through the tall grass and as she reached a small watering trough that had been placed by men she saw exactly what Faible had been crying about. There, lying not far from the small pool of water, was the small lifeless body of Plato. His blood had run into the running water and had turned it a dark shade of red. There was a fresh wound on his side and Foresta could see that there had been a struggle. Her eyes clouded over and as she began to bolt through the grasses back towards the burrow more memories of her former life came flooding back.

As her eyes came back into focus she could see that still the rest of the group were sunning there selves. She growled to herself and ran to the burrow. She began shifting the sand at the entrance to the burrow that had earlier been stained with the blood of Plato. Tears poured from her sweet brown eyes and as the others began to realise that they were late in their duties, they tried to join in. Foresta turned on her family and bared her teeth. She let out a low growl and as it reached to ears of every meerkat each in turn shrivelled back at her tone of voice. Even Justar could tell that Foresta was asserting them all and that she was their new leader, at least for the time being. He nodded towards Zhen and the two youngsters tugged at the elders and restarted their game of seeing who could run around the adults the longest. Foresta’s tears stained her cheeks and as the sand became wedged in her claws she let go of all her thoughts. The memories of happiness burned her heart and as she cleaned the burrow she cried out in pain. The members of the group gathered around her, once more she collapsed and the world around her was brought into darkness.

The sun rose and as it stretched its sleepy rays over the desert, all manners of life began to emerge from their peaceful slumber. The young birds began to sing and of the little flowers there was, they bloomed into life.