I blinked. I blinked again. Everything hurts  Everything is so fuzzy too. Slowly, a bright blue summer sky came into sight. It was eye scorching. I heard footsteps walking past me. Is...this my afterlife? It's so hot. "Urg. The light. It hurts..." I moan.
"Look! He's awake!" Someone cries. A commotion stirs around me. Are these people...dead? I wonder if Chief Sturdyhorn is here." I muse. I close my eyes, unable to take the information all in.
"Is he really awake?"
I open my eyes. That voice sounds like Tuftyfur. Is that my imagination, or is he dead as well? Could it be that it's his great grandfather, Chief Sturdyhorn, speaking? I wonder... I opened my eyes to the world. A pair of familiar earnest brown eyes were looking at me from above.
"...Tuftyfur?"
"Yeah? It's me. What is it?" The so - called Tuftyfur replied. Confusion swarmed inside me.
"...You're dead as well?!" I shout, unsure of what's happening. Tuftyfur laughed. "No, you dummy. I'm alive, and you're alive as well." I became even more confused.
"...I'm alive? But..." I start.
"But nothing. Come on, you big dummy. Your parents are waiting. They're really worried." Tuftyfur cuts me off. He helps me stagger to my feet.

With help from Tuftyfur, I stumbled my way across the grassy fields and down to my parent's den. Along the way, Tuftyfur told me how they found me laying on wet mud, unconscious.
"It gave everyone a shock of their lives!" He told me, clearly enjoying retelling the story.
"Were you the one who found me? I ask, curious.
"No," he admitted. "It was Chief Sturdyhind."
"Oh." I say, disappointed. "How did he find me?
"He says that the spirit of Sturdyhorn came and visited him, and told him that someone was in need at his death place." He said quietly. An awkward silence followed.
"Your great grandfather died right where you found me, didn't he?" I ask cautiously.
"He died saving someone named Windhind." Tuftyfur said, on the edge of tears.
"I guess he saved two lives then. If he didn't say something, I'll have to haunt you for the rest of your life, no doubt!" I say, trying to lighten up the mood. It didn't work. Tuftyfur stumbled. He didn't get up.
" ...Hornstreak...I'm so sorry...I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry I wasn't like my great grandfather and saved you. I'm sorry..." He mumbled, tears flowing down. Oh dear. Tuftyfur almost never cries.
"Look, Tuftyfur. It's not your fault you couldn't convince me not to go. It's not you fault that I almost died. I am alive, aren't I? Let's forget that I almost died and carry on in life, okay? I say, desperate to make Tuftyfur stop crying.
"Okay. We'll pretend it never happened. Anyways, is it just me, or are you now wiser than before?" He said innocently, walking again.
"Are you saying I'm stupid! That's really mean, Tuftyfur!" I give him a kick.
"Ow! Okay, I think it's just me, then." I kick him again.
"Fine, fine! You're not stupid." I kick him harder. A silence follows.
"The sun's setting." Tuftyfur said finally. I was surprised. "How long was I out for?" I ask.
"Three hours. We found you at 5:45pm." Tuftyfur replied. 5:45pm? But Seafoa said it was 5:46pm. Strange. I ask. "Did anything happen to me at 5:46pm?"
"Yes. Your heart rate was so slow, we thought we lost you! It was scary." He replied, a bit too quickly for my liking. We watch the sun lower, as it cast warm reflections on the lake.
"There's your parents," Tuftyfur said, startling me.
"Oh. Bye! Thanks for coming with me!" I reply. I headed towards my parents.

As soon as Tuftyfur left, my brave face left me. All the emotions I kept tightly inside me all came spilling out at once. I buried my nose deep in my parents fur and wept like there's no tomorrow. "I-I was s-so sc-sc-scared! S-s-sea-seafoa t-t-told me I was d-dead! It w-was s-such a-a h-hard j-journey!" I sobbed, uncontrollably. My parents listened paitiently. "All that matters is that you're alive. That's all that matters right now." The words enter right to my heart. I stop sobbing sad and worried tears. Instead, I weep tears of joy and happiness, tears of relief that I am alive. Each tear that now fell down caught the setting sun's light, and turned amber.

Many years later...

Life went on normally for me after incident. Me and Tuftyfur are still good friends, with the exception that our rank has changed. Tuftyfur was anointed as Chief, his name is now changed Sturdyfur, in tradition of the Sturdy clan. I was sore about not becoming the chief, but we can all agree that a hot headed wildebeest is not fit for the calm required job of the chief. Tuftyfur, I mean, Sturdyfur, is in fact, a very good chief. Even better than his great grandfather, Sturdyhorn. I found out that Chief Sturdyhorn risked his life for Windhind, my grandfather on my mother's side, who later on became Sturdyhind. He died peacefully at sleep five and a half years afterwards. Sturdyhorn must be a very inspiring wildebeest. I became the scribe instead, as I found out that passing down legends is my point of interest.

We both found mates who beared us children. I found a pretty wildebeest, Featherfur, fives years after the Predator Island incident. She gave me Featherstreak, the most beautiful wildebeest I know. She must of got the good looks from me and Featherfur. She bore a daughter as well with her mate, Tuftytail, Sturdyfur's son. My granddaughter's name is is Feathertail. Sturdyfur took awhile longer to find a mate, with his duties and all. It was six years after the Predator Island incident before he found Daintytail. She's very nice, and so is Tuftytail.

The deal with Seafoa was concluded that she merely an object I created for my dream. I secretly don't believe this, as the time of my 'period of no heartbeats' was too accurate to not believe. None the less, it's a myth for me to pass on. It does spark the young wildebeests' interest.

The only thing that changed was that I tolerated the hot summer's heat. I no longer wanted to escape to Predator Island and sleep there. After all, what happened to me that day, it's definitely not something I want to repeat. However, during that day, I no longer fear swimming, so usually on those unbearable days, I take a dip to refresh my mind.

Unfortunately, my granddaughter, Feathertail, inherited my stubbornness and hot temper. Like me, she swam to Predator Island to relieve herself from the heat. Unlike me, she also inherited Tuftyfur's/Sturdyfur's wisdom and knowledge, so when the lake came to swallow her in, she figured out the moss covered rock stayed above the water. With that fact, she didn't get off and swim, but she stayed on the rock, sleeping. When the lake went back down, she swam back, perfectly fine.

With this discovery, wildebeests of all kinds forgot their fear of Predator Island, and is now a place where we all fight to go there on summer days. I go there too, my fear too was forgotten, but an old wildebeest like me can't go there very often. The name Predator Island still stayed, except the meaning was changed. We all have predators, but no matter how strong our enemy is, there is alwaysd a way around.