Installment # 6

The baby stood quietly by the tree and ate the leaves he could reach.  He turned and watched the small animal that had brought him here. He knew he couldnt run away, but for some reason, he still felt safe. He knew that no  other animal could harm him here.  There were no other animals like him here, but he knew they were close, he could still smell them in the air. He was happy the small animal sat far away from him, its smell made his nose burn, and reminded him of the other animals that made his mother go to sleep.  He turned away from the small thing, and went back to the tree and eating the leaves, maybe he would sleep for a while.

Sara watched the baby and waited for the ranger to get to their house. It was getting  hotter outside, and the shade was moving away. She would have to go back inside if it got much hotter out here.  Mom called her in to eat lunch, but she just wasnt hungry today, although those grilled ham sandwiches did smell good, they were her favorites.  She decided she had better go try and eat, it would be along time till dinner, and it would help pass the time till the ranger got there.

While Sara and Jimmy were eating their lunch, they told mom about who they passed on the trail. There were some men they saw that were dressed like the rangers dressed, but they didnt recognise them. They think maybe  they might have been the poachers instead, and dressed like that to fool anyone they past. The trail they were on circled around to the area they found the baby and its mom. When the ranger got there, they would tell him exactly what those men looked like, and how they were dressed. Sara kind of wished the ranger would get there, so they could go find the poachers. It had been a few hours since they got back home and mom had called, so maybe he would be here soon.

Soon after they finished their lunch, they could here the sound of a jeep coming down the road. They were sure the kids in the village had heard about the baby by this time, even in Africa, that kind of news traveled fast. They knew the jeep was from the ranger, but sometimes he would bring some of the village kids with him if there was something fun to see. Today was no different. He had two of Sara and Jimmy's friends in his jeep with him. The kids were happy to see their friends, and show off their new sorta pet. They knew this ranger, but were never good at saying his African name the right way, so they called him Mike. That was OK with him, he said, as long as they called him when they needed him. Mike was a very nice man. He loved the Plains and the animals on them. He just wanted to make sure all the animals were safe and allowed to live the way they were supposed to. And he didnt like poachers at all.

After Mike got out of the Jeep, he stood at a distance and looked at the baby. From where he was standing, the baby looked healthey, maybe about 4 months old, too young to be away from its mother, and also too young to left alone.  He might be able to reintroduce him to the herd, if he doesnt wait too long. Mike wanted to check him out before he was put back into the wild, and to do that, he would have to put him to sleep for a while. It would only last about 15 minutes, so he would have to work fast. Mike got out a special gun and loaded a sleeping dart into it and shot the baby in the rear end. He would stay with him and make sure everything was alright.  He wanted to tag the baby so they could track him in the future. This opportunity didnt come up very often, to be able to track a baby giraffe. It would help them learn more about giraffes, and he made sure the kids all knew what he was doing. He wanted the kids to be carefull and respect the animals also.

Mike did all his inspections on the baby and put a tracking chip in his ear. While he was doing all this, Sara and Jimmy were telling him where they found the baby and all about the men they had seen on the trail. They could take him right back to where they found the baby and show him everything they saw. They just wanted Mike to catch the poachers. The  baby started to wake up, and Mike warned the kids to back up by the house. He didnt know what the baby would do when he woke up.

The baby woke up from a sleep that confused him. He didnt remember going to sleep, and he could smell those other animals all around him. He was scared now, and wanted to run away. He jumped to his feet as fast as he could and ran to the other side of the yard, forgetting he couldnt get out. He  hit the fence and stopped with no where to go. He just wanted to stay away from those other animals. There were more of them now than before, where was the small one,the one that made him feel safe. Suddenly he saw her. He knew he would be safe, but he still wanted to get away from those other ones. He didnt know them, and their smell was very strong. He didnt know if he was safe from them. He was scared and wanted to be with his own kind.

 

# 5 Installment

As they approached the house, Sara and Jimmy were both wondering what they would tell mom. Jimmy asked Sara, "What are we gonna tell mom? you know she is going to be mad. " I know, Said Sara, We still have a little ways to go, let me think. 

The baby was following along, stopping every once in while to look around, maybe for its mom, maybe for more food, maybe just to look at its surroundings. It was new to him too, and he knew instincivly to be careful.  For some reason, he felt he was safe with these other animals he had never seen before. The smaller animals had a strange scent, he didnt really like it, so he didnt get real close. They didnt smell like his mom, but he did smell other animals like himself in the air somewhere. He was wondering why he was walking away from their scent.  These smaller animals were feeding him fresh leaves he had never tasted before, they grew too low to the ground for him to eat them. They were much more tender and sweeter than the leaves he could reach in the trees.

Suddenly, they were at the gate and had to decide what to tell mom. Sara knew they had to tell mom what the poachers had done. It was so sad, she hoped mom would understand why they had to bring the baby home. All the way home, Sara kept wanting to name the baby, but she knew if  she did, she would want to keep it.  That just couldnt happen, and she knew that too. So she just called the baby, baby.  They passed through the gate and the baby came with them, staying just far enough to stay a safe distance from the kids.  Once they came through, Jimmy closed and locked the gate behind them. The gate and fence was a full 6 feet high, the kind that looks like it was weaved together, silver colored. It didnt stand out like a wood fence would, but it kept the wild animals out and the family safe.

When mom heard the gate open and close, she came out to see who it was. She didnt expect the kids home for a while longer. Mom let out a sharp cry when she saw the kids had brought home a baby giraffe. Oh my, she thought, what now, what have they done. Before she could say a word, Sara and Jimmy both started to talk rather rapidly and she couldnt understand a word they were saying. She decided to ask Sara why she brought home the baby. Mom knew Sara was more likley to do something like this than Jimmy. Sara could never walk away from animals of any kind. She knew there was something wrong.

Mom, Sara started, Its mom was hurt by poachers and we couldnt leave it there. Something bad would have happened to him. We had to make it follow us. We couldnt find more giraffes to leave it with. We had to bring it home mom, really, we didnt have a choice.

Jimmy thought that he would have left it, but then he would have wondered if it would have found more giraffes to go along with. He didnt know that either. "Mom", Jimmy said, "Can we call the park rangers? I think we saw the people that caused all this. I think we passed them on the trail. They were dressed like the park rangers, but they were none that we know. "

Mom went straight for the radio that connected to the ranger station. They kept it there for emergency's. Just in case an animal was hurt or some strange activity was going on. They hadnt really used it that much for emergency's, but sometimes the kids would call and talk to the rangers just for fun. Today was more of an emergency. Mom was talking to the head ranger, and the kids were listening, making sure she said all the right stuff. Sara and Jimmy could hear both people talking. The ranger was upset the kids made the baby follow them home.  He would have to brought back to the herd he came from, and hopefully they would except him back in, that was always the problem with taking babies away from a family situation in the wild. You just have to be vary careful.

The ranger said he wouldnt be able to make it out ther for a few hours. He wanted to know if the baby was in a safe location in the yard and if they were sure he wouldnt get hurt.  Please dont startle him, he is still a wild animal and even though he is a baby, he is still very strong and could hurt the kids. These were warnings the kids hadnt thought of.

Sara went out to make sure the baby was safe and happy. The yard was very large and the baby was just walking around. He had found a small tree and was munching on the leaves he could reach.  Sara decided she better let him eat by himself and just wait for the ranger to get here. She could still watch him from the porch. He was so beautiful.

 

 

Entry for April 07, 2006

Ok , for the last week I have been writing that story and not doing the bla bla blog. For all i know, only two people are reading it, but thats ok I guess. Today is Friday an i dont have to work tonight. I am happy for that. I feel like opening up that bottle of wine i have been promising myself for a long time. I really should. This weekend, I am going to start a quilt. My neice is going to have a baby in September, so this will give me plenty of time to get it done. This is the first quilt I will make without my mom being here. I always love to compare fabric with her,then show her what I had done. I told my sister today i was going to start a quilt and I started to cry. She said that was ok, we are all going through this. That was something my mom and i did together. This is going to be hard, but I really want to do it. I know mom would tell me to just go make it, what am i so upset about. But I want her here with me. My god, when does it get easier?

I have gone in and looked at the things other bloggers write. It seems that a lot of people are utilising that create a poll option on their pages. That is a fun little option. Some people are so creative with what they write, and how they decorate their pages, it make these little rolls boring and sorta mind numbing at times. I think i do this a lot for my own selfishness at times. I just need to vent, or blabber about something, and sometimesI dont need a face to look at me while i am doing it. I wish i was able to do the glitter thingy, or learn how to post movies or soem of the other cool stuff. But then again, today i have spent more time here thatn I have in a very long time. I have writeen to most of the people on my friends list and created another chaptor of my story, that only two people are reading, and now this. I need to do something constructive, like open that wine and start  my weekend. If you happen to read this, hope you all have a good weekend. be safe, and see ya next time around.

Entry number 4

Parents: If you are reading this to a small child, please be aware this page may be sad to them. You may want to pre-read it and make adjustmants for your kids. Dont worry, everything comes out good in the end, I promise.

The kids were being careful, and listening for any strange sounds. They could still hear the soft crying animal sound and walked toward it. They were getting closer, and now there was a strange oder in the air. What could have possibly happened. ?

Suddenly, they walked into an open area and saw what has caused the loud bang sound and the crying sound. Sara and Jimmy had heard about this stuff happening, but had never seen it. They stopped and just stared at what had happened, without saying a word. They both knew who had done it, and they knew who to tell. At times like this, they wished they had a radio.

Jimmy said they should just go back home as fast as they could and call the park rangers to let them know. He said that would be the safest thing to do. If they ran, they could make it home in 30 minutes. He wanted to let the adults take care of this.

Sara, on the other hand, was more like her dad, and wanted to stay and make sure the source of the crying was ok. She loved all the animals on the planes, and it hurt her to see even one of them injured in any way. This was too much for her to walk away from, even it would have been safer for them to go back.

They had seen what a poacher had done to a mother giraffe. She wasnt killed for food, just parts to be sold in a market somewhere. It couldnt have been a market in Africa, because this was illegal here. The poachers had taken what they thought they could sell, and left the rest for the scavengers. It would only be a matter of time before the hungry wild animals would be here, feeding on the carcass of the large animal. Within a day, there would be nothing left as proof of any illegal killing. The poacher didnt see the baby when they shot the mother, and thought twice before hurting the baby also. The baby would never be able to survie on its own.

Sara couldnt see any other giraffe heard in the area that might adopt the baby and keep it safe. She knew she would be in trouble for bringing it home, but she couldnt leave it behind either. So, she figured out a way to get the baby to follow them home. She wrapped leaves around her stick and tied them on with the tall grass. She left them hanging loosley, so the baby could eat them. Once she made her food stick for the baby, she had to get the baby to leave its mother. Jimmy tried to get the baby to move by scaring it away from the mother, but it wouldnt move. Sara put the hanging leaves in front of the baby's face and was happy to see she started eating the leaves. Slowly, Sara backed away from the area, and the baby followed. It had worked!

Jimmy wrapped and tied leaves around his stick also, in case the baby ate all the leaves off Sara's stick before they got home. If they were going to try and bring a baby giraffe home, they better make sure it would follow them all the way. They walked back to the house slowly, making sure the baby would stay with them. Soon, they could see the gate to their house. Sara's heart started to beat very fast. They had done it. They made it home. Now, what would they tell their mom?

3rd Installment

The kids both listened for a while, to see if they heard anything else. After a few minutes, they decided it was ok, and they kept walking. Sometimes a sound out here could be heard for miles away. That could have been the case today. They didnt hear any animals running from the sound, so maybe it was far away.

It kept getting hotter and hotter. Jimmy wished he had worn a hat to keep the sun from burning his face. Sara always wore a baseball hat. It was from her favorite football team, the San Francisco 49ers.(insert your favorite team here). Jimmy didnt have a special team he liked, and he didnt like baseball hats. He had a safari hat his dad had given him a while back, he knew he should have worn it today.

They walked along quietly for a while, just taking in the day. Sara thought she heard something and asked Jimmy if he heard it also. No, he hadnt heard it. "Listen real close," Sara begged, "I know I heard something, like crying." Sara seemed to hear things no one else heard, so Jimmy went along with her and listened real close. This time, Jimmy thought he did hear something also, up ahead. He couldnt tell how far, but he did hear it too, now. And it did sound like crying, but not from a person, like an animal crying. They didnt hear this very often, so they were concerned about what they would find up ahead.

Sara knew she heard men talking. She couldnt tell what they were saying, but she could hear them talk. Jimmy heard it too. Maybe the big bang sound wasnt that far away. Maybe it was closer than they both thought. The kids were a little more careful now. They started to walk a little closer together and even a little slower. They both knew it could be dangerous to surprise other people out here on the planes. The grass was still kinda high, but the kids were too small to be seen above it.

To be safe, they decide to yell out a little and let whoever was out there know they were there. They called out Hellooooo in a slightly loud voice. As they walked along, they called out some more. Soon, they heard the men running away. They knew they were running away from them, because the sound of their voices got softer and they couldnt be heard any more. Sara and Jimmy wondered why they were running away. Maybe they saw a lion or some other animal.

2nd Installment

Mom would make them grilled ham n cheese sandwiches and a bowl of tomato soup for lunch. She liked to give them food from home to let them feel a little bit of that home comfort so far away. She told them to be sure and check the time and be home by 12:00, before it got too hot out. Have fun and be careful.

As Sara ans Jimmy headed out the gated area, they each grabbed their favorite big sticks. Sometimes they would act like big game hunters, looking for lions or elephants or even bears, although they knew there was no bears in this part of Africa. It was just fun. With their sticks poised as guns, they headed out, looking for whatever crossed their path. Sara always hoped to see lions and maybe even zebras. All she ever saw was an elephant way far away and one time she thought she saw a huge snake. It turned out to be log that had fallen across the path.

Today was no different than any other day. They passed some villagers out for a hunt for food, and then soon came upon some men they had never seen. The men were dressed in the same kind of clothes that the park rangers wore, so they werent alarmed. They greeted them and kept walking along, keeping an eye out for animals all the while.

It was getting quite warm already. It was only 9:00, but they were sure it was going to be a very hot day. On days like today, they hardly ever saw anumals. The animals tended to stay put in the shade for as long as they could when the sun got this hot. It was more dangerous, because you couldnt see the animals laying down in the grass. The kids were more alert on days like today.

Suddenly the kids heard a very loud bang. It sounded like a gun going off. It could have been the hunters they passed earlier, but they couldnt be sure. Sara thought the sound came from in front of them and Jimmy thought it was from off to the side of them. This scared the kids though, because they knew that whoever was shooting, didnt know they were there,they had to watch out for hunters now.

Unanomouse yes

Ok, so all three votes are for a yes. It makes me wonder, when I see the number of page visits go up and there is a poll going on, why dont people vote, or at least leave a message. I know I dont leave a message every time I visit a page. I just like the whole poll thing. it gives you a chance to leave a message without saying a thing. Maybe I just dont know what a page visit really is. Who really cares. OK, here goes. Disclaimer: I do not know anything about Africa except for what I have learned from watching animal Planet or some other documetery on TV. Please do not get all pissy if I happen to take creative licence with my imagination. And I surley will.

Sara and the Baby

Sara and her brother and mom and dad lived in Africa. Sara's dad documented and photographed wild animals of every kind and doing this sent them on journeys all over the world. This time they found themselves in Africa for two years, so far. Sara was 12 and her brother Jimmy was 14. They lived on the outside of a village, but still close enough to have made friends with some of the other kids in the village. There was a fence around their house that Saras dad had built to keep out the wild animals. Saras mom, enjoyed their travels, but worried about the kids safety, especially at night when she knew more animal would be out.

Saras dad was back in the states, taking care of business for getting this book published. He was told they might make a documentery about his travels, so he would be gone for a couple of weeks. Mom and the kids would have to be alone and take care of themselves. Jimmy was the man of the house while he was gone.

Today, Sara and Jimmy asked Mom if they could walk along the trail outside the fence. The trail curved along for miles outside of their fence. It was wide enough for two or three people, but was probably traveled by animals as well. This was a special place where Sara and Jimmy made up wild adventure tales as they walked along. Usually, nothing out of the ordinary happened while they were walking though.

It was early in the morning and they would have plenty of time to get home before the sun went down. They promised mom they would carry their sticks and be very careful. They carried big sticks to make themselves appear bigger to the animals. They didnt know if this was actually true, but they did it anyway, just to keep mom happy. They village people told them to do it if they went walking.

Today, mom felt good and told them they could go. Lunch would be at the regular time, be home and she would have it ready.