Then they went back to their breakfast, even when he approached one of their babies.
Kishan shifted back to a man, staring thoughtfully at the animals. “Hmm. Very interesting. They’re not afraid of me at all.”
I started breaking camp. “You lost your hiking clothes, Mister. You’re back in black.”
“No, I didn’t. I left them back there in the trees. I’ll be back.”
After breakfast, we hiked to the large structure we’d seen the day before. It was huge, made of wood, and obviously very old. A large rotting incline led up into it. As we got nearer, I exclaimed, “It’s a boat!”
“I don’t think so, Kells. It’s too big to be a boat.”
“It is, Kishan. I think it’s the ark!”
“The what?”
“The ark—as in Noah’s ark. Remember when Mr. Kadam talked about all the flood myths? Well, if this really is the mountain where Noah landed, then that must be what’s left of his boat! Come on!”
We made our way up to the massive wooden structure and peeked inside. I wanted to climb in and look around, but Kishan cautioned me.
“Wait, Kells. The wood’s rotting. Let me go first and test it out.” He disappeared into the gaping maw of the edifice and emerged a few minutes later. “I think it will be safe enough if you stay right behind me.”
I followed him in. It was dark, but where the wood had fallen out of the ceiling, jagged gaps let the sunshine through. I had expected to see stalls of some kind to keep the animals contained, but there were none to be found. It did have a few levels with wooden steps, but Kishan thought the stairs would be too dangerous. I pulled out a camera and snapped a few pictures for Mr. Kadam.
Later, as we left the wooden relic, I said, “Kishan . . . I have a theory. I think that Noah’s ark did land here and the animals we’ve seen are descendents from those original animals. Maybe that’s why they act differently. They haven’t lived anywhere but here.”
“Just because an animal lives in paradise doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any instincts. Instincts are very powerful. The instinct to protect your territory, to hunt for food, and to . . .” he looked at me pointedly, “find a mate can be overwhelming.”
I cleared my throat. “Right. But, food’s abundant here, and I’m sure there are plenty of,” I waved my hand in the air, “mates to go around.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps. But how do you know it’s always like this? Maybe the winter comes at a different time here.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so. I’ve seen flowers growing that bloom in the spring, but I’ve also seen flowers that bloom in the fall. It’s strange. It’s almost like the best of everything. The animals are all perfect and well fed.”
“Yes, but we haven’t seen any predators yet.”
“That’s true. We’ll keep an eye out.”
I took out a notebook and started categorizing the things we’d seen. The place really was like a paradise, and from all appearances, Kishan and I seemed to be the only two people here. The fresh fragrance of flowers, apples, citrus, and grass hung in the air. The air was a perfect temperature—not too hot and not too cold.
It seemed like a well-kept garden. I couldn’t see anything resembling a weed. It would be impossible for this type of landscape to maintain itself naturally, I thought. We found a perfect bird’s nest with speckled blue eggs. The bird parents sat chirping happily, not upset at all as we came closer to inspect their eggs.
I also made a list of every animal we came in contact with. By the early afternoon, we’d seen hundreds of different animals that I knew shouldn’t be living in this kind of environment—elephants, camels, and even kangaroos.
Late afternoon was when we saw our first predators—a pride of lions. Kishan had smelled them a mile from their lands, and we decided to go in for a closer look. He made me climb a tree while he investigated. Finally, he came back with a look of astonishment.
“There’s a large herd of antelope near the pride but they graze right next to the cats! I saw a lioness eating something red that I assumed was meat but it turns out that it was fruit. The lions were eating apples.”
I started to climb down. Kishan caught me around my waist and lowered me the rest of the way.