My parents died when we were driving home from the hospital at my birth when they crashed, so I

don’t remember them, only the pictures that tell me of Annabelle and William Parks who were
holding the baby in the hospital room with a wide smile on their faces along with my 18 year old
brother at the time.
After that, my grandmother Rose took me and Andy in with welcoming warm arms in the small town
in Lavender Valley. Andy didn’t stay very long though. After finishing off school in Roland he was only
with Granny and I for under a few months until he moved away to university and early married to a
former Zoologist, Zoë. Despite not living or seeing him much we were still close. He always comes to
see me and granny on special occasions, meaning today because it was my 17 th birthday.
My alarm beeps me awake for school followed by my phone beside it. I briefly look out my window
to see the sky still its cool blue with the touch of light to them as the sun slowly rises once more
“Morning Lil, Happy Birthday” I hear Andy call to me from the other line far away in Pilikai. “I'm
catching a plane in this afternoon so I won’t see ya until tonight sometime okay hun?” he tells me
and I nod as I sit up remembering he couldn’t see me “okay. How’s work going?” I ask
“Yeah, pretty busy actually. I'm still working with the gibbons here” then his voice turns deeper as he
talks of his arch-nemesis “Tri-bark took my hat and pen again”
I laugh “that’s the 4th time isn’t it?”
“Fifth actually” he grunts. He and Tri-bark ever since he was a baby had had a love-hate relationship.
I had never been there but I had seen pictures of them all with his wife and son Dominick who was
by 10months younger than me. I knew a lot about the small apes on the island too
“So did you find out the genetic code thybroxy yet?” I ask always loving to hear about his and Zoë's
studies and the one I was most interested in was the thybroxy gene code that gives the gibbon’s
green eyes rather than their brown ones. They had been studying it but had only found 2 specimens
“Not yet Li, we’re thinking it’s got to be a sex linked gene but it has to be a recessive type otherwise
a mutation of some kind. We’ve had more field studies but we haven’t found any others still. It’s
really interesting though- I’ll tell you about it when I get there okay?”
I nod then laugh remembering he wasn’t there and say “okay”
“I’ll see ya soon. Zoë made some of her yogurt last night for you” he adds and I smile “great, tell her
thanks for me please” it was my favourite treat
He chuckles “will do- say hi to granny for me, later kid”
I get dressed into my long pants and white top unlike the other girls at school that insisted in
wearing impossibly high miniskirts no matter the weather, where as I owned above the knee high
shorts and no skirts on the occasion of hot weather.
IPod in my jacket pocket I walk downstairs to find granny cooking her infamous pancakes with apple
sauce and peaches then greets me with her Cherokee warm mothering smile “good morning my u-
we-se-a-ge-ya the Cherokee word for daughter
“Good morning granny” I smile back and sit as she passes a pancake to me. I tell her of Andy and she
chuckles “you are just as caught up in his studies as he u-we-se-a-ge-ya”

Driving me to school like always was when things grew different. We were listening to one of
Granny’s Cherokee songs that we could both sing along to- having taught our tribes ancient ways to
me and my parents to Andy. Then granny started shaking and gasping
“Granny? Granny Redbird are you alright?” I ask her and then the car suddenly starts speeding up
and I scream with horror at the sight, grateful the peaceful valley was not a busy road one. I look
back to granny and she is shaking veraciously, her head throwing back, eyes open and now her hand
was to her chest.
“Granny!” I cry out before then the car swerves in a quick jerky movement that in the same second it
was upside down and rolling one direction with my hands on the roof until we hit a car and we start
rolling in another direction
We stop upside down. My eyes see only a few seconds around me; the glass windows shattered and
some broken, blood on me and in my mouth, then grandmother dead beside me and as I realize this,
my hands instantly drop limply as I fall unconscious
Moments later I wake coughing up blood. My hands fumble with the seat belt and air bag and I land
with a grunt and air rushing out of me as I land on the dinted irregular shaped metal roof under me
feeling my ribs to be broken
I crawl over to granny “Granny? Granny wake up” I tell her but instantly then I am pulled out gently
but urgently from the car debris
“Granny!”I shout as I then feel grass under me
“Lilac” The grocery man Blake says as he puts me down on the grass and I shake cold and wet
“Granny’s still in there” I whisper to him, closing my eyes as I am lied down

A gray thin blanket was around me I noticed and like everything around here, it smelt like lavender. I
was sitting on the edge of one of the ambulances. Granny’s body had been taken away now. As I
stared at the wreckage remembering it new with a shiny blue coat after granny and I had cleaned
the windows and the light reflecting of the Cherokee clan symbol inside it, a light flashes past my
eyes again “miss. Do you have any parents we can contact?” the man asks
No. my parents were dead
“You’re grandfather?”
No. he’s dead. I never knew him nor he me, like my parents.
“Any living relatives?” he continues as I stare though the light to the debris
I then hop off from the van “miss” they protest but I duck from their hands and walk over to the
scrap metal car.
“Lilac” a man says behind me as I reach the car and put my hand through the window, taking the
Cherokee symbol from it and keeping it close in my hand. It was a beaded ancient symbol with a
copper carving coin coiled at the end of it.
A hand goes to my shoulders “come on Lilac, you need to get to hospital” he coaxes and moves me
to the van and with the sirens on we arrive to the hospital
I hear again as I wake in a room with a hospital gown on me “she has no living relatives?” a lady asks
“My brother” I speak and she turns surprised
“You have a brother? Where is he Lilac, do you know?” she asks me
“He’s coming tonight. It’s my birthday” I tell her and she grimaces

“Now miss Parks you had no severe injuries. A few broken ribs and wrist. Other than that you have a
few cuts and bruises” The doctor tells me before I leave the hospital “we’ve called your brother,
Andy, and he’s on a flight now so he’ll be here by this afternoon sometime. Are you sure you don’t
want to wait here for him Lilac?” the doctor asks me again, concerned. I shake my head “no thank
you. I’d prefer to go home and get some rest”
Andy called the hospital for me at the second airport, telling me he was nearly there and that he’d
take me back with him. As I had started to protest he suddenly turned stern and fierce “Lilac you’re
coming home with me” he stated to me and as if reading my thoughts “don’t leave the valley Lil, I
know you won’t stay at the hospital so go back to… the house” we had always called it granny’s “and
stay there” he commanded.
The grocery man Blake dropped me off at home then and my granny’s friend Gina came over and
baby sat while I rested a little
Coming down the stairs, it was lunch time
“Lilac, how are you feeling deary?” she asks knitting away. I manage a small smile “I feel fine thanks,
taking the steps slowly for my protesting ribs sake and as I reach for the fridge I switch arms to grip it
as my casted one was completely immobile
“Mrs. Willows, my brother will be here soon and I'm quite alright so if you’d like you can go home.
I'm sure Mr. Willows is waiting to have lunch with you as always” I smile to her and she smiles back
“Yes that is quite like Malcolm isn’t it?” she rocks to her feet “well then deary. I’ll check on you until I
hear your brother’s car come okay?” she kisses my uncut cheek and leaves to my relief
“Lil?” I wake from the couch I hadn’t realized I had fallen asleep on when a hand appeared on my
head
“Andy?” I ask as he then helps me sit up from wincing. He manages a small smile too “hey kid, not
having too much fun are you sweetie?” he grimaces and pulls me into a soft hug as I then start crying
We then sit on the couch and eat Zoë’s homemade yogurt

Pilikai was a large island that was residency to Native people like Zoë. It was also a study field for the
Gibbons but lucky for Zoë and Andy they were able to have a permanent residence there, along with
Dominick and now, me.
We had to take two flights; one from Lavender Valley and the other from the main island Tokobai to
get to Pilikai. Altogether it took 8 hours to arrive to my new home. And though I had seen pictures of
the island, it was not as I expected it to be. I had always felt drawn to Granny’s land, like Andy had to
the Cherokee traditions and our ancestors. Here it was a familiar draw as I look over the lush tropical
forest and river and then to the hutted and houses. I understood why Andy had moved here rather
than stayed in Lavender Valley and his draw to it now also.
“It’s amazing isn’t it?” he asks me knowing my thoughts. I nod as I gaze around it as we land and as
we walk with his arms protectively around me to the house
“Hi there Lilac” Zoë greets us at midnight and behind her was a taller boy Dominick who smile and
waves once in greet
I smile in return shyly and look down not liking the attention. I’d met them a few times when Dom
and Zoë had come with Andy since they had gotten married and Dom born so really id known them
my whole life, a distant family but my closest ones.
My room had wooden round panels on the roof, making the house have a more homing handmade
touch to it with the wood not shaped like on the mainland and countries. It was like it was cut off
from everything, keeping it preserved. I liked it and a smile played on my lips at my new home.
Before I went to bed I added Granny’s Cherokee symbol to mine around my neck, tethering her back
to me then I spoke the Cherokee words, praying she was with the ancestors of our tribe and people
then making the sign of respect and farewell to the spirits, peace was brought to my heart and mind
and I slept easy

“School starts next week so you and Dom will be in the same year” Andy tells me as we eat breakfast
with native fruit, veggies and Zoë’s yogurt
Starting school with my brother I thought the idea to myself. Dom was a brother to me, even though
we didn’t know each other that well, like Andy but Zoë was more a mother figure rather than his
partner or sister to me
Looking beside me I see Dom smile at the idea before biting into his toast. A little relieved I take a
bite from my date bread toast too.
“What days are you out this week?” Dom asks casually
“Not starting back up till Friday. We’re going to the northern quadrant on Friday for the day and
then on Saturday we’ll pop into home base I think” Andy answers and looks to Zoë who nods with a
smile before putting a spoon of yogurt into her mouth
Andy smiles to me “guess you’ll be able to meet Tri-bark and the rest of the gang- and the Thybroxy
females” he tells me and I smile excited
“You didn’t tell me, what’s been happening with the Thybroxy- and the Amadryme?” I ask
Andy smirks looking proud as he looks to Zoë who a little stunned like Dom then starts laughing then
Andy starts and explains their latest research and discoveries like he always did to me and I saw Zoë
watch me smiling in approval as I easily kept up. Dom had laughed again
“… so Aloiki and Nully could carry the gene” Andy states
“But the twins both had an interlinked dialogue didn’t you say? That doesn’t match up with the work
you did on Spot or Qualla and Ziggy” I object with a frown
“That’s what I said, see?” Dom agrees with me, we both smile to each other before he then looks
questioningly to Andy
…
“The northern site is where Tri-bark and the two Thybroxy females are usually, but throughout the
island you can find them all” Zoë tells me as we ready to head there.
“Wollow and Guava right?” I ask and she smiles. We look to Andy who held a determined scowl on
his face “Andy always loses his things in this quarter” she quietly chuckles
“Which is your favourite?” I ask her and Zoë’s face changes to an affectionate one “I like the
southern quarter. The largest of the families live there; the twins Alaiya and Spot, the mother Meeko
and then Quibs and Apep. Alaiya is my girl, she’s a small white gibbon and she is very adventurous
like her brother spot who has a brown spot on one of his front hands which is different” Zoë tells me
Dom passes a pen, record board for observations and I already had my backpack on “do you have a
favourite area?” I ask curious
Dom smiles to me as he gets himself ready “yeah, I like the eastern area”
“Brolick is one of the males in the group who’s pretty fond of Dom” Zoë tells me when Dom stops
“Isn’t he the golden ‘bronze and no brains’ one?” I look to Andy who nods “just like Dom. Similarities
attract as they say” he jokes and scruffs his son’s bushy thick hair up who then protests “hey!”
Dom then looks to me as he flattens his hair back out “Brolick’s a tough one and he’s gotten himself
out of a few scrapings with king leopards around here. I’d say that needs some degree of
intelligence” Dom defends then jokes “and it’s opposites that attract dad”
On Pilikai Island inside of the dense tropics just as there was large diversity of creatures like the
gibbons, there were also the predators like the king blue leopards we had to watch out for. Andy had
told me on a few situations he had seen them and one there had been an attack, losing 4 of the
gibbons they had studied when he had first arrived “Hilts, Richi, Zulu and Itachi” Andy had told me
and we head to the Northern territory.
“And I bet the northern territory is your favourite huh Andy?” I tease. He looks to me with a playful
glare then under his breath he grumbles “home base is my favourite- coz Tri-bark is only sometimes
there” we all laugh at him knowing he was fond of Tri-bark despite him taking 5 of his hats, 3 pens
and one pair of glasses
“Don’t get too far Lil” Andy reminds me as we walk into the area and with a pair of gibbons high
above us in greet
“That is Tri-bark” Andy tells me and holds his hat instinctly.
We walked around the area and spread out a little while checking the biodiversity and distributions
of the area and using Quadrant grids in our measurements too.
Tri-bark and a few others after a while came down and were playing around. Watching them with
admiration a few meters away for them I turn as I hear rustling of branches. I look quickly back to
Andy and the others who were preoccupied then I quickly move to the sound through the trees on
the path
I jump back and put my hands to my mouth reflexively as suddenly a gibbon jumps a few inches from
me to the tree, with watchful analyzing green eyes
“Thybroxy” I breath out then look back to the direction of Andy “but Guava and Wollow are over
there” I question to myself then turn back to the black gibbon again who curiously cocks his head to
the side at me before then jumping off to another low branch in my sight and with his green eyes on
me again that seemed like a gesture, he waited as I willingly and curious as well move to follow him.
Once I had caught up, he continued off the path
“Lilac!” I stop quickly and turn to my brother’s call. I turn back to the black gibbon with an apologetic
smile “I'm sorry little fella, I’ve gotta go” meeting curious green eyes again. Seeming to understand
he then jumps up and disappears into the canopy while I quickly find my way back “I'm here,
coming!” I call as I enter their site, seeing them all with Tri-bark and the other white and golden
gibbons. Tri-bark had a hat on his head and I laugh
“I wonder where he puts them all?” I ask and then I see Tri-bark bite into it and put it up in the tree
Andy glares at me in a bad mood from tri-bark “you got your answer” and I grimace
I look to Wollow and Guava, the two yellow female gibbons with one holding a piece of fruit and the
other swinging down to the ground. The two Thybroxy’s while the rest had their usual brown eyes
I am startled again as another golden gibbon drops in front of me to the ground and we stare at each
other, its brown eyes warm
“Oh, that’s Nully” Dom tells me and looks up expectantly “she’s from Brolick and Aloiki-” he stops as
the 2 golden gibbons swing through and one jumps to Dom; the big male who howls in greet to Dom
Dom looks to me as I stare smiling a little stunned at the gibbon sitting comfortably on his shoulder
and arm then he introduces “this is Brolick”
Nully then jumps to the tree beside me then straight into me then crawls around to my backpack
“What are you up to?” I ask her then she jumps down with my flash light
“Hey!” I protest and quickly grab it before she can take it into the trees
“Are you sure she’s not Tri-bark’s offspring?” I ask Dom and he smiles then chuckles “Nope,
definitely this big guys. Not sure who the mother is though.
Nully jumps back onto me again and I hold the torch out of reach from her “no, no, you can’t have
this” I tell her as she now swings on my arm for it, not hurting my broken casted wrist. Her attention
switches briefly to my cast then and her teeth dig into it “hey- don’t do that” I caution and her
attention falls back to the touch
I watch her, amused by her behaviour and I sit down against the tree like everyone else.
I turn the flashlight on and Nully’s eyes zoom in on it like her twin sister who immediately jumps
down from the trees to the light
“Look at that” Another zoologist named Zack tells Andy as he sees the twin’s entrancement, writing
it down on paper and taking a few pictures
I turn it off and they hop back, then as I turn it back on, they hoot together. Testing this, I turn the
torch to the ground and like cats they reach for the light and as I move it on the ground they follow
it. I move it again and this time they change tactics; looking to each other briefly they move away
from the light then circling, they pounce together onto the spot on the ground then in the same
movement their brown eyes turn to me and they pounce at me and the light. They grab for the torch
but I quickly hide it and shake my head “uh huh, nope I told you, you couldn’t have it” I look to Nully
who huffs and they both jump into the trees together
I smile fondly after them then turn to behind me suddenly as I hear a familiar ruffling of branches

Time for school…

The uniforms were much different to Lavender Valley High. Here the boys wore homemade flannel
tops and girls dresses of the same material. It was plain and simple in a nice way because they had
no need to show off which went to which school not only because there was only one school, but
because it didn’t matter; logins and advertisements and media didn’t matter here. It was real.
At least I was of native blood like the rest of the islanders though. Me and my brother were
Cherokee Native Americans while they were Native Islanders called the Na’vi people who equally
had curly dark thick hair matched with dark tough and durable skin and all with brown eyes and for
that, I was grateful.
I plat my frizzy curly hair and with an early yawn I take a wangai native fruit plum and bite into it
while waiting for the toast
I told Dominick I’d keep to myself and out of his way respectfully and he looked confused and
laughed asking “why?” I smiled to him and we sat eating breakfast at 5:30am Monday morning;
waking with the gibbons together while our… parents it was easiest to call were out studying the
calls as part of their research we all loved. School finished at lunch which was always good too
We walked to school and I did my best to hide my cast from the students eyes as we walk into the
entrance with Dom first.
I stop and look through the entrance. The school was different too. there were no bars or metal
detectors, there was a fence but that was only at the forest to prevent leopards from venturing in
and I suspected maybe the mischievous gibbons too.
I look to Dom and see him already with a group of students probably his friends and before he could
catch me I duck in the opposite direction with my backpack on my back and arms around me, hiding
my cast in my jacket at my chest. My ribs were practically better.
They had no lockers here and there were no need for them; all the text books were kept at school
and all we needed were pencil cases and note books which were light and easy.
I found my one of two year 12 classrooms of 10 students easily and approaching the teacher she
puts me in the front left side of the row by myself
First days always the worst I kept telling myself as the students kept staring at me.
“Hiya, I'm Karla” a high pitched voice tells me as she sits beside me. I look to her and smile “hi, I'm
Lilac”
“Your Dom’s sister aren’t ya?” A louder deeper voice suddenly interrupts Karla who glares playfully
to the big teenager that had just walked in. I nod. That’s what we’d called each other since I was
little and we were related so it did
“Dom’s sister!” others exclaimed and I blushed. Obviously some of them knew me
“Dom said they’ve trying to get you to come for years. Why the sudden change?” Another boy asks
me and I lean back from all the people and give an uneasy smile, not sure how to react then
answering “um, my grandmother just died”
The boy grimaces and earnestly apologises “Aw geese, I'm sorry” he tells me
“Oi, Dom said to leave’ her alone” the bigger built guy tells them all as they start rambling and asking
questions again
Aw Dom my heart swelled. Another brother
“So what native tribe are you from?” Karla asks me
“I'm Cherokee” and she nods understanding and points to my necklace “is that your totem?” she
asks me and I smile and nod “it’s mine and my grandmother’s symbol. Do you have one?” I ask her
politely and she turns her head to show her earring pendent “Otoko-hana” she tells me and I smile
and nod understanding her connection to it. Native tribes bound together. Though we were not the
same tribe, we were still of the same and it connected us together, even me and Andy to the Na’vi.
“sorry about your grandmother” she then tells me and I smile and look up as the teacher begins but
then the door opens interrupting the lesson with a panting girl who grimaces “sorry I'm late miss”
and sits next to Karla
“did I miss anything?” the little girl asks
Karla laughs “this is Dom’s sister Lilac. She just moved here” Kate then leans over and looks to me
stunned then smiles brightly. Reaching her hand out to me across Karla “Hiya, I'm Kate it’s really nice
to meet ya”
“Miss Kumali?” the teacher looks at Kate who grimaces and whispers “sorry miss”
“You should have woken me up!” Kate whispers to Karla who chuckles “I'm your sister not your
mother Katie besides I thought you told me for the 3 rd term you wanted to be a more ‘independent
person’?” Karla teases and Kate huffs “you still should have woken me” she whispers
At recess I sat by myself comfortably by the fence at the forest but drinking my water I stop and look
to the forest as I see movement. Watching the area I stand but then as a shadow comes over me I
look to a large and very tall and threatening looking boy whom I recognized from my 2 nd class who
had tripped me over then laughed as I grunted at the pain from my broken ribs
“Hi there squirt” he says to me and takes a step closer making me push myself against the fence
“Hello” I mumble only meeting his eyes briefly every few seconds; uncomfortable
“So your Dominick’s sister then huh? Decided to move here after making your granny have a heart
attack huh?” he tells me and I grit my teeth and close my eyes to stop a remark he obviously wanted
to stop.
“What have you got there princess?” he asks and takes my water from my hands quickly
“Hey- give that back please” I ask
He shrugs “sure thing” and pores my water onto me and with him so close and a hand wrapped
around my wrist, I can’t move.
Shivering as the cool winter wind breezes past us I refuse to look at him and not respond to his
provocative behaviour
His face comes into mine then “why don’t you go and run off to you little prim perfect brother
sweetheart?” his fingers then grab my jaw and his lips force themselves into mine, making my eyes
widen. Try pushing him away “get off me” I growl but then he laughs and throws me to the ground
and I grunt at my ribs
I see the moving branches again and a chirp I recognized as a gibbon as the boy walks over and
turning me over he lifts me from the ground by the top of my jacket
“What’s wrong sweetie? Don’t like it when someone knows the truth? You probably drained
everything out of your granny just like your parents. They were probably glad they died” he taunts
and as he grabs my face again to kiss me I hit him with my knee into his stomach and he drops me
with as march force as he could manage
Hands I recognized as Dom’s soft and gentle lifted me up from the ground and with his hands around
my waist “Nic, back off and leave her alone” he tells the large man then he walks us both away from
the man shouting threats and taunts at us
“Every school have their bullies don’t worry about him though. Nice hit though Lil” he tells me with a
brotherly smile
“I’ll say- where’d ya learn that one Lilac?” the same boy from my first class, Karla had called him Tom
“Um, we had defensive lessons in lavender valley” I explain
“So don’t mess with you then right?” Tom smiles joking and I smile back as we sit down with Dom
and his friends whom I recognized the twins as they walked over.
“-And you and you should have woken me up! Ah, being a quad has no advantages!” Katie complains
as she sits next to a boy who puts a hand around her and kisses her lips- not her brother I guessed. I
figured the two boys next to Dom who were smirking at Kate; their names Kaleb and Korban where
her brothers
“So this is Kaleb and Korban and their sister Karla and Katie” they all wave “Katie’s boyfriend Dakota”
Dakota wraps his hand around Katie’s waist and winks in greet “Clarry and Tamika, and this here’s
Tom and Zed” the rest wave and Tom sits next to me and Zed then bites into his apple. I lean a little
into Dominick who as he had spoken had taken mine and his jacket off and put his onto me to stop
me from shivering
He tightens his grip around me and puts his other arm around me
So I had friends- the Quadruplets Katie, Karla, Kaleb and Korban, Dakota, Clarry and Tamika, Tom,
Zed and my brother Dom.

The lunch bell and afternoon bell ring together as we pile out of our first day of term 3
“Lilac?” my last teacher asks as we all stand. Dom sitting up back looks to me. All the teachers used
first names informally. Yet another difference to my old life
“Yes sir?” I answer wary
“Can I speak to you please” he asks. As everyone is ushered out “I’ll see you at home” I tell Dom who
reluctantly nods as he brushes past me casually and out the room
“Now you’re brother Andy told me about your situation and seeing as you have already done this
topic on ‘genetics’ and I am fully aware you are succeeding it like Dominick” he chuckles and I smile
politely “we have already done ‘maintaining balance’ I'm going to suggest that while Dominick will
I'm sure help you with your topics, at the end of school for about 20 minutes I’d like you to stay back
so that I can go through the topic with you while at home and in class I will give you other work to do
and you will also read up on Dominick’s notes. Is that alright with you?” he asks
“Yes sir” I nod
“Now we won’t start today but tomorrow and just for ‘maintaining balance’ which should only take
2 weeks max I would presume. It is a basic build of the topic you have already studied so it will be
straight forward for you. Perhaps if you read over the topic and syllabus first and tell me if you have
any difficulties with it and we will go from there?” he suggests
I nod “yes sir” and he chuckles
“Mr. Yillah will do Lilac; you aren’t in the country anymore. You will soon realize on the island much
is different to the mainlands”
“Yes Mr. Yillah, I have been figuring that out” I tell him and he smiles and dismisses me with a
booklet on ‘maintaining balance’
People were still clearing out of the school and as I walk out I run into Tom who smiles a toothy grin
at me “hey Lil, your brother left already, I'm meeting them at the beach, wanna come?” when I
shake my head he then asks “do you want some help finding your way home then?” he asks me
“Ah, no that’s alright. I have a pretty good memory Tom” I tell him and he smiles broadly again
making me grimace
“well give us a shout if you need anything k?” he tells me “I'm on number 55 on call and no.12 on the
houses” he winks but at the hopeful tone I look to him curiously, but then he waves and winks again
“I’ll see ya later Lil. Don’t get lost” he lightly jokes to me and I add “I’ll try. Bye Tom” and head on
Walking I stop as a rustling in the bushes alerts me “hello?” I ask wary and take a step cautiously
towards it.
I scream as I fall to my behind and look directly into the green eyes of the black gibbon again
“Oh, hello again, you scared me. What are you doing all the way out here though little fella? You
were in the Northern boundaries on Friday… and this is the eastern front” I tell him but his eyes just
read me curiously and I read him back
He hops off me and looking around, I quickly pull myself to my feet and follow like before
“I don’t even know what I'm doing, I'm not supposed to be here- ill get in trouble sweetie” I gasp
“you’re a boy!” as he meets my eyes “a male thybroxy! Ha, Dom and I were right!” I tell myself with
a broad smile “so is it a mutation or is it a type of recessive carried gene. Its definitely not sex linked
though but its pattern is so random…” I continue mumbling to myself
“you were at the school before when Nic… kissed me” I frown and wipe my mouth at the memory
“what nerve” I say with disgust as I continue to follow “thanks for helping our fella”
“Um, where are we?” I ask him and he jumps to my shoulder and passes something to me
I look to him and he bites into the same thing. Hesitantly I bite into mine, watching what parts he ate
“mm, these are good” I look up to the large grape like fruits as he jumps to them “wangai plums” I
murmur, remembering a picture of them Andy had shown me of the native growing fruits
I watch as the black and green eyed gibbon takes 4 from the bunch and bringing them down he gives
me one and eats the other four
I chuckle “guess you like those huh?”
I sit and watch him then read a bit of my biology homework while he stuck around me and curiously
turned one of my pages.
“Hey- please don’t take it, it’s my homework. I don’t want to have to explain a little trickster of a
gibbon took my homework” I tell him as he snatches my booklet from me
His thybroxy gene eyes meet mine again and seeming to understand, he brings me the booklet back.
spooked, I take it reluctantly “okay…”
“don’t get me wrong, I'm glad you listened and all but… you seem to… understand me” I tell him
wary. The gibbon jumps to my chest and his eyes were only inches from mine as if trying to convey
something across to me
“If it makes you feel better, I won’t tell them” I respond to his eyes and sigh knowing Andy would
love to hear about it or Dom to rub into his face but then realizing what I had just done I gasp and
turn sharp eyes back to the gibbon that for some reason, looked smug “no way…” I breath and
watch the gibbon who’s eyes held me captive
His intensity wearing off, he hops off and hangs around me again then contents himself to my
shoulder as I look to my book
I smile “well considering that you’re following me around- because I know it was you at the house
yesterday night” I glare playfully at him “I say a little figure at the window” I tell him then continue
“and because your eyes are an aqua green I think your name is … Tarquil. That’s what you look like
to me. What do you think?” I ask. His eyes conveyed as I learnt they always did and I nod “alright
Tarquil” I close the booklet and stand “I’ve gotta be going. Do you think you could show me the way
out?” I ask him and to my surprise his eyes turn stubborn and he jumps disappearing
I huff “fine then. I’ll find my own way out” and turn back the way I came
After a kilometer I guessed, I heard the branches once again and a smirk played on my lips because
the stubborn male was still following me protectively around as I wondered through the forest with
my compass knowing that I was at the east front and therefore headed back that way “you can be as
stubborn as you like Quil, but I'm not staying in here. I'm no gibbon and no matter how much you try
I gotta go back, I’ll get in trouble if I stay out here and I can’t survive on just wangai plums” I tell him,
not looking to the branches beside me where he kept himself hidden but known stubbornly
“well would you live out there with me? I don’t think so- and don’t even try it” I comment then smile
smug as I hear people “ha, you see? I got out of your trap. You know that was pretty sly of you” I
turn to him as he jumps through to my shoulder and makes a disapproving sound in my ears “I gotta
go, see ya later Tarquil” I tell him and he jumps off and into the forest as I inconspicuously walk out
and onto the path feeling the drill of two green eyes on my back all the way home. It was like having
3 brothers now and 1 mother.
“Hey what did Mr. Yillah want?” Dom asks me as I walk into the house. Tom sitting on the couch with
a can of coke smiles that same bright smile to me “hey, did you get lost?” he teases
And I smile back as I take a coke out too “no, I took a detour” I tell him then turn back to Dom who
walks into the lounge room “he gave me this” I show the ‘maintaining balance’ booklet “while you
get to relearn genetics 101 I have to learn the topic I missed and have afterschool lessons for the
next 2 weeks with him to do the module. Would you mind if I looked at your notes on it?” I ask Dom
who smiles “yeah sure. Do you have your ‘Genetics’ notes too?” he asks me and I smile nodding
“yeah, it’s easy though, just the basis of Deoxyribose nucleic acid, the nucleotides and base
formations and the Mendel’s, hybrid’s and pedigree crosses” I shrug to him who in response shrugs
back easily understanding; our casual language. Dom groans “it’s like the longest topic. It’s too basic-
it’s gonna kill me. If I'm not careful ill start going into the molecular scales and formation of the
Amadryme”
I grimace understanding and sit on the edge of the couch by him “I know what you mean, I kept
thinking about the thybroxy genetic codes and kept writing it up rather than the-”
“quit it! You two are making my head hurt! I'm having enough trouble remembering DNA and RNA
despite all that in my head” Tom complains and puts his hands to his head as if having a headache
Dom and I look to each other and grimace then Dom puts a hand to Tom teasing a little “aw, sorry
Tom, we forgot- that’s our casual talk around here though huh Lil, not footballs and the alphabet”
and I nod joking with him while Tom glares at us both “if you want any help with it I'm sure Dom and
I wouldn’t mind giving you a hand” I offer
“sure” Dom pitches in and Tom shakes his head still glaring at us “you two are genetic twins mind
and body, I swear” he tells us
“that reminds me- sorry Tom- Thybroxy gene and all- we were right! It’s not a sex linked
chromosome it’s more a random recessive gene. It can’t just be a mere mutation because its
happened on 3 generations and Tar-” I cut off
Dom snorts “yeah, we’ll just have to convince Andy with that” he tells me not catching my slip up
“What the parents don’t believe you?” Tom asks casually
Dom shakes his head “nah, they think this green eye inheritance gene is sex linked for only female
but the way it shows itself is strange and our parents have been studying the case for… nearly 20
years now huh Lil?” he looks to me and I thought back to his point ‘our parents’ I had never really
thought much about my parents other than wishing they were alive and I had known them but what
Nic had said had got under my skin. I nod absently to Dom “… it’s another mystery like the
Amadryme which is the gene found in sets of twins” Dom explains to Tom and assures at Toms
grimace that ‘it’s really interesting and the gibbons have their own character…”
I head upstairs and drop my bag on my floor in my room then drop to my bed and breath out a long
sigh while looking through the window

“Andy?” I hesitantly ask that night after dinner. Andy turns to me from cleaning the dishes with an
encouraging smile “what’s up Lil? Something bothering you, you were quiet this arvo” he tells me.
He was observant like Zoë and Dom; an affect of being observant scientists- or for Dom and me- in
training.
I didn’t meet his eyes as I lean against the door frame looking at the bottom of the kitchen stools “I
was just wondering… about mum and dad…” his hands still in the water. I listen as the tap turns off
and he dries his hands
“What are you thinking about?” he asks me gently but I could hear the tension in his voice, making
me wince and bite my tongue. He’s angry my mind told me
As I hesitate unsurely he presses “what are you worrying about Lil?” he asks again
“Well this boy at school…” I say evasively “… I was just wondering… um, if you…” I shake my head
and chickening out I walk up the stair quick and quietly to my room past the lounge room where
Dom sat and watched me make my way to my room and Zoë walk into the kitchen to speak with
Andy
“Dom” I hear Andy call and the couch squeaks as Dom silently walks into the kitchen. Directly under
them I hear “what was that about?” Zoë asks
“I'm having a hunch. Did something happen at school?” he asks Dom
“Yeah, at recess Nic had a go at her and he pored water over her” he growls with the word Jerk “I
thought I heard something about her grandmother and parents but I didn’t hear much other than
that” he tells the parents
Andy is silent and I knew his thinking face and that the others would be watching him try figuring it
out “alright. I’ll have to talk to her” he decides and I close my eyes. That’s what happens when you
stick your nose into unwanted places
“what do you think it’s about?” Zoë asks and I hear lower voices, catching only a few words with car
accident in it
“I’ll look out for her, Tom and the guys will too. She stayed with us after recess but she got home
after us but she told ya about the afterschool lessons” Dom reminds them
I hear the door creek open and with my eyes closed and body still, lying on the bed breathing in and
out, the door then closes
“Come on Lil, let’s get going” Dom tells me at the door
“You can go, I’ll catch up” I tell him
“Nup, come on” he tells me and walks upstairs into my room to grab my bag then downstairs taking
my arm and closing the door behind us we leave
“I’ve got one sister to watch out for, I don’t want Kate to find something else to pick on me- or have
in common with you about it” he tells me as he lets go of my arm. We were one week into the
semester now and I was already done with my afterschool lessons and instead sitting next to Dom in
bio genetics and told to be quiet like him as the rest of the class studied genetics and we did our own
stuff unless on the off chance Mr. Yillah asked us to answer a question which we took turns in;
competing against each other to pass time as he asks questions to the class. I was winning most of
the time I was proud to say.
“Or Kaleb and Korban to have a one up on you” I add and he chuckles “or that”
I look to the trees and smile to myself as I hear a familiar gibbon call out in greet to me “huh, guess
that same gibbons hanging around again. mum and dad said they’d searched for it but haven’t
spotted it yet” he tells me.
“He doesn’t want to be seen yet. He’s shy” I tell Dom
“How do you know” I shrug as I walk beside him, promising Tarquil I wouldn’t say matter how much I
itched to.
I had avoided both Nic with the help of Dom and Tom cutting him off- or me- and Andy at night from
his talk he tried to catch me but I always was found asleep.
As I walk out for recess I hear a desperate young gibbon cry out wasn’t a friendly call I knew and it
needed help. knowing I shouldn’t as I pause with Kate and Dakota next to me with their arms around
each other
“what’s up Lil?” they ask me
“I’ve gotta do something. I’ll see ya later okay?” I tell them and they frown “okay…”
“And don’t tell Dom” I ask and watching the forest I quickly go around the front of the school and
into forest
Following the sound I reach it, expecting it to be in the trees but instead it was in the ground. The
gibbon sounded very young and distressed
“hang on, I’ll help you out” I tell it as I approach and the noise stops as I reach in
I take my hand out “come on little one, I won’t hurt you. Let’s get you out of there and get some
help huh?” I tell it and look down to see small frightened brown eyes looking up to me from the dark
I smile encouragingly “come on sweetie” and I reach down slowly. I bite my lips as its little teeth sink
into my hand, but then it softens its grip and as I reach for it, it wraps its arms and legs around my
hand.
I lift the small creature out and watch in awe upon seeing its small white size with only a thin sheen
of new hair growing on it. It was only a baby
“Oh, sweetie. Where is your mother?” I look at her then putting her protectively into my chest I look
to the trees but see nothing.
Another plain then my mind decided
“Tarquil!” I call out tentatively and look around “Quil!” I call again and I walk slowly back east until I
hear a familiar call and a black figure
“Tarquil, I need your help” I show little Nooru in my hands and Tarquil’s green conveying eyes turn
from mine to the little tiny white figure as big as my hand on my chest
Tarquil looks back to me “I just found her but I have to get back to school. Watch out for her for me
and when school finishes ill come and get her to feed her. I think her mother’s gone” I tell him grimly
Trustingly, I reach out to Tarquil who was half sitting and hanging off me as I pry off Nooru’s tiny
hands making her eyes open and squeak in protest but then replace my fingers and chest with
Tarquil’s, making her quieten down
“please look out for her” I beg of him and my eyes widen as he nods “no way…” I say to myself again
and once again, his face is inches from mine communicating the same message to me again
“Okay, I’ll see you when I finish school. I’ll go past the housing home centre and get some hand
rearing mix for her”
Tarquil surprises me as he touches his forehead to mine and nuzzles against it a little before going to
the trees, then I leave but with the gibbons staying on the outskirts of the forest watching and
waiting for me
I run back into school and am relieved as the students are heading back to class now
Rounding the corner a hand moves in front of me and stops me “where are you body guards now?”
Nic’s voice says menacingly
I glare at him and duck under him “go away Nic. We’re going to be late to class” I tell him but then
he grabs my hair and jerks my hair back
“So?” he smiles and pushes me into the wall
“So I don’t want to be late to class so leave me alone- and let go of me” I tell him meeting his eyes
evenly
“Why? Don’t want to be a further disappointment to your family you’ve already destroyed?” he asks
me and I glare
“Nic, stop being a miserable bully for once and get a life!” I push at him hard and duck then run
around the corner. As I see him following I see Tom who turns “hey, where have you been I’ve been
looking for you?” he asks me and I turn to see Nic stopping in the shadows
“here and there” I allude and to my surprise he puts one of his arms around me “having fun with Nic
again?” he whispers as he leans closer subtly and I grimace
“were you with him the whole time?” he asks concerned with that same tone that made me eye him
curiously again
“No” I respond and he sighs but I could see his forehead furrowed “Kate and Dakota told me you
went off. They didn’t tell Dom but… well, just be careful” he tells me in a shy concerned voice
I nod “I will”
“I’d hide that if I were you too” he adds, seeing the bit of blood on my hand
“oops” I saw and put it to my mouth
“Don’t do that!” Tom protests with a chuckle and takes my hand from my mouth quickly “it’s a bite
mark” he tells me
“It’s a cut” I try to correct him but a glimmer in his eyes and a smirk tells me he was not fooled then I
whisper “I'm vaccinated” he shakes his head and lets go of my hand “wash it off instead please?” he
asks
“What’s your cover up for Dom, we have chem. And bio next” he reminds me
“Um… Mr. Yillah”
He smirks “good luck with that”
Bell rings and I move from Bio before Tom and Dom could catch me. I head into the forest and
instantly Tarquil and Nooru come down “meet me at the house, I'm gonna get the baby mix for her.
Thanks for this Quil” he nuzzles my forehead with his again before I leave
My walkie talkie beeps “This is Lilac, over” I respond
“Dom. Where’d you get off to? Over” Dom asks
“In a rush to get home” I tell him part of the truth
“Why?” he asks and I grit my teeth.
“Can I trust you? Over?”
“Yes” he immediately replies
“I’ll tell you at home. Over and out”
I reach the home base of the gibbon studies and finding some of the hand rearing baby mix I take a
bag and leave
In the forest “I’ve got the food. Do you want to wait out here or at my window again?” I ask Tarquil
as I take the willing Nooru from him. Tarquil follows and waits at my window while I go inside and
meet Dom who is alone
“Dom…” I say to him still hiding Nooru.
“I found her. Her mother’s gone and I’ve got the baby mix for her. Can you help me please?” and
show her to him. He gasps and looks to her with sympathy and compassion, patting her little head
Dom takes the food and mixes it then with a syringe, I feed it to her and thankfully after a few tries I
succeed and she eats, both of us sighing with relief. Finished Dom asks “what are you going to do
with her now?” he asks me as I walk to my room “I have a friend taking care of her. You can’t tell
anyone though okay? Not yet” I tell him and he nods
“who’s the friend?” he asks
“If you watch from the window in my room when I go out, you’ll see him”
Outside I pass her to Tarquil and explain to him. He would keep her I knew.
“A gibbon? Are you sure?” he asks
“Yes. He’ll come back in the night and ill feed her then at school too” I tell him knowingly
The routine continues for the next 3 weeks successfully and Dom keeps the secret and Tom and the
others grow closer
…
“Tarquil!” I shout out, knowing that sound and I drop my things and run into the forest
“Lil-No!” Dom calls out and chases after me “Dom!” further back I hear Tom say, but he stopped
after a while and went back, unable to find me
“Tarquil!” I shout out then hearing him cry out again I run further in towards the sound. Looking
around frantic I suddenly stumble across the reason for his distress
I scream startled as a black gibbon I then realize jumps to me and clings onto me. I hug him back
briefly “Tarquil!” before he moves to my back, then I gasp and my body locks up with fear as I face a
king blue leopard with his markings remarkable and vibrant with an outline of cobalt blue on some.
His yellow eyes turn to me then and I remain stiff and still.
“Tarquil, where is Nooru” I whisper back to him urgently while trying to keep my voice calm for the
sake of their lives
Not leaving the big cat’s eye contact as it remains still and thinking; unsure of me, giving me my only
chance.
“Nooru” I call out with a gentle forcefully calm voice and to my relief I hear the youngen squeak a
response to me and I am snapped out of my body’s shutdown and instead I shake but I can move.
Still looking at the leopard I very slowly shift my head around and on angle to look for Nooru and I
get my only hint; a whole on the ground and I figured when Tarquil was attacked she somehow fell
or was put inside and the big cat was trying to get a meal out of it and him. Tarquil wouldn’t leave
little Nooru I was sure.
But at my movement the cat’s eyes become firm and I stiffen and take a step back as it turns its full
attention on me and growls with its tail flicking with anticipation as it stalks to us.
I maneuver, matching its speed as it begins to circle me, closer to the crevice but then is scream as in
a blur the leopard swipes at me, cutting my face with 4 lines and I fall from the force to the ground. I
was in awe though as then Tarquil snarls and jumps to my defense; attacking the leopard that was
playing and taunting with me. “Tarquil” I whisper as my hand goes to my face as I see him
momentarily stop the stunned leopard.
I look to the crevice as a squeak come again and acting I pull myself up and running over I skid to a
stop and reach in grabbing the little baby gibbon then pulling her to my chest I stand and look up
“Tarquil!” I shout and he instantly jumps to my back above my backpack and once more I am facing
the brilliant yellow cat eyes that were on me that could see the blood and my trembling. I take a
step back and a branch snaps then as the leopard roars, we run with a frantic frightened sound
coming from my mouth
As the leopard pounces at me he misses and hisses with rage as I squeeze in between the narrow
trees. As I run I make an effort to run through the narrow areas where each time the king blue
leopard growls as his swipes and pounces miss repeatedly
My ribs weren’t as healed as I thought, I realize as my chest throbs under my heavy panting
Running frantic with an angry cat behind me “which way?” I shout to Tarquil who instantly jumps off
me and slightly ahead for me to follow
Watching him I hadn’t paid attention to the ground and I trip over a fallen branch with a painful
landing on my ribs “Ah” I cry but luckily I had moved Nooru away from the impact. With a wrenching
cry I lift myself up as simultaneously Tarquil jumps in front and gestures for the trees. Putting Nooru
back to my chest that she clung on for life easily, I quickly take my backpack off and through it
making the leopard sidetrack then run and jump to the first branch and again I force my aching chest
to pull me up with my one hand as the claws dig into my left ankle as I was too slow to lift it up in
time
I knew Leopards were good climbers but they went on distance, stealth and surprise and as I climbed
high he was losing his last attack.
I let out a trembling shaky gasp as I slip and dangle vulnerably for the leopard that followed only a
few meters of tree below me. Desperate I look to Tarquil
“Tarquil- the cast!” and he jumps down and looks to me “bite it off” I tell him and somehow he
understood me with his green bright deep eyes and his little teeth come out and piece by piece he
rips it off and spits it at the cat who shakes its head and growls, momentarily stopping. I clench my
jaw shut as his teeth go too deep and pierce my skin which he realizes as he yelps and licks it
apologetically. It only takes 4 powerful bites before I am able to break the cast off fully and with
desperation I fling it hard at the cat, hitting its head who growls furiously at me before we both
continue climbing.
Gritting my teeth from the pain as I climb and having already taken my shoes off and thrown them at
the cat too, as we grew higher and higher the cat slowed and now with all my perseverance, it finally
gave up and quickly climbed back down the 10 meters and ran off into the hiding shrubs
I sigh with relief and we rest briefly
Tarquil jumps to my shoulder then and I smile to him “good job Quil, you were so brave- you
attacked a king blue leopard!” I praise him then look to the small white fuzzy body on my chest “and
you- how many more crevices are you going to get yourself into and I have to come and save you
huh?” Nooru replies with her squeak again
“You’re back bleeding Tarquil” I finally notice in his black fur. Getting comfortable in the branches I
pull him closer and after examining it I rip my jack and tie a piece around him which though he
objected to, he kept on then looking to Nooru “and you are just dirty” she says and brushes her off a
little
Carefully then, Lilac moves down to retrieve her bag with the okay of Tarquil who led. Looking about
she then finds one of her shoes and some of her cast then putting them in her bag.
I smile relieved “my walkie talkie” on the Island no one used phones, instead everyone carried
walkie talkies; it was easier and more effective. Though we had televisions and phone lines they
were not used on the island, only to contact the outside world as we put it. I turn the walkie talkie
on as I look around for any threats and wince at the loud sounds.
“Lil this is Dominick, answer” I hear
I quickly turn it off too skittish and worried the leopard would return and climb back up the tree then
try again
“Lil this is Dom, if you can hear this” He says again
“Dom, this is Lil, over?” I speak
“Lil! What the hell do you think you’re doing!” he shouts and I was grateful I was in the trees. Tarquil
and Nooru shift and I ease them “easy, easy”
“What the hell’s going on?” he asks me
“My friend was in trouble and I went and helped them” I respond
“The Gibbons? How can you know-?”
“I know” I interrupt firmly then add “I'm not really sure where I am but Tarquil’s gonna take me back
to the house” I look to him and his green eyes were filled with understanding “yup to the house and
ill meet you there okay?” I tell him
“Who’s Tarquil?” he asks me and I smile to Tarquil
“He’s my friend. And a male Thybroxy” I tell him and I hear Dominick gasp
“Really? Is he the one with Nooru too?”
“Yup” I say smugly “okay, I want out of this tree, I’ll see you at home and then I’ll explain. Over?”
“Okay. See you there. Over and out” He tells me and I turn the walkie talkie off then they follow
Tarquil’s lead, wary of leopards.
Hugging Nooru, we arrive at one of the fences. I put my hand to it tentatively then they follow it out.
I sigh “well, I guess it’s time to go” I tell them on my chest and shoulder as we reach the house
“you’ve been following me” I tease again as I try passing Nooru to him but she wouldn’t let go “you
can’t stay with me as much as I love you, you can’t. You have to be more careful out there though” I
tell her and Tarquil. I wave to them goodbye but Tarquil hops onto my shoulder and we walk to the
house “you can’t stay, you’ve both got to leave and I can’t go with you” I murmur to them then
grimly smile “besides I'm sure you’re going to run off when you see Dom” as I walk barefooted and
with a bit of blood and looking like I had scraped with a leopard- as I walk closer to the house,
looking back reflexively for danger
I jump with the gibbons as Andy’s appearance surprises me. I wipe at my cut face before he gets
closer
“Sshh, sshh” I tell Tarquil and hold my hands up and step back from Andy’s angry advances
Then quickly I turn to Tarquil “go. I’ll see you… tomorrow” his eyes conveyed stubbornness and I sigh
giving in “tonight. Go” I tell him and with Nooru “Cya Nooru” touching her little head and jumps off
me and head back to the forest grounds, then hands come on my shoulders and I gasp “easy” I ask
him wincing
“What the hell Lilac” Andy tells me and as I turn my face up to him he gasps and touches my cheek
“4 lines… leopard?” he says to himself disbelieving and I wipe at it embarrassed again
“No, I startled Tarquil” I lie not wanting to frighten him as he leads me into the house with Zoë and
Dominick
“You look like you tussled with a leopard” he tells me and I can’t help but laugh.
“Maybe a little” I tell him knowing I couldn’t lie then quickly before he could start “Tarquil is a male
with the Thybroxy gene and is a white gibbon I found but doesn’t show the gene” I tell them and
they bite like I knew they couldn’t help but
“A male Thybroxy. So then it’s not sex linked. How long have you known of him?” Andy asks and I
reply “I met him in the northern territory that first day but he wanted to stay hidden so I-”
“He wanted to stay hidden?” Andy repeats not understanding
“Yes, he’s worried and wary of you and for little Nooru” I tell him and he frowns
“How do you know that though?” he asks me and this time I frown then I look around to see the
other confused faces and I look down and bite my lip. Okay then. desperate times…
“He called and I came. The leopard was attacking him and Nooru was stuck in a crevice under the
king blue’s feet. I got her out and we ran up a tree then I went and got my backpack and the walkie
talkie then Tarquil led me home” I tell them keeping the other points out
They bite again
“What happened to your shoes?” Andy asks
“threw them at the cat while we were climbing” Dom and Zoë smile
“what happened to your cast?” Andy asks
“I asked Tarquil to take it off and then he threw it at the cat” Dom chuckles
“Your bag?”
“I tripped over a log and threw it so that I could distract the leopard and get into the tree”
“You’re jacket?”
“For Tarquil oh-” I get up from the couch but fall back holding my ribs
“You alright?” Andy asks putting his hand over mine
“Fine. I hit my ribs really hard. I gotta call in Tarquil” I tell him and he helps me up and they watch as
I instructed from the house
“He’s probably already back in the northern grounds Lil” Andy had said
“Nah, he follows me around everywhere. I know he’s out there anyway” I told them and I was right
as I called for him
“Tarquil! Come over here” I see the rustling of the branches and smiling I move just inside the forest
“Lil…” I hear and ignore
“Let me fix the wound on your back. they won’t touch you or Nooru I promise I won’t let them if you
don’t want me to. They won’t hurt you though” I promise
I take a step out of the forest and then they land on my shoulder. I kiss his little head and pull them
both into my arms as I walk back to the house to the smiling and perplexed faces
“we’ll stay outside okay. Now…” I start taking the bandage off but then Nooru moved and clings into
my chest and I chuckle
“Fine. You stay still though- and quiet. no more crying” I warn her
She chirps once and I say “Nooru…” and she stops
I clean the wound and put some cream on it and smile “see, good as new” then Tarquil pushes his
forehead affectionately to mine and I hear everyone’s gasp of surprise
Andy walks closer and he snarls
“Andy he doesn’t want you to touch him” I caution and Andy sits in front of them
“That’s fine. Not all gibbons like contact or people even, only the ones that let us we can study and
observe” he reminds me
“Quil he won’t hurt you” I persuade him and after meeting my eyes “at least look at him?” and he
turns to Andy who gasps at the green bright eyes he is met with
“What about Dom? He helped us with Nooru remember?” he puts his hands on either side of my
cheeks watching my eyes “but he won’t, he’s Brolick’s- Tepaiya’s friend, they were playing that day
with the northern and eastern pods. They’re not afraid” I reply and his eyes remain stubborn “it’s a
love hate relationship” I shrug “how many things has he taken from his person. He always comes
around- no he’s never aggressive” I look to a stunned Andy beside me “is he?”
“Is who?” he asks me
I frown and roll my eyes “Tri-bark- sorry” I look back to the green eyes “Treelow”
“He’s worried of what people do” I tell Andy
“How are you doing that?” Dom asks as he sits beside me
“I'm not doing anything” I reply “what do you mean?”
Dom watches me for a minute then decides “okay, let me get a camera and that way I can show you”
he decides, coming back seconds later
“It’s a camera. It records what’s happening. I’ll show you it in a minute.” Tarquil sings at me as he
meets my eyes “it’s perfectly harmless.”
I lift my hand up and hold it out to him and understanding Tarquil puts his hand against mine,
holding them up then he curls his fingers around my hand and I smile “see? No problem is there?”
with my other hand I hold it out to Andy who does the same thing
Tarquil watches and begins to protest to me “oh stop he will not!” I tell Tarquil
Tarquil glares at me “stop it Quil. Who do you think gave me the cream- yes the white stuff for your
back? Andy did. And Dom and Zoë” I answer his questioning eyes
“Well why don’t you say thank you then?” I offer and he turns to Andy meeting his eyes with
intelligence but then looks back to me confused like me
I turn to Andy who is just as confused “he says thank you” I tell him
“he said thank you?” Andy repeats then I laugh “you just have to learn to listen” I tell him
“Okay I think that is plenty” Dom tells us with an anticipating smile
“Go on back” I nod “I’ll see you later and put more of the cream on. be careful though and stay high”
I remind him and as he nuzzles me again he takes Nooru into his chest from me “see ya later Nooru”
and leaves
We watch the video and I star stunned while everyone else watches my reaction. I shake my head
slowly with denial “that’s… that’s…” I take the tape out and hold it in my hands then look to Dom
and the others then without another word I go to my room

Sitting outside my window on the roof I watch the moon rise and then Tarquil appears and Nooru
jumps onto me and we huddle close and just watch and listen
Dom surprises me as he appears crawling through the window and sits next to us, both gibbons
knowing him already
“am I crazy then?” I ask him
“no, you’re not crazy Lil” he tells me firmly. I look to him doubtfully and he puts his arm around my
back and head on my shoulder “it’s just like you said, we have to learn to listen. You have better
hearing then us remember you were the only one able to hear Nooru and then Tarquil the other day
besides I think I have a bit of an experiment and theory to put on this all” he comforts me with
science and eagerly tells me and I tell him my theory on thybroxy which he agrees with
“What if it’s the thybroxy that communes this- helps you listen better so to speak?” he offers and
says “you gave Tri-bark and Brolick different names, see what happens when you call them by it and
see what happens when you talk to Wollow and Guava” he concludes
I nod “alright. Are you sure though?” I ask him and he surprises me by kissing my cheek “yup. Wanna
go now?” he asks with a rebellious glint in his eyes and looking into my room I see two bags packed. I
smile and we leave

“Wollow, Guava” we call and they thankfully arrive with the help of Tarquil
We observe their communications on the records then I sigh and say “Wollow, can you look at me
please?” I ask and obediently she does. Dom and my eyes widen
“do you understand me?” I nod “what about Dom?” I ask and their eyes turn to him and he gasps
“what?” I ask him and he looks to me “It must be the gene. It’s a communication gene” he states “so
you heard her?” I ask and with that I watch as Guava approaches him as he shakes his head and
similarly she looks deep into his eyes I note down
“She’s bonding with you. The Twins are bonding with you” realize as then Wollow moves to him and
similarly does the same thing. Then they surprise me further as they both move to me and despite
Tarquil’s possessive growls they bond me as well
We look to each other stunned “wow” we both say at the same time
“okay theory proven” we decide “next test”
I smile and show my flash light “let’s get a little help” and flashing it I see Nully and Aloiki appear
“wow” Dom marvels
“Tarquil? Could you call for Brolick- for Tepaiya?” he calls out and Brolick and his pod arrives, landing
on Dom
“Hey there fella” he greets his friend
“Tepaiya?” I call to him and instantly he lifts his head and turns to me
“It’s true” Dom says with a smile “all of its true” and we look to each other relieved and grateful
Overwhelmed, I suddenly hug Dom who stiffens with surprise and then buries his head onto me with
his arms wound around me too “thanks Dom” I tell him
He doesn’t reply until after a moment “I'm glad I'm your brother” he tells me earnestly, his voice
holding a tender touch in it making my eyes feel teary “I'm glad you are too” I reply but then I stiffen
Simultaneously the gibbons all except the Tarquil, Brolick, Wollow and Guava as they look like me to
the direction of their alarm as they call with warning and fear
I stand and pull Dom up best I could. I take a step towards the danger, unsure of what it was “Dom
we gotta get out of here” I tell him with sudden panic of recognition and I take a step back as Tarquil
jumps on me with Nooru
“Dom now!” I shout and turn running, pushing him ahead and following the gibbons that led us
“what’s wrong?” he asks running “it’s what Tarquil was talking about. About people coming and
taking them- AH!” I scream as a thick unbreakable net constricts around me and Tarquil and Nooru
“Lil! Lil where are you!” he calls, unable to see
“Gotcha” I hear as we are picked up and thrown into a metal cage, hearing the metal lock
“Dom! Dom help!”I scream
***
The gibbons leading him quickly, Dom runs back to the house “mum- dad!”
“They took Lil and Tarquil and Nooru.”
“Who?”
“The hunters” then he explains their experiments and theories “we recorded the data” he adds
while his parents contact the guards and search parties
“A plane has just left the island” Zoë confirms and Dom shakes his head “No! No Way!” he shouts
and runs out of the house
“Dominick get back here!” Andy shouts as he chases him.
Running into the forest Andy grabs him midway “Dominick!” he shakes him as he grabs him the
gibbons then appear, Wollow, Guava and Brolick and they hoot in warning
Dominick turns to Guava “do you know where they took them? What happened last time?”
Dominick asks them
His dad gasps “you can… too?” he asks and I nod “Lil taught me. It’s their thybroxy inherited gene,
not a mutation, nor sex linked, just a rare passed on genetic code through the generations.” Then
adds
“Lil said Tarquil talked about people coming in and taking gibbons, and Lil found Nooru in a crevice in
the ground and her mother gone so maybe it was the same situation. 3-no 4 weeks ago now”
“Do you know what happened to them?” he asks the twins and guava meets his eyes and conveys
“they come like silent leopards, but they use a net and it scoops the leopards and the gibbons, birds
and the bush babies up then into metal cages and they disappear forever” Dominick tells his father
then continues “they came tonight in silence and stealth and then they scooped The Listener-
Tarquil’s person and their child Nooru away into a big net and they we picked up and locked away
before disappearing”
“It was a larger net?” Andy asks and I nod “so then they were after her then” Andy concludes
“do you think they knew of her bond with the gibbons?” I ask dad and he nods “they must have”

I bang on the cage “let us out!” I gasp “woh!” as we suddenly fall down and land with a thump on
hard ground then the net is cut and the bright light is blinding
I hold Tarquil and Nooru tight in my chest as my eyes adjust to the room. It was a cage with a few
thick branches for the gibbons and the ground for her with a bed. They had been expecting her too
then
“Hello?” I call out, looking for the people in charge of this with the gibbons still tight in my chest
“Don’t worry, we’ll get out of here” I promise
I shake my head “nope. No one else was taken. Only us” I reply
“I know because I could hear the twins and Brolick with Dom. They’re all fine, don’t worry” I whisper
“Hello?” I call out again “is anyone there?” I ask
“Well my Listener. It is true then” A male’s voice laughs as the shadow comes closer
“I'm sorry, who are you?” I ask frowning
He laughs again “my name is Sidga. I am part of an international black market organization for exotic
creatures and specimens and you Listener, will be my finest yet” he tells me
“Listener? I don’t understand” I repeat
“Yes. My Listener, you are she. Communing with the monkeys- look at you!” he chuckles excitedly
“and I have all the evidence I need on tape. You see tomorrow you will be at my zoo and on
exhibition, then at the highest bid, you will go- as it is with black market business”
“I'm a human being, and nor is any of this legal. What makes you think I will cooperate?” I ask
“See the two you hold in your arms?” he points to suggestively and I tighten my grip and he smiles
“but I need them. No, I would be thinking about your scientific family on the research and native
island. You wouldn’t want an awful accident to happen to any of them now would you?” Sidga tells
me and I pale. No more. No more accidents.
I slump defeated and slide to the bottom of the cage
“that’s a good girl and perhaps I will keep you” he marvels and leaves.
A young girl then walks over and puts food and water into the cage “thank you” I tell her in a
whisper and her eyes widen before turning away
“Come on, eat up” I tell Tarquil
“Oh- miss? Miss there is a baby gibbon here and it is fed on hand rearing mix, would you possibly be
able to find something?” I ask but then a man with a bat stalks towards me and I shrink back. he hits
the cage “quiet. if it won’t eat ill kill it on the spot for you” then he leaves
My heart pounding I take some fruit and chew it up into puree then offer it to Nooru “come on
Nooru, it’s all I have” I tell her and she takes some of it and I sigh “good girl”

Walking out into the sunlight I hear cheers and gasps at my appearance among the other many
gibbons. I gulp and sit at the wall, trying to get as far away from the hands reaching and grabbing my
ankle and wrists as they shout at me “Speak!”
‘Behold! The one and only Listener. A girl who speaks to Gibbons. For the love of her family’ the man
reminds me with a warning and I sigh and call Tarquil to me “I'm sure Andy will come soon. He won’t
let anything happen to you” I tell him and meeting his eyes I reply “no, he won’t let anything like
that happen to any of us. He’s not one of them” I glare at the man who glares back in warning
I sigh “what do you miss most of home?” and we talk. He nuzzles my forehead and gives me a hug
and I close my teary eyes and hug him back

“The Listener that speaks to monkeys. If nothing else a pretty and usable young woman” he wags his
eyebrows suggestively at me “- or a native who could use some discipline”
I ignored the men that betted for my slavery until I hear “Sold!” all the gibbons screech and Tarquil
calls the loudest and growls as then the men come inside the exhibit while I tried to get away from
them with my hands chained behind me “No!” I shout as they hit Tarquil away after he bites them
like the other gibbons, but as they drag me out I see he stands and with Nooru on his back
“No! Quil! Nooru!” and they run up the door and call for me while I struggle
“QUIL!” I cry out “please! Please!” I beg for them both
A thump on my head stops my speech as I am carried out and I numbly hear “I want the black and
white gibbon as well” the man orders
“they come with extra price” the sleazy tells the man I was sold to and rubs his fingers together for
more money
“if I don’t get the two monkeys, I don’t take the girl” he says and then I find myself chained in the
cage by myself in the back of the exhibit, listening to Tarquil cry
“Two days girl” Sidga tells me and laughing he leaves me to weep
Sidga pushes my head down for submission “talk to it! Now. Or I will have them beheaded”
Crying “Tarquil, what is this sweetie’s name?” I ask him and I reply “it’s Kotani” her name is Kotani” I
weep out
Sidga calls out “Kotani” and the little gibbon looks to him “there you have it ladies and gentlemen!”
and then I am taken back to my cage

I hear screams and shouts, gun shots even as I cringe into the corner of my cage
“kill the girl!” I hear Sidga say and my eyes open alert with fear
“please” I whisper to the man approaching me who actually shows sympathy “I'm sorry little miss”
he whispers “he has my family too” and I nod and close my eyes, feeling my tears steak my face
“then do it. Get your family back and do it” I whisper back and shaking, I remain still, my heart
frantic at every closing step, every jostle with the lock the man made. I gulp. I was terrified. I didn’t
want to die. I deserved it though, after all the lives I had taken and destroyed as Nic had reminded
me
I hear a growl and shout, then a large thump as Sidga hit the ground meters away.
“Lilac Parks?” A man in police uniform asks me and I look up trembling badly, seeing the man that
was to kill me relaxed by the cage and smiling relieved
“Lil!” I hear Andy’s voice
“Andy!” I call out relieved and move a little closer to his outspread arms. He had tears in his eyes “oh
Lil” he repeats holding my shackled hands tight
Trembling badly, I felt my vision start to blur around the edges and before I faint “get the gibbons.
Tarquil and Nooru, and Kotani…” my voice fades as I collapse too weak
***
“Lil!” Andy shouts out as he opens the animal cage and pulls his collapsed sister out of it and into his
arms, seeing her red neck and shackles and her body limp and weak brought tears to his eyes. They
see the food and water in her cage with disgust. “get the gibbons out. Their all from Pilikai Island”
Andy tells the police
“The man Sidga has been taken into custody and here, he will be sentenced death” A constable tells
him and he nods as he stands with Lilac in his arms and the man standing at her cage unlocks her
chains for them and explains the man had his family held for his cooperation like he had hers.
They hear a gibbon screech and then running through with a baby Andy tells them it’s alright as they
jump onto Lilac and hug her fiercely
Lilac wakes to his astonishment and hugs them back
“I was sold” she tells him crying and he pales “I was meant to me going with the man today”

“We’re back” I tell Tarquil and Nooru relieved as we get off the air port to the animal cages then
watch as the animals are freed back into the tropical forest with Nooru and Quil on my chest.
“Dom!” I call out as I see him running up and he grabs me tight- the gibbons hoping off me.
“I will never have a bird or any pet” I tell him seriously and he smiles then laughs to my surprise…
and some concern but then Tom appears after Zoë and he similarly hugs me and I bite my lip a little
nervous and tongue tied. I glare at Dom who laughs at my expression
I hear him say “I told ya so” to me and then to my shock Tom’s lips are on mine and I understood
from Dom’s warnings ‘Tom likes you, you know’ ‘no he doesn’t’ ‘yeah. He does’ I meet his smiling
warm brown eyes and shyly smile back
“better than Nic?” he asks teasingly and I glare at him then nod “better than Nic” but then I laugh
Walking back next to Dom who was holding my hand and Tom on the other side of him with the
gibbons in my chest still
“Quil didn’t recognize anyone as Nooru’s mother” I tell Dom and he gives me a little squeeze to my
hand “I don’t think she’d really go back anyway though. You’ve fed her since she was 2 weeks old
and she’d been dependent on you both so” he shrugs “you’re the mother now”
Tom’s joking personality cuts in “are you suggesting she is a mother and Tarquil is the father of
Nooru?” he asks and Dom nods but we both look to each other and shake our heads while rolling
our eyes
Nearly at the house. I stop and let go of Dom’s hand and turn with the gibbons with keen alert ears
“what’s wrong?” Dom asks with a shaky voice remembering the last time I had done it.
My arms tighten on the gibbons and I turn back to Dom and the others, hearing nothing else but like
the gibbons I was unsettled “nothing, I guess…”
I hear a click and so does Tarquil but then at the same time we hear thunder burst from the ground
in front of us. Something hits me in the shoulder and then instantly after something hits Tarquil who
with dying scream cries with the pain “No!” I scream holding tight to him as we fall to the ground
backwards

A two gunshots and lilac shouts “No!” as the second one hits Tarquil and Andy shouts “No!” the first
time as the first bullet hits Lilac and together, Lilac and her friend fall
“Ka’ata-lui” many breath as Andy goes over and looks at the bullet wound while others go to the
gunmen. Her arms still around the dead gibbon
“He’s dead!” Dom cries out with a horrified expression and tears. Andy looks to him surprised “how
did you?…” he asks but Dom shakes his head distraught
Dom has the walkie talkie to number 1 “Dr Balin we need emergency help, Lil’s been shot-”
“Doc’s coming, he said take her to the house and he’ll be there in 5 minutes”
When Andy tries removing Tarquil from her arms she moves
“No! don’t” Dom almost shout to Andy who looks up a little shocked again and says “alright,
alright…”
“Tom go get some- thing to stop the bleeding. Shirts or anything” Andy tells him and Tom comes
back with tea towels that soak up by the time Dr Balin runs into the house to see their grim faces
Dr Balin goes to remove the gibbon and to their shock both Dom and unconscious Lil protest
“Tom!” Andy shouts and he says “sorry bro” as he grabs Dom and holds him to stop Dom from
moving Andy and Doc away from Tarquil and Lilac while Andy holds Lil until Doc pulls out a cloth and
chloroform then covering her mouth they watch her struggle and feebly thrash until she loses the
battle
“Ouch!” Tom shouts as Dom bits him and moves over but Andy and Tom grab him again “leave him
alone!” he tells them
“Dom, snap out of it!” Tom shouts at him but he doesn’t pay attention as Doc gently takes Tarquil
from Lil
“He’s not gone yet- not yet” Dom tells them and Doc confirms “he’s still breathing… but he’s going…
nothing can be done” and hands Quil to Dom who immediately stills and takes Quil in his arms sitting
on the ground
“Oh no…”Doc then says and Andy rushes over to see little Nooru clinging on Lil. They look to each
other grimly
Looking at Dom he lifts his head “get Lil back” he tells them “he can’t go till-” he cuts off and looks
into the gibbons eyes
“get her back please” he begs
Doc has the bullet out by then “it’s in her upper chest and was lodged in her collar bone” he tells
them
“Lil…” Dom’s strangled voice calls out still looking into Quil’s fading green eyes
Suddenly Quil calls out loudly followed by Nooru and to their amazement Lil moves
“she- she should be out!” Doc tells Andy and now Zoë
“Quil” she asks and Dom moves him over and they hug each other fiercely with tears in her eyes.
Quil’s hands go on her face and his eyes deep. She shakes her head “no… no… no- don’t” she tells
him and puts her head to his after kissing it
She opens her eyes again as he asks and stares back to him with agonized expressions. She shakes
her head fiercely at him “please” she begs, her voice strangled “but you promised- no but what
about Nooru- and you can get some of the Wangai plums- you can have all of mine” she promises
him “just stay”
Quil closes his eyes and moves his face into hers, their noses touching and she was crying. He moves
his face a little back and eyeing each other, he blinks once more with his brilliant curious green eyes
before they permanently close and his fingers slide from her cheeks.
Lilac closes her eyes as tears stream her face and she cradles him as she turns her head away
distressed and sobs before with a roll of his now lifeless head, she falls limp too, and so does Dom.
Andy catches Dom and Doc reaches over the bed and catches Lil and starts vigorously working
“Tom call the hospital and get an ambulance. She may even need to be flown out” he tells him and
Tom and other pale “what?” he says in a quivering voice
“Now Tom. No 1”
“This is Tom Quilbry asking permission for an ambulance to the Parks residence by Dr Blain. Severe
bullet wound”
“This is alpha 3 coming” Ali responds and in a minute appears
Getting blood into her she doesn’t need to be flown out and is back the next day. Lilac wakes later
the same afternoon but doesn’t speak to anyone for 2 days as she just rests and Nooru is given back
to her who Dom helps feed as usual.
Tarquil’s ashes burned, Lil is given some of his remains while the rest is spread thoughtfully at the
forest

Pained, confused, angry, Lilac jumps from the roof with Tarquil’s remains and Nooru on her and runs
despite her body’s and fresh wound’s protests to the forest
“Lil!” I hear “Lil come- Andy!” as I fall mid way to the forest. I stand and then run into it and the voice
of her mother never comes closer
I walk and with a flash light meet the twins Aloiki and Nully who console me and lead ahead with the
Thybroxy twins further and deeper into the forest away from the humans and people.
Walking I pass a leopard who snarls at me. I remain perfectly still and meet his eyes with my sad and
inconsolable ones until then he nods and lets me pass him
We reach a darker but more mystic part of the forest where little spores it seemed floated around
with vines dangling thick around us
I sit crouched in the base of a tall tree I was led to “I keep killing so many around me” I speak and the
4 twins jump down next to and on my shoulders “mum and dad, granny… Tarquil” I start crying again
until I fall asleep
Walking the next day as I look around I look to the ash remains of my dear friend
“I was his person” I whisper to the tree then slowly and gently I pore the ashes into my hand and
watch as it flies away into the wind around us and the tree- through the forest then watching it
disappear I say the Cherokee blessing and formal gesture then holding the rock piece and rope, I tie
it to my neck

“She’s been gone for 2 days” Tom and Dom pace distressed at the forest entrance
Dom shouts out “Wollow, Guava!” having kept it all a secret except to his father though he couldn’t
bond with the gibbons- because they were already bonded
The twins arrive “can you find Lil?” he asks them and they nod. Everyone gasps “will you show me
where she is?” and they shake their heads once
He frowns “why not”
“I don’t care if she told you not to- she can’t live out there with you! Quil already tried that and it
doesn’t work.” He protests against their words
The gibbons remain firm though then as if hearing something, they jump back into the trees away.
Dom lets out an exasperated yell and storms back to the house “they said Tarquil’s person is in a
challenge and they won’t let her leave until she finishes it”
“You can speak to them!” Tom asks
“Me and Lil can. She taught me. She’s been doing it since day one” he explains

In afternoon, I wonder back to the house. I climb my roof and then hop into bed and sleep again
Dom walks past her room and opening it he sees her sleeping “Lil?” he asks and walks in to check
“when did Lil get back!” he asks his parents who were also shocked then see her in her bed sleeping,
not seeing little Nooru in the bed with her
Dom shakes her “hey Lil, Lil” he says and slowly I open my eyes and turn to him
“where’d ya go?” he asks me rolling further over he sees Nooru and then I take my necklace of
totems out and show a rock tied up in rope. “Tarquil” I mumble tiredly as he sits me up then he
surprises me with a hug and I return it willingly.
His hand goes to my shoulder and touches the pad over my wound, making me wince “you shouldn’t
have gone out there” he tells me with a sigh as he peels it off to check it
“it’s fine” I mumble and push it back down
“its weeping. It’s meant to be changed every 4 hours and it hasn’t been done for over 48 now so
stop it- Alo’iki-mana” he breathes out
“Its inflamed” he tells her and scolds her then dressing and changing it, ignoring her when she
protested and asked to do it herself then gives her a hug again and she explains what had happened
“A leopard! You walked- right past- a leopard!” he gapes
“He nodded at me and his tail touched my side and he didn’t attack me” I shrug
His face pales and eyes widen “were you trying to get yourself killed?” he shouts at me
“No. he wasn’t gonna hurt me though so when he told me to walk past I did. It was too narrow to
get by without touching him so” I shrug again and yawn “it’s no big deal”
“we’ll see- Mum, Dad!” he calls out and explains and apparently it was a big deal.
“The twins wouldn’t have gone that way with me if it weren’t safe. They were with me when we
walked past the leopard. Guava even went under the leopard” I tell them
She leans into Dom and yawns “he wouldn’t have attacked you either Dom” then looking to their
parents “though probably Andy”
Andy smiles and glares back at her “Stay. Here” he tells her and in emphasis Dom puts an arm
around her
“And you” he points to Dom “Your just as bad!”
We both laugh at Andy and at the same eerie time “oh I would love to hear about the things you did
alone at school Andy-Dad” we look to each other surprised then laugh at it
“It’s like having twins” Zoë and Andy say together and we laugh again
Parents leaving “Guava got in a bit of a grumpy mood when she got back from you” I tell him and he
smirks “oh we were both in a foul mood” he assures me “she wouldn’t tell me where you were only
that they wouldn’t let you leave- like that time with Tarquil?- until you finished the challenge”
I laugh remembering Tarquil doing that “he tried to make me survive off the wangai plums which
admittedly I could”
“Don’t do that again to me please” He asks me and meeting his pleading eyes, I nod.

We graduate in term 4 like everyone else here. The final exams finished
“congratulations class of 2010” the principal says and everyone claps
I turn in Tom’s arms to the trees at the sound and Dom looks to me with a smirk then sneakily we
both leave the ceremony to the forest where instantly a white little gibbon jumps to my chest and
snuggles close “Hey Nooru” I greet
“woh!” I hear Dom chuckle as Brolick tackles him as always. Looking up we see the twin thybroxy
Wollow and guava, Tri-bark with the other twins Aloiki and Nully; the southern and northern group
together now.
Looking beside me I can imagine Tarquil sitting there with his curious green eyes as always watching
me. With an uncontrollable sob I hold the rock of his with my eyes closed to stop me from crying
I lean back with Nooru on the tree thinking of him but as I wipe my eyes I laugh as the twins hang
upside down inches from my face with those green curious eyes of theirs.
They reach out and grab my finger and I watch as they swing it briefly then move their hands to my
totem symbols with curiosity and knowing at his
We walk back out with Nooru still on my back
“Brolick gets you every time” I comment
“yeah, I'm trying to think of some way to get him back…” he tells me thinking
“keep moving around” I tell him “then hopefully if you listen, you can catch him in the act. I used to
do it with Quil” I tell him and look down to prevent an upset of my own
Dom’s arms move around me and he gives me a comforting side hug “he was one of a kind” he tells
me and I lean my head briefly on his shoulder until we laugh at Tom “hey that’s my job” he says and
pulls me over while Dom gives him a raised eyebrow look
Nooru jumps onto Tom’s back then as he gives me a hug and pulls me into his side
“Hiya Nooru” he greets then he jumps to Dom’s chest and hugs him then back to me
Dom and I have apprenticeship with the scientific studies of gibbons on Pilikai Island. Nooru has
mated with Spot from the eastern territory and though she frequently visits and finds me when I'm
in the field she has her own little family now with a little brown boy we named Terchik who is quite
adventurous for his age and very energetic.
Tom and I are together and he’s coming back permanently from university to do intern work with us
at the island as well while Dom and I have full jobs now after the 3 years. He also came with another
graduate Amely who is now Dom’s partner.
Walking to the western field with Guava- Wollow with her mate Tri-bark and 3 offspring Brink, Tully
and Momo, Dom and I follow where we stop and meet the two coupled Quall and Ziggy silver
gibbons who greet us
Dom and I meet him at the airport as the executives of the company “wow you two have moved up
in the world” I hear Tom’s smiling voice
“Tom!” I shout laughing as Dom moves his brotherly warm arms from around me- us looking scarily
alike as people say and we were often nicknames as the twins in the workplace- remembering his
jokes and see his toothy grin as he drops his bag next to me and hugging me, he kisses my lips with
the same eagerness
I hug him then and say “mm, we missed you” earnestly
“of course” he jokes then looks around “I’ve missed home. Glad I get to stay now”
“You got your confirmation?!” I smile and he nods happy too
“sweet” Dom says and gives Tom a brotherly hug
“hey man” Tom says and ruffles his hair up
“so what department are you on? Are you working with the Thybroxy or Amadryme genetics?” Dom
asks him and Tom smiles “you know when you asked me that 3 years ago I had no clue what you
were talking about?” and Dom and I laugh and nod
“Oh Hiya, are you Amely?” I ask using the island language seeing a girl walking up to us. She smiles
and nods as I sneak out of Toms grasp and the boys teasing talks and hold my hand out
“My names Lilac Parks. My brother and I are executives here at the gibbon scientific research
conservation in Pilikai” I introduce myself
She takes my hand “I’ve read a lot of your studies on the thybroxy and found it quite interesting miss
parks. I'm looking forward to working with you” she tells me with a friendly smile
“Call me Lil” I tell her “you’ll get used to it. I as the same as you when I arrived. It’s a lot different
here” I inform her
Walking over “this is my brother Dominick who is also an executive. We work on thybroxy together
and the Amadryme genetic inheritance cases. Dom this is Amely”
Amely nods and holds her hand out “Amely Delimink. I'm pleased to meet you” she politely tells him
and Dom looking a little stunned numbly takes her hand “it’s very nice to meet you too Amely” and
takes her bags. I laugh recognizing the face and he glares at me
Walking with Tom he laughs “guess your bro’s found something in Amely huh?” he winks at me and I
smile looking at them. He leans down and kisses my lips again “missed you” he tells me with earnest
warm brown eyes and I smile. His finger traces my cheek and my 4 line leopard scar he smirks
teasingly “so gotten into any other troubles lately?” he asks and his hand moves to my shoulder
where I was shot.
I hold my totem symbols on my neck and smile “a few interesting things huh Dom?” I call out and he
comes around the back and gives me a hug pulling me off the back of the van
“A close run in with a leopard a month ago at the centre; I was inside still while she was already in
doing a private field work when we hear the metal fence and her hitting it then Lil runs along it then
before you know it a leopard hisses crashing into the fence chasing her… and she fell from 30metres
in the tree a few weeks ago” he starts the story to Tom and both he and Amely gape at him “you
didn’t tell me that- and you said you saw a leopard Lilac” Tom glares at me seeing as we talked a few
times a week when he was away- him only coming back in breaks or some weekends for the 3 years
I roll my eyes “at least tell the whole story. With the leopard, he was just playing and he hardly
touched me, and falling from the tree anyone does it” I glare at him “I didn’t get any broken bones
or bruises” I tell them
“except for the stitches to the back of your leg” Dom mutters
Tom groans “Lil…”
I look around them to Amely “watch out for these two” I warn her and she smiles before Tom pulls
me back around and she laughs, then we explain the story as we walk to the base together.
“Lil be careful wont ya?” Dom calls out to me from the ground as I climb a tree to the wangai plums
Finding them and taking 4 for us I suddenly scream and fall backwards but luckily land on a few
branches blow with my legs around the tree. Hanging upside down I hear the sound of little quick
feet on the branch and then swinging around, I meet two bright green eyes
I blink “hello” and he tilts his head then taking the plum from my hand he starts chewing it while
continuing to watch me. He was a brown gibbon, a thybroxy and a male
“like wangai plums too huh? Tarquil showed me them” I tell him and the gibbon abruptly drops the
half eaten fruit to a frantic Dom then puts his juice covered palms on my cheeks and mine widen
“Okoba” I breath his name and he chirps at me then takes another plum from my hands
“these are meant to me for Dom and me you know?” I tell him and pull myself back to sitting
position “there’s plenty there” I point and take some more then climb down with him following
“Dom!” I shout out
“what?!” he asks still a little panicked making me chuckle
“Dom! Thybroxy male!” I call out and land on the ground already hearing the little brown gibbon
gone as I hand the fruits to him
“Really? The next generation then” Dom decides and writes it down
“You better eat yours before he comes after you” I warn Dom and he bites in eagerly “no way, not
my Wangai plums” he assures but then as he moves a half bitten one from his mouth I steal it and
eat the rest and he glares as me while I shrug “gotta be quick” I remind him
“or a cheater” he teases
“Wait until mum and dad hear about this” I marvel to Dom. We both smile to each other
I nod then eagerly I start to explain “he’s a brown juvenile male called-”
We jump and turn to the branches behind us and a little head inches from mine again.
I smile “Okoba”

Lilac, her grandmother Rose, Brother Andy, friends Tom, Karla, Dom and Kate.
Northern Bound: Tri-bark Wollow and Guava,
Eastern Bound: Brolick Aloiki and Nully,
Southern Bound: Alaiya Spot Meeko Quibs and Apep,
Western Bound: Qualla and Ziggy
Adds: Nooru, Terchik, Tarquil, Okoba, Brink, Tully and Momo