Lundeeria : Chapter Five

Chapter 5: An Ancient Time

Tortoise bowed his head. He knew what he had to do. He began to speak to the assembly, slowly at first, as he carefully chose his words.

“My dear fellow Lundeerians, please listen to me very carefully. What I am about to say will be new to every one of you. Most of you have probably heard tales about Dream Seeking. It is said that it had been done before, but only once. It was in a time so far in our past that all that remains from that period are whisperings of the way things were. And that is probably all that you have heard of Dream Seeking.”

Everyone seemed to be holding his or her breath. Tortoise looked at their expectant faces and continued.

“Actually my friends, there is more. A very long time ago, wise elders decided that what happened in the ancient past, the time before records were written, had to remain a secret. From generation to generation, the secret would be passed from one animal to just one other. And so it has happened since that time far in the past.”

“It was decided when I was still quite young that I would become the next Keeper of the Secret. As did every past Keeper, I took an oath of honor that I would only reveal the secret in a time of extreme emergency. An emergency so grave, that Dream Seeking would need to be done again. My friends, it is now time to tell you of what led to the first Dream Seeking.”

“It happened in a time when our world was very young and the animals, our ancestors, were very ignorant and selfish. It was a time of terrible fear and sorrow.”

“Why was there such great fear and sorrow? With much sadness, I must tell you the secret that the Keepers hoped no future Lundeerians would ever learn. In a time of ignorance and cruelty, our ancestors ate other animals.”

It was as if Lundeeria herself gasped in horror. Animals had eaten one another? How could it be? All the animals on Lundeeria lived together in peace. No Lundeerian would do that! It would be like eating a family member or a friend. Impossible! It couldn’t happen! It just couldn’t!

As if knowing their thoughts, Tortoise continued. “Dear friends, what I am telling you is the truth. It did happen.”

He sighed deeply. “And now, now it seems that on another world, on the world called Earth, it is happening again. An animal is eating other animals. I do not think the human children are wrong. With a very heavy heart, I feel they have told us a terrible, terrible truth.”

Tortoise then looked at Justin and Emma. “Children, please look at me. We need to clearly hear your answer so no one will doubt what you have said.”

“Is it true that on Earth humans eat animals?”

Not wanting to say more than they had to, for fear of hurting their new friends, the children looked up at Tortoise. They felt miserable, but they knew it was true. Justin and Emma tearfully admitted, “Yes.” And having said that, they looked down again.

Gazelle watched the children, sensing that they were still very uneasy. Why? They had told the truth of what happens on Earth. And they explained that they themselves did not eat animals, only plants and things. So why were they crying again and staring at the ground, unable to look at anyone? Could there be even more to their terrible tale?

“Justin, Emma, is there something else, something that you haven’t told us yet?” Gazelle asked cautiously.

The two children looked at each other. How could they tell the animals the whole truth? A truth so painful and terrible that they themselves could hardly bear to think of it.

Gazelle closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. She spoke with great sadness. “Take your time and know that we will not be upset with you. But I think you need to tell us exactly what is happening on your world.”  

(To be continued...)