~~~
The small cub looked at its mother. Her face was blurred, but he noticed it was a light tan. Soon another face entered the cub’s vision. This face was gold, but also blurred. He muttered something to the mother, but it was muffled. However, the laugh that came from his mother was crystal clear. The cub smiled and giggled. Suddenly there was a growl, and the cub was whisked out of his mother’s grasp. He began to wail, but the grip on the scruff of his neck was firm. He heard growls and saw flashes of red, and soon lost sight of his mother.
Moyo woke from the dream, panting. Who was the cub? Who were the parents? And who stole the innocent cub? Moyo shrugged and shook out his brown mane. “Hey,” he said to his mother.
“ ’Mornin’,” she replied, pushing an antelope carcass his way. He began to scarf down his breakfast, and when he was through, he proceeded to lick himself clean.
“Hurry up, Moyo, we got stuff to do!” called one of his friends, Wahedu.
“See ya, mom!” Moyo called, running after Wahedu. “So, what are we doin’?”
“Dad says it’s time to live our own lives,” explained Pekee.
“So… what does that mean exactly?” inquired Moyo.
“He’s kicking us out. Well, the king is, anyway,”
“Oh. Well, where’ll we go?”
“Our separate ways, I guess. You can travel in the area of where the sun sets, and I’ll travel to the area of where the sun rises. And Wahedu, you can go in between us.”
“Now?” Moyo wasn’t enjoying this conversation.
“Before sunset,” Pekee sighed.
“Right… So, let’s live our last hours together,” muttered Wahedu sadly.
“Right.” The boys made kills, eating like pigs so they wouldn’t get hungry on their journey. They play-fought, even sometimes dealing out real scratches and bites. When the sky began to turn pink, they each went to say good-bye to their parents.
“Mom,” Moyo sighed, “I have to leave. King’s kickin’ us out.”
“What? No, baby, you can’t.”
“King’s orders. Got no choice.” His mother nuzzled him, and when she pulled away, Moyo saw that she was crying. “Oh, Mom, don’t…” But his eyes were turning red too.
“I’m gonna miss you so much,” she sobbed.
“Same here,” He went out into the center of their pride’s territory, where his two other friends were. “Bye, guys,” he whispered, and they nodded, as if to say, “Same here,”
Moyo traveled night and day, through hunger and starvation, hot and cold. He fought for prides, but always ended up losing the fight. He traveled and traveled, and right when he was about to give up, he spotted a large rock.
