you..." Cera said shyly.
"Huh? I thought you couldn't walk yet?" Littlefoot wondered in confusion.
"Well, haven't checked yet if I can walk today," Cera replied. "One way to find out..." The Threehorn moved heedfully, stretched her legs, shifted around a bit and eventually tried getting up. "Hopefully, it works! Hopefully, it won't hurt... least not so badly..." Cera thought. To her surprise, her back only stung a little. Additionally, the swollen feeling was completely gone. She walked a few steps, her smile growing wider with every step. "It works! It really works!" Cera cheered happily.
"Hey! That's great!" Littlefoot joined in. "That means we can leave the cave forever!"
Mr. Threehorn rolled around in his sleeping spot, experiencing the failure to protect his family during the battle back in the oasis in his dreams again. Eventually, he jerked out of his troubled sleep. He sighed. "Oww, what purpose do I have? There is nobody to protect, nobody to take care of, nobody... to love. And frankly, there is nobody who cares about me, or loves me anymore. So why on earth am I still here?" The Threehorn was deeply upset. He had lost EVERYTHING. His daughters, his wife... "Hang on... there might be Cera but unless we meet by miracle..."
It wasn't the fact that he was now alone, in fact. No, rather, it was the fact, which bugged him most, that he could have PREVENTED it. If he had fought better, if he had taken on the big one instead of his wife... there were so many things he accused himself of doing or not doing but THE one thing he didn't accuse himself of was actually the main reason why he had lost his children...
Meanwhile, Ducky and Petrie listened to their friends talking. When they heard Cera and Littlefoot celebrating, they got up and ran over to them.
"Hey, congratulations Cera!" Ducky called joyfully.
"Yeah, that very good so we can leave dark place asap," Petrie joined in the happiness of his friends - with the exception of Spike who was still snoring peacefully. The sadness from the previous evening was all forgotten.
"Well, can we go now?" Cera asked snappily.
"Go where?" came the question of Ducky.
"We leave cave now?" Petrie said at a guess.
"Exactly!" Littlefoot answered. "We're going to get breakfast and then we'll see."
"I will wake up Spike, yes I will!" Ducky called and sprinted back to the Spiketail. As soon as Spike was awake, the five youngsters left the cave they were in and began walking towards the exit...
Oscar was watching the sun rise as he heard heavy footsteps behind him.
"A beautiful sight, isn't it?" he greeted the dinosaurs approaching him. It were Grandpa and Grandma Longneck. Oscar's stare was still directed at the rising sun.
"It certainly is," Grandma responded knowingly.
"We just love the beautiful colours that the rise and set of the Bright Circle produces," Grandpa joined in the talk. " What do you feel when you look at them, Oscar?"
Oscar turned around for a moment to scan the two elderly Longnecks.
"Well, I don't know, Longneck," came his response, being deep in thoughts. "But it certainly is one of the many wonders of life if you ask me."
"Very true," Grandpa admitted.
"What do you two feel when you watch it?" Oscar then questioned.
"I think I can speak for my husband too by saying that we feel sadness and longing but also hope," Grandma spoke, sluggish.
"That is correct," Grandpa sighed. "We two miss three members of our family and one of them will not return... and the other two are either dead or straying through the lands in search of us."
"And watching the Great Circle appear every day, gives us the strength to hope that it is alike with our grandson and our son in law... that we will be united again one day," Grandma spoke in a depressed manner.
"Yeah... and we wish that, when our time has come to leave, our descendants will be in a safer and better world where they can flourish in peace and happiness. That is our dream but, currently, it looks like we are bound to fail." Grandpa's head hung low in sadness and grief.
"I see you're very desperate, Longnecks," Oscar noted in a respectful manner. "I haven't been involved in the fight with the Sharpteeth so I can't judge whether or not you made mistakes but I am convinced that you have done your best in a very dangerous situation. Many others fell along with your daughter and they died in an attempt to protect those they cared about most: Their children." Oscar paused. "They fought for something that was worth fighting for so they passed on in dignity and honour." Oscar paused. "Their death wasn't in vain... they shall forever be honoured and remembered for their altruistic sacrifice."
"I do not question you here," Grandpa replied. "But a parent should not outlive its children."
"Well, we have to take whatever the Great Circle of Life is bringing us," Grandma spoke wisely. "Sometimes, it gives... and sometimes it takes from us what we love most..."
"Yep, we can't change what we can't change..." Oscar mused. "Well, but as long as we try our best to prevent bad things to occur, we can't fault ourselves for things we have no might over whatsoever."
"Yes..." Grandpa sighed. "Yes, you're right. Perhaps, we should consider that more often."
"Certainly, you should," Oscar spoke. "At any case, you two still have each other. Hold on together and stay as strong a team as you are. I'm sure you will meet your grandson and your son in law again."
"Thank you, Oscar," Grandma said in appreciation. Oscar shrugged them off with a slight bow.
They went back to watching the sun rising...