Oblivion

"Where is Stu?" Ducky pondered. "I can talk to him too, you know" she informed Stella. Stella quickly browsed the humid jungle paradise. Her eyes were drawn to the top of the glass enclosure and there on the screen was Stu, a rather large serpent.

"Stu, what are you doing up there? What have you eaten?"

"I haven't done a thing. I'm only having a rest," he hissed back.

"Your body would indicate otherwise you lecherous snake."

"Oh fine. I've eaten the lizard's eggs. Only two to go."

Stella was horrified at this admission. Her mind ached over ways to tell Little Bill that his eggs had been lost. But the door to the oasis room opened and Little Bill came in in a fantastic glow. He traveled on only his two back feet with a smile glued broadly across his face. "The one does not always plan for what we do. But the one always has a plan for justice," e laughed.

As Stu swallowed the last of the lizard's eggs his skin began to split - much like a tear in a pair of pantyhose, small at first but ever growing. Ducky leapt into the air with a clap, "Little Bill can have his eggs back!" The lizard continued to smile and danced around the room in a shower of glittering light. He spun and walked out the door, then drifted into the oblivion of the mountains.

With a heavy heart, Stella moved the eggs into Little Bill's dish and gently lifted her serpent friend to her chest. Her best friend. The first animal to speak. Lost.