He squinted at the harsh light the sun beamed down on him. The rays burned when he looked at them directly, but when he closed his eyes, the warmth cascaded down his face like golden lava, wrapping around his features in a tender hug. A pitchy caw echoed distantly among the subtle thrum of insect chirps and whooshing leaves.

His mother was there. He couldn't see her, but her flowery scent was strong--powerful enough to break through the mossy odor that lingered around them. His mother's scent stuck to his lips, its aromatic flavor distinct from the earthy taste that usually hung in the air. Her careful touch graced his skin, and a shiver went down his spine. He turned to her instinctively and greeted her with a slow blink.

She rolled to the side, inviting him to laze with her. He stood on shaky legs. Yellow flecks of pollen plumed into the air with each of his unsteady steps. Ahead, she waited with open arms.

He collapsed into her embrace like a lightning-struck tree. She felt like satin, her body so silky and comforting. The gentle rumble emitting from her was like a quiet waterfall in an untouched forest. It changed in tone every time he shifted in her embrace trying to find the most comfortable position in her arms.

Leaves crunched softly in the distance. From afar, a giant, funny-looking figure lumbered through the trees. Both he and it paused once they made eye contact. "Hey! Come look at this!" it called behind itself in a hushed tone.

He froze, a wash of anxiety flooding through his tense body. The ground quaked as a second being joined the first, then approached him. They gawked at him and his mother with smiles packed full of adoration.

"Look. I think it just opened its eyes," the first being whispered, pointing directly at him.

His mother didn't seem concerned about the surprise company. Her soft rumbling hadn't stopped like it usually did when the wet, muddy smell came. It seemed like her vibrating intensified in the presence of the enormous creatures.

His eyes refocused in the sunlight, assessing the strange, gargantuan beings before him. They chittered back and forth using noises that he didn't understand.

It seemed nonsensical until the second one made a sound resembling the language he knew.

"Meooow," the second being said in a foreign dialect.

"Mreoww?" he replied.

Both creatures replied with a chorus of "awws," followed by each of them butchering through several varying imitations of his "mreowww."

They seemed friendly. They weren't a threat, but they certainly were a nuisance.

The second being reached down and ran a hairless, worm-like appendage across his scalp. The sensation felt nice, like his mother grooming him. The texture was smoother than his mother's tongue, but it had a rough coarseness unlike anything he experienced before.

"You're so cute. You look like a little Oreo," it said.

"Oreo", he later discovered, was his name. They designated it to him after taking him and his family to what became their new home. The beings from before, known as "humans," were subservient to his kind. They would provide him, his mother, and his siblings with food and water whenever they needed without question. He had no idea where the food came from or how the humans hunted so quickly and so often, but it didn't matter so long as there was something for him to eat.

Oreo attempted to teach the humans his language, but they never caught on. They often pretended they knew, but the conversations he tried to have with them were unintelligible. Contrarily, Oreo picked up their language rather quickly. He couldn't speak it, but he understood it well. He often pretended not to understand their words though, since It was the easiest way to get what he wanted as their king.