Chapter 1

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"Haa...." A girl immediately covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned.

"Stop it if you don't want to get into trouble." Darice whispered while elbowing her friend.

"I'm so sleepy Haa." Ana yawned again at the end of the sentence.

Darice glared. "Are you crazy? We're in Prof. Adams' class."

Ana nodded in understanding but she could not prevent the drowsiness from attacking. She also knew that Prof. Adams who was their lecturer really disliked students who were sleepy in his class. If that happened then the killer lecturer would expel them from the class and would not give mercy. So the student will repeat the class next year.

"What did you do last night to lose sleep like this?" Darice looked at her friend not understanding why Ana was so sleepy, this week Prof. Adams did not give any assignments.

"I just got a book that was so interesting that I lost track of time while reading it." Ana yawned for the third time.

"What book?" Darice frowned.

"Shhh. I'll tell you later." Ana coded Darice to be quiet as Prof. Adams started looking at them. Darice nodded then focused on Prof. Adams' explanation up ahead.

"The next animal to be reported as endangered is the Amur leopard. Does anyone know how many habitats are left now Darice?" Prof. Adams looked at Darice sharply.

Darice was speechless, Prof. Adams had actually seen her and Ana chatting earlier. She was dead if she couldn't answer.

"How much Darice?" Prof. Adams asked again.

Darice moved restlessly especially when staring at the sharp gaze of Prof. Adams in front of him. Darice nudged Ana's leg hoping that the girl could help him. Ana shook her head while moving her index finger on Ana's thigh forming numbers.

"84 Prof." Darice answered quickly before Prof. Adams made another sound.

Prof. Adams nodded. "For you, Darice, stop chatting with Ana while my class is in session."

"Okay Prof." Darice replied while breathing a sigh of relief that the answer Ana gave was correct.

"As Darice answered earlier, the total number of Amur leopards left according to the report on the day the animals were last seen was 84 individuals. This number is very different between 2014-2015 when there were 92 Amur leopards left and seven years later there are eight less. That means we are losing one individual every year. If this continues for another eight decades the Amur leopard will be completely extinct. Isn't that very alarming?" Prof. Adams looked at the whole class.

The students nodded. They were conservation majors. Every class they take, they learn that many animals and plants are on the verge of extinction. One of them is the Amur leopard described earlier.

"Amur leopards can only be found in a relatively small area in far eastern Russia and northeastern China." Prof. Adams explains again. "They are particularly vulnerable to poachers, who kill them for their fur and bones, as well as for use in traditional Asian medicine. They are at risk of habitat loss due to natural and man-made fires. Climate change is also causing a decrease in prey availability." Ana sighed at Prof. Adams' explanation. Her love for animals and plants made her furious at what humans were doing to them.

Ana no longer listened to Prof. Adams' explanation and one of the students' questions. She was thinking about the book she read last night. She found the book in her grandmother's warehouse. The book looked old but was still fine. The book explained about animals that had been declared extinct two centuries ago.

"Today's class is finished here." Prof. Adams put his belongings in the bag. "You have a final project."

"Yaahhh." All students exclaimed in disappointment. Prof. Adams when giving final assignments is never easy.

"Your final project is to find a photo of a rare animal or plant and present it in class. The rarer it is, the higher the grade." Prof. Adams ignored the students' complaints. "Any questions?"

"Prof!" Ana raised her hand.

"Yes Ana?." Prof. Adams looked at Ana.

"What if an animal or plant that was declared extinct actually still exists?" Ana asked.

Prof. Adams smiled slightly. "If you can prove it, I will give you an A and you don't have to attend my class until the end of this semester."

Ana nodded enthusiastically while Darice looked at her friend while shaking her head.

***

"You're not really going to do it are you?" Darice looked at Ana who was sitting in front of her. They were at the cafe because Ana said she needed caffeine to keep herself from getting sleepy in the next class.

"Why not?" Ana sipped her coffee.

"You're crazy! There can't be any animals or plants that have been declared extinct left. If even Prof. Adams says something like that, it's almost impossible." Darice shook her head. This friend of hers was really crazy.

"Remember that book I told you about in class earlier?" Ana looked at Darice who only nodded back. "It was about the travels of a man who said that in a forest there were a lot of plants and animals that we thought were extinct. One of them is the Falkland wolf, which became extinct two centuries ago." Ana explained excitedly.

"That's impossible Ana. That book is nonsense. How could that animal still exist? Also, does the book say that the wolf is a Falkland wolf?" Darice looked at Ana in disbelief.

"It doesn't say but the characteristics described are very similar to the Falkland wolf."

"That book must have been written by a madman. Or it could be a wolf that looks like that." Darice still did not believe Ana's words.

Ana just shrugged her shoulders lazily to explain more. They both went back to drinking coffee while busy with their own thoughts.

"Hurry up and finish your coffee, class will start soon." Darice reminded Ana to hurry up. Ana glanced at the clock on her phone then nodded. The girl gulped down the remaining coffee half at a time. Darice just shook her head at that.

***

"I will prove to Darice that this book is not nonsense." Ana sat at the study table while holding a brown-bound book that looked worn.

"I wonder who this book belongs to?" Ana muttered to herself. "Should I just ask grandma?" Ana shook her head. It was a bad idea, her grandmother's memory wasn't as strong as it used to be.

The girl put the book into the bag then placed it on top of the suitcase. Ana intended to fly to Alaska, the place mentioned in the book. She intended to follow the travel notes to prove that animals and plants that had been considered extinct still existed somewhere. That way she would get good grades and not have to take Prof. Adams' class. In addition, to prove to Darice that the book was not nonsense.

Ana went back to check what items she might need but had not yet put in the suitcase. The girl also rechecked her passport and other things. After she finished checking her belongings, Ana decided to go to bed

***