Kenna Esters's Arc

Chapter 2 of 13

Kenna spent the first hour after finding the film canister walking the tree line, looking for fresh water and a way inland. She found both — a narrow stream cutting through the jungle and a gap in the undergrowth wide enough to follow. The trees here were massive, their roots spreading like walls across the forest floor. She was checking the canopy for fruit when she saw it. A white shape hovering near a trunk, perfectly still except for the faint tremor of wings. It looked like a ball of cotton with eyes — huge, dark eyes that seemed too big for its body. Two thin stalks rose from its head, each tipped with a black dot. She'd never seen anything like it. No mouth. No legs. Just fuzz and wings and those impossible eyes watching her from twenty feet away. Kenna moved slowly, pulling the old film camera from her bag. The digital equipment was gone, but she'd salvaged a vintage backup and a small tripod from the wreckage this morning. She planted the tripod, mounted the camera, and adjusted the focus ring. The creature didn't move. Through the viewfinder, she could see every detail — the delicate veins in its wings, the way its body caught the filtered light. This was it. Something no one had documented. She pressed the shutter. The creature lifted off the trunk and drifted deeper into the jungle. Kenna grabbed her gear and followed, pushing past vines and low branches. The ground sloped upward. The trees grew thicker, their trunks wider than cars, their roots forming caves she had to climb over. She caught glimpses of white ahead — always just out of reach. Then the creature stopped at the base of an enormous tree, its trunk covered in moss and strangling vines. She set up again, hands shaking. She got three shots before it disappeared into the canopy. When she checked her film counter, she had two exposures left. She'd burned through the roll chasing something she might never see again. But she had it. She had proof.