The Luna and her Quadruplet Pups by Jane Above Story

3rd Person

When dawn broke on the pups’ first full day in the Southern Isles, the sun found them still curled in the

protective shelter of a huge strangler fig, safely. ensconced in the hollows of the tree it once engulfed.

Of course, the night hadn’t left them entirely unscathed. Sleep was nearly impossible in the pitch black

rainforest, with deadly predators roaming the forest floor and terrifying noises echoing in the distance.

They eventually drifted off out of pure exhaustion, but when they woke they were covered in itchy bug

bites and sweating through their clothes.

They didn’t have any food or water, and as frightening as the jungle was, they were smart enough to

know they had to try and find a way out. So the four children set out into the unknown, moving through

the dense undergrowth one after the other, their small hands fisted in the shirt of the person in front of

them.

Riley led the way, hesitantly scanning the ground for spiders, snakes and poisonous frogs, while the

others kept their ears open for the monsters they’d heard calling in the night.

“What was that!” Ryder yelped, jumping a foot in the air when a twig snapped behind them.

All four pups whipped around, scanning the area and scenting the air. Unfortunately, their foreign

surroundings were so unfamiliar they didn’t recognize any of the strange smells which met their noses.

After ä moment passed without any signs of movement or further sounds, they continued onward.

“I’m starving.” Parker complained, his stomach rumbling to punctuate his words. “Are you sure we can’t

eat those mushrooms we saw?”

“No, Mommy says never to eat mushrooms from the ground” Ryder reminded him, “they might be

poison.”

“1 think it’s more ‘portant that we find water:”

Paisley announced, already feeling lightheaded after so many hours without hydration.

As if the sky heard her worried words, a huge clap of thunder sounded overhead and once again the

pups found themselves being drenched in a relentless downpour. “Arrgh, does it always have to rain

here?!”

Riley exclaimed in frustration.

“Well it is a rainforest.”‘ Parker answered slyly, earning himself an unamused glare from his sister.

“No no, is a good thing!” Paisley exclaimed. “Look!”

She reached up to a huge leaf shaped like an elephant’s ear, pulling the tip down towards her face and

letting all the water that had collected on its concave surface pour into her open mouth.

“Paisley you’re a genius!” Ryder exclaimed, running over to another leaf and mimicking her actions.

Parker and Riley followed suit, and before long all four pups were running from leaf to leaf, drinking up

as much rainwater as they could. The torrential storm continued to douse the earth in fresh water, and

before long the ground was drenched and inches deep in rich black mud.

Once their thirst was quenched, the pups quickly realized that the rain was more of a gift than a curse.

Not only did it send all the Jungle’s scary animals running for shelter, but it created some of the biggest,

muddiest puddles they’d ever seen in their lives. Riley realized it first, jumping with both feet into a

huge puddle and squealing with delight when water went splashing in every direction. “Look at me, look

at me!”

She cried, hopping into another.

Laughing uproariously, the other three pups joined the game, jumping from puddle to puddle and

competing to see who could make the biggest splash.

Eventually they all came to a stop before the same sprawling pool, so deep that the tops of the tangled

tree roots were visible above the surface. “Woah!” They exclaimed in unison.

Without needing to discuss a single word, the quadruplets linked hands and prepared to leap. “One,

two, three!” As soon as the final number was spoken, they pounced, landing knee-deep in the dense

muck.

Ryder, Parker and Paisley were so busy laughing, they didn’t notice the devious smile on Riley’s face,

not until she reached down and grabbed a handful of mud, and lobbed it straight at her siblings.

It landed with a splat on Parker’s middle, and he looked up with surprise. Riley was already reaching

down for another handful, but the boys were used to her shenanigans, and quickly adapted. “Oh no you

don’t, Riley!” Ryder giggled, nudging Paisley to encourage her to arm herself as well.

“Too late.” Riley chortled. “ls a mud fight!”

It took Paisley a moment to catch up to the sudden chaos, but before long she was having more fun

than she could ever recall having in her young life. She’d always been too sick to do this sort of thing,

and the pups she usually played with had never understood her adventurous spirit. They were all the

children of stuffy aristocrats who would never dream of getting dirty just for the fun of it, but playing with

her siblings completely free of inhibitions or worries despite their grave situation – well, it felt like

coming home at long last.

She dove into the game with unbridled joy, even tackling Ryder and rolling around with him and

wrestling amid peels of laughter.

Though the pups might not have realized it, thousands of eyes watched as they played. It was easy to

feel alone in the wilderness, but creatures great and small moved stealthily around them, keenly aware

of the intruders in their domain. In fact, the jungle’s many inhabitants found themselves baffled by the

behavior of these strange creatures. Within minutes they were all covered head to foot in mud, racing

around and splashing each other – making far more noise than any natural ground dweller would ever

dare. In the sprawling canopies it was common for birds and monkeys to claim their territory with loud

announcements, but things were far more treacherous on the forest floor. Didn’t these odd little canines

know better than to announce their location so openly?

If the pups had known what to look for, they might have noticed when the forest around them went

abruptly quiet. Initially their own noisemaking had joined a symphony of wildlife calls, which had dulled

beneath the rain’s deafening cascade, but crescendoed back to life as the storm eased. But now

everything went eerily silent, the only sounds remaining in the dark forest were the pup’s laughter and

the final trickling of the afternoon shower. It wasn’t until the deep puddle in which the children waded

began to slither and ripple, that they realized anything was amiss.

“Hold on!” Parker called to the others, pointing at the surface of the dark water. “Is the puddle moving?”

The other three pups froze, intently watching the ground for signs of life. “Something just touched my

leg!” Riley whispered anxiously.

“Back out, very slowly.” Ryder advised, glancing behind himself to make sure the path was clear.

However as the children carefully retreated, the waters rippling grew more pronounced. Before long all

four quadruplets were able to make out a long, serpentine body gliding through the water around their

legs.

“ls a snake!” Paisley gasped, turning pale as a sheet, “a really big one!”

Right on cue, the coiling creature lifted its massive, triangular head out of the water, rising up from the

black depths and carefully studying its lunch menu. The glinting slits of its reptilian eyes traveled

between the petrified pups as it continued to rear up, until it stood as tall as they did, despite the fact

that most of its body remained submerged. It’s forked tongue stuck out at each of them in turn, as if it

was tasting their individual scents before deciding whom to devour.

“I think is an anconda.” Parker hissed, observing the huge jaws which could easily detach to swallow

him whole. “Paisley, you run first, you’re the littlest.”

“But what if running makes it come after me?”

Paisley squeaked.

“We’ll try to hold it off, but we have ta run or it will eat us.” Ryder advised.

Nodding nervously, Paisley continued to retreat until her tiny feet were clear of the puddle, and then

turned tail and ran. The monstrous snake whipped its head in her direction, distracted enough for

Parker to leap onto its neck and wrap his little arms around it in a strangle hold. “Run!” He shouted to

the others, even as the anaconda thrashed against his hold, trying to snap at its unwelcome passenger,

but unable to reach him.

“We can’t leave you!” Riley explained, searching for something, anything to use as a weapon. If only

they were old enough to shift!

At the last second, she saw a huge stick on the ground. Hefting it in her small hands, she lifted the

branch like a bludgeon. As Parker clung to the snake’s neck for dear life while it j*rked him from left to

right, his body flying through the air, Riley brought the stick down on its head, hitting it over and over

again until it stopped moving. From the looks of it, it was only dazed, but the pups weren’t going to

waste any time.

They took off after Paisley, racing through the jungle as fast as their young feet could carry them and

glancing over their shoulders to see if the snake was coming after them.

At first it seemed like they were home free, but then Parker saw the undergrowth violently rustling as it

was crushed beneath a huge scaly body. And there, its eyes glowing in the darkness as it charged after

its escaping meal, was one very angry snake. “It’s right behind us!”

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