This book is dedicated to my family.

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In the world of darkness, he stepped forth. He was going somewhere, and somewhere there would be something.

The something was light. And as he stepped into the light, he created the world. Or maybe it had been there all along- but then again, how can there be a world if there's no one to see it or touch it or hear it?

"This is Somewhere," Olmec Dragon raised his head to the sky. "This is Selva."

"Was there really an Olmec Dragon?" Luna asked herself as she closed the book of mythology. "Was there a Chaac? Was there a Quetzalcoatl? Which ancient Mexicans were right? Or were they all wrong?"

"You're up late," Mundi poked her long snout between the branches. "Are you thinking about what to bring to the party?"

"No, I have a gift. Maybe you should sneak in a nap before the party. It is in three hours, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Mundi suddenly stopped and stared blankly. "I have no gift."

"Better get something quick, then," Luna replied. "And don't crumple up pieces of paper and call them origami boulders."

"That's a good idea," The coati smiled. "But okay." She scurried down the tree, her long, striped tail waving behind her.

Raya the great stripe-faced bat swooped by, paying no mind to Mundi as she scampered off into the night. In her feet, the little bat clutched a rolled-up map. The weasel she'd gotten it from had claimed it was a treasure map, and Mr. Montian loved treasure.

It was Monty's party that all these gifts were for. It wasn't a birthday, but it still would be a grand party. And it was to happen this very night! Raya couldn't wait to get there.

*****

"That's some cake, Blanca!" Sui couldn't take his hungry gaze off it.

"Thanks." The snowy egret replied.

"Can I have some?"

"It's for the party, Sui!"

"Fine," he pouted.

"What's the party for, anyway?" Orestes poked his head through the doorway. "It's not Montian's birthday."

"Mr. Montian is celebrating a version of the Aztec's New Fire Ceremony. The ancient Aztecs did this ceremony at the end of fifty-two year cycles so they could renew the sun. They thought the world would end if they failed."

"Yeah, right. Does Montian actually believe that?" The rodent asked obnoxiously.

"I don't know."

"Are there gonna be sacrifices?"

"NO! We aren't Aztecs, Orestes. He isn't doing the real ceremony. He's just going to light a fire, that's all. It's a normal party."

"How much food will there be?" Sui asked, eagerly.

"Oh, I don't know!" Blanca waved her wings in exasperation. "Why don't you just eat something now so you won't devour everything at the party?"

"Can do!"

*****

"Woo! Lookin' good!"

"Stop talking to yourself, Smoky!" Pizarro called from the next room.

"I'M TALKING TO THE FIRE GOD!" The scream erupted from the tiny gecko.

"Oh," Pizarro peered in at the statue of Xiuhtecuhtli. "Where'd you get that?"

"It's been in the cellar the whole time we've lived here. Just like the other Aztec statues. Duh." Tezca snapped.

"New Fire time!" Cortez called as he flapped into the room. "The dawn of Mexico, yet again."

"How about a new fire on Pizzaro," Tezca glared at the horned lizard. "I'd like to see him burn up."

"Quiet, Smoky! You're the one who's on fire."

"Alright, ya little nut jobs," Pancho's relaxed voice drifted through the window. "Come on outside and you can roast marshmallows with us."

Cortez extended his long beak through the window and took a whiff of the night air. "It's sure burning out there."

"Woo!" Pizarro hopped out into the night, tailed by Tezca. Pancho, Kalypso, and Burro were sitting around the fire, their tails pointing to their house and their snouts pointing to Selva's border.

"This isn't New Fire," Kalypso glared at Cortez as the vulture settled beside her. "We're in the desert."

"I was born in Selva when my parents took a trip there," Tezca swished her tail in the direction of the trees. "I've always been interested in Aztecs."

"And that's why you named yourself after the god Tezcatlipoca," Pizarro finished the story.

"It's pretty," Kalypso watched as the fire's flickering red light danced across the trees. "Festive."

"We'll be back in there soon enough, terrorizing the creatures of the rainforest," Pizarro shoved a long stick into his marshmallow.

"Will we?" Everyone spun to face Pancho. The American jackal gazed around at the night sky and then began. "Though we do not live in Selva, the spirit of the Aztecs is still among us. This is the night of New Fire, and tomorrow heralds a new dawn. A new everything. This is the boundary between the end of the world and the beginning. Tonight we aren't Desert Claws. We aren't thieves. We are neither good nor bad. Tomorrow, who knows what we'll be." All was silent. "We may not even change at all, but... who knows what will happen?"

Burro quietly nudged his large snout into an open marshmallow bag.

"I don't celebrate Aztec holidays," Kalypso broke the silence. "I'm still myself. Still a thief. I still don't care about anything or believe in anything. So, sorry if I ruined the party."

"Few people actually believe," Pancho responded. "None of us have to. But it still feels like a special night, so let's just relax, take a moment to remember the Aztecs, and wait for the new dawn."

*****

"Hey, hey, Raya, over here!" Ateles called, swinging by his tail from a branch. "I've got a cool flower on my party suit. Care to smell it?"

"Ooh, yeah!" The gullible bat leaned in, only to be shot in the face with water.

Below them, turtles Teri and Pinta chatted together while the other guests arrived.

"Welcome, welcome!" Miztl scurried among the entering critters, ushering them into the clearing.

"Where's the snack table?" Sui demanded.

"It's off there to left, but please be careful, Sui!" the cacomistle begged. "Lots of people are coming to this party, so don't eat too much!"

"No can do, Ringtail!"

Behind the clearing was an enormous rocky ledge separating Selva from the beach. Statues of Aztec gods had been placed at the top.

While Miztl chatted with toucan Arboli, Luna silently slipped into the clearing and scampered up a tree to the top of the ledge.

"This may be an Aztec festival," she whispered, placing a small stone head in front of her. "But the Olmecs saw Selva long before Aztecs did. Here you are, Were-jaguar. You belong to Mr. Montian now."

"Welcome, friends!" As if on cue, the tapir's voice sounded from below. "Tonight marks the end of the Aztec fifty-two year sun cycle, the end of the world."

"Doom to all!" Orestes called obnoxiously. Montian ignored him.

"The Aztecs would perform the New Fire ceremony in an attempt to renew the sun, and all would wait in fear to see if dawn would come...

"There will be no fear tonight, however! Miztl, torch!"

"Here you are, Sir," the cacomistle passed the flaming object to the tapir, who took it in his trunk.

The crowd waited in silence as Montian bent down to light the fire.

"Let the party begin!" he cried as a great flame rose from the center of the clearing. Cheers of joy erupted from all the critters.

"it sure would be ironic if that fire started spreading and everyone died," Orestes mumbled to Fiesta.

"That's why there are rocks around the fire, duh," the pygmy fruit-eating bat replied.

"Here I come, Blanca cake!" Sui yelled, barging through the crowd toward the food table.

"Oh, dear Chaac," Arboli muttered, staring after the fat peccary.

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"The Dawn of Selva"

Name: The Dawn of Selva
Author: SharpwingtheBat

SharpwingtheBat

All the animals of the rainforest gather for Mr. Montian's New Fire party. There's a special feeling in the air- some notice it, like the philosophizing Luna, and some don't, like the simple-minded Mundi. But whether they notice it or not, it's a very special night for everyone.

(30 pages)

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