Nils Bouillard

Livy, the vampire bat, loved to adventure through caves, forests, and plains. She never spent much time with her brother and sister bats in the colony. Instead, she toured the cave as if she did not know it already. She only had a few friends within her colony’s cave; she had more friends outside of her own cave – a product of her many adventures. Despite her adventurous spirit, Livy was very clumsy and was not cautious about her travels or the company she kept.

Livy ignored the boundaries that her parents had given her, the boundaries put in place to protect her. Though her parents told her time and time again to be careful and follow their rules, she never listened. Livy didn’t expect there to be consequences if she didn’t listen; she had always been fine, so why would theta ever change?  Livy went wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Livy’s parents were hesitant to be too harsh with their rebellious little one because she was just a baby bat, which meant that Livy broke their rules often, comforted in knowing that even they didn’t mind too much. This led Livy to wander off far into the depths of the forest.

Eventually, on one summer day Livy wandered off to a place she had never explored before, a place that was a little too far from home. This area was known as the Concentrated Forest by local hunters seeking to capture and collect rare species of animals. The forest was called this because it had the highest concentration of rare animal species in the region, something that lured the hunters to the forest day after day. Livy had not known about hunters, so when she was supposed to be resting in her cave, she headed to the Concentrated Forest where she found a comfy branch to hang on to take a nice, long snooze. 

As she slept, she did not hear the crinkling of crisp leaves under the hunter’s feet. As the footsteps grew louder, Livy stirred in her sleep until the noise jolted her awake. She clambered around the tree branches in a panic. Luckily, the her ruckus was enough to wake Andy the Great Horned Owl. Andy, an old owl who lived in the Concentrated Forest, cooed, “Whoo goes there?” 

“M-me” said Livy with a fright. 

“Who said you could be in these dangerous forests?” said Andy with a concerning look on his face. 

“I’m not supposed to be here; I just love to explore. Can you help me find my way back to my cave? I need to return home,” whispered Livy as she shook with terror. Livy had lost track of the hunter’s footsteps, and she feared that he was just below looming on the forest floor at the tree’s trunk.

“I’ll show you the way,” assured Andy. “You are correct. You should not be here. Vampire bats are forbidden to cross the border into the forest; it is for your own protection. Hush, now, I need to get you out before your family comes looking for you, and you’re all in danger,” Andy warned with a serious look. Just then, a twig snapped below. The hunter spotted the owl and squinted into the branches, hoping to catch sight of a rarer creature to take as a prize.

Andy quickly spread out his wings and told Livy to hop on, wishing to hide the youngling within his feathers. The owl soared through the air, diving every which way as he worked to keep the hunters off his trail. He wished to keep the vampire bat colony hidden from the humans who tramped across the forest floor. 

Eventually, Livy arrived home safely. All of her friends and many family members were anxiously waiting for Livy within the cave. After thanking the owl profusely for returning their daughter, the older bats in the colony turned looks of disappointment upon the baby bat. Livy prepared herself for her parent’s very talk about safety and the real dangers that lie beyond their cave. However, her mother was not there. In fact, no one seemed to know where her mother had gone. A pang of fear shot through Livy. What if she went after her? What if she were in the forest?

Miles away, where the trees turned to a dark monstrous green, Livy’s parents approached the borders of the Concentrated Forest. “Livy!” yelled Livy’s mom, Marylin. There was no response. Marilyn slowly but cautiously entered the Concentrated Forest, praying that Livy would be there. All Marilyn could hear were the whispers of the leaves blowing the wind. There was no sign of her baby bay in the forest, so Marilyn decided to leave the forest and search somewhere else. However, as she turned to leave, a crash rang out in the distance. Marilyn immediately thought of Livy caught in some terrible peril. She flew over to the source of the sound, heading straight into danger in hopes of rescuing Livy. The quick eyes of the hunter tracked the black vampire bat as she flit across the skyline. A smile crept across his face as she barreled into a trap he had configured between the branches. The bat was his now.

Meanwhile, Livy was resting in the cave without a care in the world. Livy assumed her mother would come back at some point, because she always did. Little did she know that this night was different from all the rest.