Once upon a time, in the hot and dry lands of Kenya's Maasai Mara Reserve where the ruling kingdom of Lions lie around and all the plant-eating Rhinoceroses, Zebras and Buffalos graze on the tall and short grasses, next to a small hill, lies a mother cheetah cuddling and licking her one and only baby cheetah.
"My little baby, I will call you Fanyana because even though you are tiny, you can do anything in the world" said Mother Cheetah.
At 6 weeks of age, Fanyana is learning a lot of lessons on how to survive in the wild from his mother from hunting down prey to moving in different areas.
One day while playing around, Fanyana looked at his mother's excellent hunting skills which include speed and a lot of patience, he was amazed to know that someday when he gets older, he will become just like his mother.
"When I grow older, I'm going to be just like you Mother" said an excited Fanyana.
One day on a hot day while his mother was hunting for food, Fanyana spotted a butterfly and chased after it.
Suddenly Fanyana realised that he is a long way off from where he saw his mother and their hill.
"Mommy?" Fanyana squeaked. "Where are you?"
For the first time in his life, Fanyana was alone, exposed and vulnerable to his unknown location.
Fanyana tried catching his mother's scent but the wind stood still. He tried calling her but there was no answer. All of a sudden, clouds gathered from the sky, turning from blue to grey and it started to rain. Desperate to look for shelter, Fanyana looked and looked for a bush or hole nearby until finally he came across a hole that fitted his tiny size.
Unfortunately the hole was occupied with a warthog and he said "Get out of my hole you spotted hooligan" Fanyana didn't want to anger the warthog any further so he obeyed his command and got out of the warthog's home and back into the cold wet weather.
Meanwhile Fanyana's mother had realised that her baby has disappeared since she has not heard him squeak or come to her and has begun a long search to find him.
Fanyana really needed to find a good place to hide from the rain and soon. He looked wetter than before.
At last Fanyana found and crawled under a small bush that looked like good cover. Fanyana began to cry and wished his mother was by his side, cuddling him and keeping him warm. Soon Fanyana cried himself to sleep.
The sun was shining the next morning and birds were singing on nearby treetops. It looked like Fanyana had a good sleep and has managed to dry himself from all the rain on his fur. He yawned and said "How am I ever going to get out of here and back to Mother?"
All of a sudden Fanyana heard a cry for help close by the bush and went to see who was in trouble. It was a lion cub about Fanyana's age and it looked like a rock pebble was stuck in the poor cub's paw. Even the lion cub's paws were too big to take out the tiny pebble.
"Ouch, my paw hurts" said the lion cub.
"Here, let me help you with that" said Fanyana.
In a second Fanyana managed to get the small pebble out of the lion cub's paw with the help of his tiny paws.
"Oh thank you so much, the pain is gone" said the lion cub happily.
"My pleasure" said Fanyana and smiled at the little cub.
"I'm Zana by the way and you are?" said Zana.
"Fanyana" said the cheetah.
"What's a small cheetah like you doing in a place like this?" asked Zana.
"I'm lost and all I want to do is get back to my mother but I have no clue where I am or what this place even is" Fanyana said.
"This place is part of Lion Land" said Zana.
"Maybe you can help me get back to my hill?" asked Fanyana.
Zana said "Off course, you helped me now I'll help you"
"And help me find my mother?" asked Fanyana kindly.
"I think so" said Zana then asked "What does she look like?"
"She looks like me but bigger" said Fanyana.
Zana then stood up on her hind legs and began to sniff in the air like a dog. "What does she smell like?" asked Zana.
"Like lavender and meat" said Fanyana.
"I can smell her there in the far distance past those prickly bushes and past the trees over there. If you pass both of them you'll find her in no time" said Zana.
"Thanks a lot Zana" said Fanyana.
"No problem" smiled Zana.
"Do you want to come with me?" asked Fanyana.
"I'd love to but I should be getting back to my mum. She'll be worried if I'm gone for too long" said Zana.
"Do you think we'll see each other again?" asked Fanyana.
"Yes I think and hope so. Thanks for getting that pebble out of my paw. I'll never forget it" said Zana.
"You're welcome. Thanks for all your help" said Fanyana.
"My pleasure" smiled Zana.
The two have suddenly become friends and shared their goodbyes and soon Fanyana went past the prickly bushes with no harm done due to his small size and past the trees.
Finally he caught sight of an animal coming from a hazy distance.
Fanyana, having discovered that his sharp eyes and hearing were now working, saw that the unknown animal was his mother calling out his name.
Fanyana was so happy that he ran as fast as he could to his mother who caught sight of her cub and quickly rushed towards her cub.
The two couldn't have been happier to see each other that this moment of silence and cuddling was enough.
"Where have you been?" asked a concerned Mother Cheetah suddenly.
"Oh my darling, I've been so worried about you and I looked everywhere for you." said Mother Cheetah.
"I'm sorry mummy, I saw and chased a butterfly but then I got lost and couldn't find you and oh mother, I've got so much to tell you! Wait til you hear all of it" said Fanyana as he hugged his mother with joy and affection.