Kato had seen his mother and father go to sleep.
They went to sleep under the hooves of beasts, their bodies disappearing beneath a tide of fur and muscle and thundering feet. He had screamed for them to wake up, but Uncle Mwenye grabbed his arm and Uncle Tafari lifted him onto his shoulders, and they ran. They ran until his throat was raw from crying and his uncles' legs shook with exhaustion.
His parents did not follow.
The running lasted a very long time.
Kato did not know how many hours passed because the sun blurred when you couldn't stop moving. He ate scraps that his uncles shared with him. He slept on Uncle Mwenye's back while they walked through dark forests. He woke to see the same endless plains stretching toward horizons that never seemed to get closer.
