Teddycats

by Mike Storey

  Twenty feet long, scales like boulders, teeth like knives.

  “Boris,” Diego whispered, his eyes wide, then narrowed, with fear.

  “Don’t look down,” Bill said.

  “What?” Maia cried. “What is it?”

  Boris circled the area beneath them. His thick yellow stripe cut through the surface. Elena was an easy leap away, and Maia would likely be pulled down with her. The Teddycats’ terror grew in volume and fervor. Those still on the log rushed forward, as if chased.

  The log rolled as they scrambled, dropping Maia closer to the water. Elena dipped, and the Teddycats gasped.

  “Just hold on!” Bill cried.

  Boris tightened his circle. He was so large he seemed to create his own current. His length was shockingly immense, as long as the log. The Teddycats could have raced across his back. Slowly his tail began to move side to side in a gradually building thrash. Maia tried to pull herself up as Elena clutched her flailing limbs.

  “Maia, you have to climb,” Bill said. “Please. You’ve done it a million times before.”

  Maia growled and tried again to stick her other claw into the log, but it was rolling down the sloping bank. Boris’s mass seemed to swell. He was the entire river, as invincible as the water itself.

  Elena looked down and shrieked.

  The scream sharpened Maia’s resolve, as well as Boris’s appetite. His tail quickened as it gathered strength. Bill couldn’t watch. He was about to throw his paws over his eyes when he felt a familiar one on his shoulder.

  “Go to them,” Marisol said. She was on her belly too, right next to him. “It’s okay to risk everything for the ones you love. But you already know that.”

  Bill leapt up. “Thanks, Mom.”

  He quickly climbed an umbrella tree to the very top. Behind him, the sun was setting. All the colors were draining, disappearing. He needed the light so he would know where to go, but he would have to trust his instincts.

  The canopy was a tangle of vines. Bill got to work on the knots and snarls. Maia’s cries drifted up to him, distant and desperate. Gradually the vine grew longer and longer. Just as the cries reached a new, terrible pitch, he closed his eyes and jumped.

  The log was really rolling as Bill dropped down. The vine almost reached Maia, but not quite. He gripped the frayed end with a paw and stretched his body as long as it would go.

  “Maia, grab hold of my paw!”

  “I can’t reach!” said Maia.

  Boris’s head emerged. The eyes on the side were a ghastly yellow, glowing in the dark water. Slowly, his jaw began to open. Slivers of shockingly white fangs, then an endless row. The jaw appeared to unhinge, opening wider and wider. Elena’s cries echoed down through the valley.

  Bill strained until he thought his arm would fall off.

  “Maia, grab my paw! You can do it!”

  Maia narrowed her eyes, took a breath, and lunged.

  35

  “THAT WAS A close one,” Bill said.

  “I thought we agreed to never talk about it again,” Maia said.

  The sky was slowly ceding to purple. Fireflies were out in full force, as numerous as stars. The Teddycats were in a daze, trudging forward as the last sliver of sun rested just above the trees. Bill’s heart skidded. He didn’t know where to go. The tug of Felix’s words had led him to this point, and now the light had met the horizon. Soon the darkness would be no more reassuring than it had been in the cave. They were facing another steep hill, more barely penetrable brush.

  Doubt clouded Bill’s resolve. Maybe the Teddycats weren’t built for the jungle; maybe their home would always be temporary, a makeshift respite in the trees or whatever wisp of safety they could find. How many dangers could Bill lead his friends and family through before they gave up hope?

  They were doomed to spend yet another night in an unwelcoming section of the wild, and another day chasing some semblance of home.

  “I’m sorry,” Bill said.

  “For what?” Maia asked.

  As with everything else lately, Bill wasn’t exactly sure.

  “You’ll know it when you see it,” said Maia, understanding Bill’s silence.

  “Let’s try for the top of this hill,” Bill said. “We’ll feel better at a higher elevation.”

  They hacked through the brush. Bill ripped it down with desperate strokes of his claws. His hopes dimmed with the sky. There was only an etching of daylight remaining, thin as a vein. But as they reached the crest of the hill, a crack appeared, like a keyhole in the darkness. The crest split right down the middle, with what looked like just enough room for the Teddycats to squeeze through.

  It was the ravine! The final line of light!

  A lump formed in Bill’s gut and worked its way up to his throat. Their promised refuge had finally appeared. He waited as the Teddycats caught up and gathered around him. As they assembled, they gasped with deep recognition. Bill felt as if he were watching himself from some remove as he slipped down and wedged his way between the narrow sides. Diego, Luke, Maia, Elena, and Omar followed, the rock faces nearly pinching them as they sucked in their bellies and pushed forward. Gradually the ravine began to widen, and the horizon reappeared. All of the colors seemed to pool before them in a peaceful basin, stretching forward to illuminate a sparkling vista.

  Bill felt a stab of recognition. The sense of remove evaporated, and he crashed back into himself with relief.

  “This is it,” said Bill. “This is our home. This is Horizon Cove.”

  The Teddycats scurried out of the ravine and immediately began to frolic in the thick, colorful grasses. They rolled in the rich mud and nibbled on the silky, fragrant flowers, luminous fungi, and a breathtaking abundance of sweetmoss. Frogs sang as the fireflies popped.

  “This is the life,” Diego said. Tears filled his good eye. “I wish Jack could see this.”

  “You did it, Bill!” Luke said.

  “This isn’t just for us Teddycats,” said Bill. “We’re jungle citizens now. I personally deputize you to run back to the Olingo den and bring them here.”

  “Yes!” Luke said. “Wait, right now?”

  Bill laughed. “Whenever you’re ready, bud.”

  Luke watched the gleeful celebration erupt around them. “I could use a night off, I think.”

  “I think we all could,” Bill said.

  Maia and Elena were with their parents, playing in the ferns. An elated Marisol joined Luke and Bill as they took in the joyful scene.

  “I’m proud of you, Bill,” said Marisol, kissing his cheeks and forehead. “We all are.”

  “A part of me thought I’d never see you again,” Bill admitted, as all the emotions that had built up during their wild journey—the ups and downs, doubts and fears, losses and dangers, friends and foes—swelled in his chest. There might be no seasons in the jungle, but Bill still felt a shift in the air.

  “Makes it all the sweeter, doesn’t it?” said Marisol. She continued pecking his face and head, and he wasn’t the slightest bit embarrassed.

  The Teddycats passed the night rejoicing, exploring the cove, and honoring those they had lost. With a renewed sense of hope, they spoke of the return of a lost feeling, a sensation of immersion, of souls at rest. Even the Elders joined the celebration. Bill fleetingly wondered if he would get an apology from Ramon, but there was plenty of time for that. The important thing was that they had made it. They were safe. There would be no shortage of challenges in the future, as they learned to coexist in the chaos.

  IT WAS NEARLY dawn when they began to settle. Bill and Luke were curled up, drowsily discussing their good fortune, chuckling over missteps and wrong turns, when a fierce howl cut through the jungle.

  The Teddycats froze. A collective chill ran through them all. Suddenly, there were eyes all around them, glowing and vicious.

&nb
sp; “Bill, what’s happening?” Luke whispered.

  “I don’t know,” Bill said.

  Shapes began to emerge from the darkness. Bill started to make out certain features: wide, jagged shoulders. Snarling snouts. Eyes bright yellow with hate. The Teddycats shrunk into a huddle as the predators advanced.

  Bill found Marisol. “Mom, what are these? What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know,” said Marisol, her voice laced with terror.

  Maia squeezed between them. “What do we do?”

  Bill bared his claws. They glinted in the rising sun as the shapes continued to creep forward.

  “This is our home,” Bill said. “We fight for it.”

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