Hi my name is Iris, It means faith, wisdom, and valor. At least that's what the three petals mean on the flower. When I was 6 years old, I was in Africa, studying wildlife with my dad. I was having the best time of my life. It changed to quickly though. My dad saw a pride of lions. He said, "Iris stay right there and I'll be right back." I had no choice but to listen. Unfortunately my curious behavior got the best of me. I opened up the door and saw my dad just looking at them. Out of the corner my eye, I saw huge male lion he looked like he was about to attack. I didn't what it was(I still wish I didn't) so I told my dad to turn around. Right when he did the lion came charging at him. He quickly said, "Iris get inside the jeep! Hurry!" I ran inside, closed the door, curled up in a ball, and closed my ears. All I could hear growling and gunshots. After an hour of hiding. I got out of the jeep to see if my dad was alright. I knew he wasn't going to be alright, but I was hoping just bit of energy was in him. When I saw him I had no choice but to cry. I saw huge slashes in his skin, a big gash coming across his face, and a whole lot of bruises everywhere. I walked over to him calling out his name, just so I can hear him answer. I was crying my eyes out that day. I should of told dad not to go near, but I thought he knew what he was doing. I walked back home, although I didn't know the route. I was walking for three hours. I remembered I collapsed due to lack of hydration. I kept on falling in and out of consciousness. When I finally woke up I was on a plane. I was hoping all of it was a dream. I looked to my left my mom was sitting next to me. She was crying. So it obviously wasn't a dream. We were heading back home to Portsmouth, UK. That was an awful day for me. I said to my mom, "Your lucky. At least you didn't have to see him get attacked." my mom hugged me the whole trip back. From then on I hated lions. I don't even trust Patches, my cat.

*10 years later*

Well its been 10 years and I still don't like them. I will never forget that day. By the way I'm 5"6, I have blue eyes, blonde hair, with brownish streaks, sort of an hourglass figure, and I'm wearing a blue dress with spaghetti straps. My mom is 5"7, she has brown eyes, she's a brunette, and she's wearing safari gear, her name is Linda. Yes, we're back in Africa. My mom was getting ready to study one of her frequent "patients" an elephant named Monique. She said, "Iris, do you want to came and help." I just shook my head. My mom sighed. She said, "One day your gonna learn that was an accident." I rolled my eyes and said, "Yes! That makes perfect sense. The lion was trying to play with my dad. Mom, in the wild there are no accidents." She pulled me off the chair and forced me to go. We also brought Patches along. Mom spotted Monique about 30feet away from our house, she was getting ready to give birth. I think I heard patches say, "Gross. Why did I have to come along?" I jumped. I didn't think twice about it mostly because I ignored it. It took Monique, 5 hours to give birth. It was disgusting. My mom went on forward. I said, "Why aren't we going back to the house?" she said, "I want to see something. There's this myth about this one rock." I laughed, "What Stonehenge?" I said. Mom laughed, she said, "No its called Pride Rock." I was had so many questions. I just started out with a simple one. I asked, "Why is it called Pride Rock?" she didn't answer. I just shrugged.

*Pride Rock*

I was stunned to see a huge rock look actually cool. I still didn't understand why it was called Pride Rock. It was 9:49PM and we got out the jeep. I didn't know what my mom was doing. We went up to the cave's entrance. I saw a whole bunch of lions and lionesses in the cave. Well at least I now know why its called Pride Rock. We saw a little cub still awake. My mom was using a call to let him know that we are friends. I just that this was crazy. The cub came out it had golden fur, black tufts of fur in top of his head, and emerald eyes. He started purring and rubbing across mom's legs. I said, "Just keep that thing away from me." Another cub came out except this one was a female, she had blue eyes, and brown fur. She came near me. I said, "Please stay away from me." She was pulling on my dress. I pushed her, I didn't want her pulling on my brand new dress. The cub started whining. I rolled my eyes. My mom said "We have to get down." before I could say "why" these two lions(Kovu and Simba)came out. I ran down and they were chasing me. The one with the red mane got in front of me and the other was in the back. I only had two options. One: Let them devour me or Two: Jump 10 feet to the ground and hope for the best. I didn't wanna get killed. So I jumped. When I hit the ground I got hurt a little, but I didn't care. I got in the jeep. My mom said, "I can't start it. We may have to run." I picked up Patches and we ran.

*5 miles later*

We started walking to the house. I said, "Can we stop? I think we lost them." my mom shook her head. I was so tired and Patches kept in meowing. It was annoying. I heard a thud. I looked and my mom collapsed. She was really warm and she was breathing heavily. I screamed, "HELP! ANYONE HELP!" I was crying I didn't have anything to help her. I heard low growling off in the distance. It didn't matter anymore. I said to myself, "Please let it be a jeep." I was wrong it was those lions again. I didn't have anything to protect me. Well except Patches, and all he was doing was hissing. I said, "Patches stop. Your little they're huge. That's not gonna do anything." he said, "Well at least I'm trying. While you guys just sit there screaming." I was surprised. I was surprised that I didn't faint. I didn't know if I was supposed to be afraid or creeped out. I said, "I know you don't understand but please try to. My mother is ill. I don't have anything to help her or at least aid her. So please help me at least find as watering hole or something. Please I don't want her to die." its like they understood. They walked past me and the one with the black mane , jerked his head as if he wanted me to follow. I didn't trust them but I followed anyway.

*5 more miles*

I was exhausted in both ways. We finally reached the watering hole. I found an Aloe Vera plant, I put the medicine on the damp cloth I had in my pocket, and put it on my mom's forehead. She had cuts on her forehead. Hopefully that will help her a little. It was quiet I looked at the lions and said, "So what now? I guess supposed to ask my saviors their names." I laughed. He said, "I'm Simba and that's Kovu." my eyes opened wide. I wanted to scream but no noise came out. I said, "Am I ill. Am I asleep." my cat said, "You heard me talk a couple of times." I started shaking. I backed up and finally I screamed.