I see the Hawk.It is close.I am the fastest Pika in our family but I know I won’t reach the burrow in time.I shoot toward the small rock and barely fit into the crevice underneath it. I feel the wind of the Hawk’s powerful wings brush by me, and hear the terrible scream of my brother as he is caught in its claws.And then it is gone. It is all gone:my brother, the Hawk, and all other sounds.There is nothing but silence as I shake in shock. I do not know how long I lay there, but it is almost night when I shakily return to the burrow. I am met at first by relieved faces,but they are quickly replaced by ashen ones,when they see I am alone.
We are moving higher into the mountains. It is nearing the end of my first fall, and I plan to stay the winter with my parents and sister at a higher elevation. Father says it is too hot here, and it will be cooler farther up.There will also be more potential Pika mates for Naira(and me, I guess).He also told me privately that mother was haunted by the rocks where Amadi died.