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.

rainforest.”‘ Parker answered slyly,

is a good thing!” Paisley

like an elephant’s ear, pulling the tip down towards her

running over to another leaf

followed suit, and before long all four pups were running from leaf to leaf, drinking up as much rainwater as they could.

quenched, the pups quickly realized that the rain was more of

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

hopping into

puddle to puddle

sprawling pool, so deep that the tops of the tangled tree roots were

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

were so busy laughing, they didn’t notice the devious smile on Riley’s face, not until she reached down and

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

Riley chortled. “ls a

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,

game with unbridled joy, even tackling Ryder and rolling around with him and wrestling amid peels

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.

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

on!” Parker called to the others, pointing at the surface of the dark

froze, intently watching the ground for signs of life. “Something just touched my leg!” Riley