the tiger chased mocko up a tree.
socko, gocko, ocko, and jocko watched from the mouth of the cave.
zocko huddled under another tree. the tree mocko had climbed was between zocko and the cave.
it was raining, and had rained for days.
everybody was hungry, especially the tiger.
socko moved a little way from the mouth of the cave, picked up a rock and threw it at the tiger. it fell short, and the tiger paid no attention to it.
gocko moved a little closer to the tiger, and threw another rock at it. it too, fell short, and te tiger ignored it.
jocko picked up another, smaller, sharper stone and hurled it at the tiger. it struck the tiger, who turned and growled at the quartet in front of the cave.
zocko, seeing his chance, ran out from under his tree and ran toward the brow of the hill, away from the cave.
socko, gocko, ocko, and jocko all began picking up stones as fast as they could and throwing them in the general direction of the tiger, screaming at the tiger as they did so.
the tiger turned completely around to face them.
mocko leaped down from the tree and ran away in the same direction as zocko.
but the tiger was having none of it. he turned again and began chasing mocko.
mocko was the fastest and most agile member of the troop.
he knew that he could not outrun the tiger, but if he could only catch up to and pass zocko, the tiger might settle for zocko and spare him!
socko, gocko, ocko, and jocko all watched the tiger disappear over the brow of the hill.
a great bolt of lightning flashed , striking the tree that the tiger had chased mocko up.
the rain increased, coming down in wind driven torrents.
the quartet retired to the cave. it had been a bad day. they had found no food, and one, and maybe two members of the troop might be taken by the tiger.
they were mostly sheltered from the rain, but the wind whistled through the length of the cave, which had two entrances, the natural entrance, and a smaller one they had dug at the other end so that a tiger or other hunter could not trap them within it.
they picked up an endless argument. should they continue living on the ground, and in the caves, or go back to living in the tall trees, like the monkeys.
socko and gocko were for the ground, ocko and jocko for the trees.
later in the night, mocko returned. he had outrun zocko, and the tiger had taken zocko down.
mocko had then circled back to the cave. now he went to sleep, and took no part in the palaver.
toward morning the tiger returned.
jocko, the youngest member of the troop and a light sleeper, heard the tiger prowling and growlng on the roof of the cave.
in the rain… in the endless rain.
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