Falling Forest
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Fergus Sinnott, Grade 6
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Short Story
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2014
The forest was a blur of green and brown, I chased the deer through the twisted thicket of vegetation, bounding over rocks and fallen trees. My tiger instincts directing my every move. The deer disappeared into a glade encircled by trees, there was no escape for the deer now. As I prowled towards my prey the deer’s legs began to buckle, I pounced with claws sheathed and just like that the deer was dead, a cascade of blood pouring from an open wound. I carried the deer back to my cave, after a long day of hunting I had uncovered some prey. I ate at a rapid rate, tearing the deer apart limb from limb. After an enjoyable meal I looked around my desolate, uninhabited home. Some time ago, this cave had been populated with other Sumatran Tigers like me, but then the Whackers came, they chopped a gargantuan number of trees down in our forest, destroying the flora and fauna. With no food to eat the Sumatran Tigers were on the threshold of extinction. I was the last one left. After watching the moon illuminate the entrance of the cave through the towering canopies I slowly fell asleep.
The next morning I was greeted by sunlight pouring through the open mouth of the cave. I walked out of my cave and stretched out my limbs after a long night’s sleep. A low mist hung over the jungle and dew covered the lavish shrubbery, I was preparing to hunt for more food for the week, that’s when I heard the distinctive roar of a chainsaw. I ran towards the noise, I knew that noise so well, the noise that had wiped out my family and friends. I bounded through the forest towards the deafening sound and there I saw it, thousands of trees crashing to the ground with a thunderous crunch. My flame coloured pelt stood up on my back, I had to do something, I ran towards the Whacker and jumped on him, knocking the chainsaw from his hands, my paws were pressed against his chest, it was rising and falling at an astonishing rate. I roared, a mighty roar that ruffled the shrubbery. “Please! Don’t kill me!” said the man with a panicked tone. I roared again. “I’m sorry, we need trees in the modern world, for paper and oil!” he said to me. I slowly got off him and he stood up, his breath slowly returning to a normal rate. “Never again, I promise! I’ll protect your land and never attack the forest again.” Then he left, he walked away, the undergrowth brushing at his feet. I walked away too, I ran off into the distance to hunt.
I never heard a chainsaw again after that, I never saw the man either. The forest continued to thrive, new vegetation growing every day. The war between humans and tigers had ended and the man kept his word. Forever.