Mama was moving us again. There was a hyena and I wanted to play with it but Mama said it would kill me if it had the chance. We're moving back to the place where Mama said I was born. I loved to travel but Mama always told me to stay close to home. When we got to our new home Mama layed down in the shade while I explored anything new in the home I barely remembered. I jumped from rock to rock and climbed the trees. My mane fell in my eyes a few times and I tripped but didn't get hurt.
"Mama, I'm hungry," I said rubbing up against her.
"Go play, Ontibile," Mama said and pushed me away.
I went back to playing and chasing birds out of the tree.
"I'm hungry," I whined rubbing up against Mama again, "Please go hunt."
"I'll hunt when I'm ready," she said and I kept bugging her then she whacked me away, "I said when I'm ready!"
My ears layed back and I walked off. Mama could be mean sometimes.
"Mommy!" I heard someone shout and I ran in that direction, "Mommy, where are you?"
I peeked over a rock and saw a lion cub.
"Mommy!"
"Hey," I said and he turned to me scared, "Do you want to play?"
"I want to find my Mommy," he said and I hopped down to him, "I'm lost."
"Sorry," I said and climbed up a tree to look for his Mom, "I don't see any other lions anywhere."
"Aren't you a lion?" he asked and I looked down at him.
I was confused until my mane fell into my eyes and I blew it out of my way.
"No, I'm a leopard," I said and climbed back down the tree, "My Mama's just over those rocks."
He took off running and I ran after him.
"Where are you going?" I called but he never turned back.
"Ontibile, who are you talking too?" Mama asked and I looked up at her.
I sighed, ran back to her, and jumped up beside her.
"Are you going hunting now?" I asked rubbing up against her legs.
"Yes but you're staying here," she said then picked me up and set me in the tree, "Stay here until I come back."
"But..."
She was gone. I rolled my eyes and climbed deep into the tree. There was a den space that stayed cool in the hotness outside. I fell asleep but a noise woke me. I climbed out of the tree and looked up at a herd of elephants.
"Cool!" I said and went to play with them.
I ran in and out of the tree trunk like legs until I came to an elephant kid.
"Do you want to play?" I asked and it turned to me.
"Mama!" it shouted and all the elephants turned to me.
"Uh, oh," I said and took off.
I was kicked, rolled, flung, and I finally got away. I was sore and didn't make it all the way back home... actually I was lost.
"Mama!" I called as loud as I could, "Mama!"
My throat grew dry and I quit calling. I heard the voice of the same lion cub that I had met earlier. I found him and we started playing. At least we weren't alone now.
"I'm Taka," he said as he tried to pin me.
"I'm Ontibile," I said and pinned him, "Pinned ya!"
We played for a long while, trying to forget our hunger and being lost. When night came and we hadn't been found yet, we found a place that I remembered to be safe and slept there for the night. I woke up when a storm was coming and grew scared. I saw lightning and covered my head with my paws. I whimpered and scooted closer to Taka.
"It's okay, I'm here," Taka said and I hid my eyes in his fur.
I was so scared and the storm was all around us. There was no way to escape the storm. My fear slipped away as I fell asleep.