"Herd Instinct"
Art and Story by Cameron Clow
(Was absent and we took down our show after school Monday, so the only picture of a piece I had was the picture I took of my own piece, that was in the show.)
The already exhausted herd hesitated. After six months of little to no rain, their water supply was dwindling, along with the flora. They were at more than one type of crossroad. Their matriarch, Echo, knew the area well. Her sixty year old demeanor relied upon more of her intellect versus her brute strength. Being a survivor of many lion ambushes (the scars of these feuds lined her body), she knew when and where a safe haven would appear, but she weighed her herd’s occupants against her instinct. One of the females has a four month old calf, another elderly member is on literally her last legs, because she stepped on a landmine a poacher had set out. Echo stilled, her heightened senses detecting a predator approaching .
The lions stood in the way of the pachyderms good fortune. The predator’s territory bordered the elephant’s migratory destination, because the great kings of the plains knew that each year Echo’s family would bring along a lion’s favorite prey; a young elephant calf. The cats proceeded in the shadowy brush, bodies low to the ground to avoid detection, but it was futile. Echo’s trumpet blared along the African bush, and the family group stampeded through the dense undergrowth.
The young calf was scatterbrained. She had lost her mother when the group had dispersed, losing her bearings and wit. She scurried to the nearest adult, one of her aunts, perhaps. The pride leader noticed this, and proceeded with caution. The adult trumpeted and vanished from the young one’s side. The lion approached the frightened orphan, alone in a hungry world. The calf accepted her fate, and succumbed to darkness as a shrill trumpeting echoed through her mind.
The elderly female was done. She had basically blown off her leg when she had foolishly stepped on a human’s explosive trap; she now lags behind her remaining family constantly. But today was a different day. When the lions attacked, her maternal instincts took over. She saw that the youngest member of the group had been abandoned by her new mother, whom had little to no maternal feelings for her newborn. She saw the calf slumbered over on the ground, and tried to amble over to the baby as fast as her three good legs could take her. She made a valiant effort to save her from the predatory mob surrounding her.
Echo gazed upon the fertile grasslands around her. The rains had come, and washed away the gory aftermath that had ravaged her herd. Echo locked trunks with the vulnerable survivor of the attack, and continued on with her family.
