The male gazelle leaped towards his mother’s murderer. He used all his might to force it
down. The bear turned to him, taking his sharp claws and digging it into Hugh. Hugh screeched,
unaware of anything else, but he recoiled and stood. He could feel others around him, but the
next thing he knew, the bear crashed down for a second turn-and Hugh pushed upwards.
Immediately, he hit a weak point. The bear let out a yell of fury, scratchy and vicious. It fled,
out of the scene of its crime, away. The other bears began to follow, and all too suddenly, the
nightmarish experience was over.
Epilogue
Hugh never again had a parent. He lost them so quickly, so cruelly, in the hot sands of the Gobi
Desert. Hugh had to cope on his own as a fully grown adult. Nethertheless, Hugh became sick, ill,
and distant. Being a leader became so hard, Ozzie had to take over for him a little while.
Hugh rested in the cave, day after day, refusing food and water. His limp leg wasn’t the only
fault of his body. Hugh became frail and thin, and nothing the Tribe did could help him. Hugh
resorted to thinking of depressing thoughts, angry bursts, and questions he most desperately
wanted answers to, day after day.
If Camilla didn’t just stay there, Iris wouldn’t have died!
Why would ten Gobi bears attack gazelles?
I wish I never had a stupid leg!
“Look at yourself, Hugh.”
Hugh glanced up. A figure stood in front of him, towering, even.
“Who are you?” Hugh murmured despairingly. The sun shone into the cave, revealing two
gazelles, not one.
“It’s Carrott, and Camilla. Hugh, you don’t even remember your friends anymore.” This strong,
deep voice echoed through Hugh like a virus.
“We think, you should l-live a little more.” A scared voice, less stable than the other, rang
through Hugh even more. Camilla was shaking, afraid, anxious and fearful of him. This shook
Hugh to his senses for a moment, before he closed his eyes and let them go again.
“Why should I?” He shrugged.
“Because you’re throwing away everything, Hugh! Throwing away when we played together,
when you were with Iris...think, Hugh, what would Rhys and Iris think if they saw you here!”
Camilla’s voice was more angry than last time, and Hugh lifted his head at the mention of
his parents.
What would Rhys and Iris think if they saw you here?
What would Rhys and Iris do?
Hugh, shaking uncontrollably, placed one hoof on the ground. He lifted himself up, brittle like
a twig, threatening to snap. Carrott helped him up, Camilla following.
Hugh stumbled out of the cave, his leg limp, dragging through the sand. The hot sun beamed
upon him, as cheers erupted around Hugh. He smiled weakly, but happily.
The true meaning of happiness does not come to many. After being truly in despair, only
these can realize true happiness. To you, reader, I merely say
The darkest hour is always before the dawn.
