At the Top of Evolution

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"Climb higher," said a voice. The bull elk, one of the dominant males in the herd, approached. Displaying the proper amount of lower-calf submission, I climbed. Up I went, through branches and patches of sky blue. But something was wrong. It took me a second and a third branch to realize that the sky had grown too dark. A storm was coming. The wind was shaking branches all over the forest, and the thunder was loud. The leaves above me rained down.

"Storm's coming," I said. Lee looked up. We needed to get down. I ran down the tree, even faster than I normally run. Lee was right behind me.

"Climb higher," the voice said. I looked up. There was no one there.

"Who said that?" questioned Lee. The herd was fifty yards away, staring at us. I could hear one of the other elk, one I didn't like, muttering behind me.

"Who said that?" I exclaimed.

"You..." said Lee, "we're not moving fast enough. The guys are getting nervous. C'mon!"

I ran back to our herd. "We should leave this field," I said to the lead bull. "The thunder is dangerous."

"This is our spot," he said. "We've been camping here. We can camp here."

"This tree is dangerous," I said. "We need to go."

"You're leaving," threatened Lee, "soon."

I ignored Lee and walked to the next bull. I stopped in front of a huge wildebeest.

"Tell you what, Sade," said the bull. "Go, and we'll get chased, we might get killed, so we'll end up here a week later, starving, dying, just an hour before all your friends are dying too and we're all going to be eaten by lions and hyenas. But you're still staying. So it's your choice."

"I have a choice?" I replied. "I have a choice. Go."

My childhood memory awoke. It was in this field. Snapping twigs underfoot. The herd behind me. The day I first realized that I was being followed by hyenas. The day was sunny and the forest smelled of flowers. Up ahead, and off to the left...

"Lee," I said, "there was a hyena." Lee looked at me.

"I know," he said. "The storm's coming."

We ran. The thunder boomed. We went through the forest so fast that we saw blue sky. We just went through the forest and left the blue sky behind us at the edge of a clearing. There was no bush to hide in. We ran out of forest. We ran fast. We ran out of forest. We ran out of forest. We ran out of forest. We ran out of forest.

"Tommy..." protested Lee.

"I know," I said. "This is where it happened. This is where I died."

Finally, we were in a clearing, and I could no longer see the blue sky.

"Where are we?" whispered Lee.

I opened my eyes. It was night, and the stars were out. There was light in the clearing. Flower petals around my feet, blue, white, purple, orange. Trees to my left, bushes to my right. Spiderwebs and tree branches. Far away, a waterfall. The creek babbled. Far away, a splash to my right: a fish jumping.

"We're in a dream," I said.

I sat up.

I was at the base of the tree. The one with the diamond-shaped, orange-red leaves.

"Lee," I said.

Lee was sleeping next to me. I could see him breathing. Lee.

I was back.

I had my mind.

I was dreaming.

But I didn't wake up.

I looked out at the field. My field.

I was back, two years later.

Sometimes my brothers pull my fur. This time, Lee wasn't with me. He was still sleeping in the forest. The forest was alive, but he was still sleeping there. But they hadn't managed to do anything to me this time.

A moment later, my brothers pulled my tail, and I was in the forest.

I don't know how to explain it. I was in the forest, but I was in my field. I was alive.