I whipped this up in a fairly short time. After seeing Lion King 1 1/2, my obsession (specifically for Timon) was rekindled. Yeah, Timon ROCKS!! Anyhoo, I'm thinking of (once I scrape enough money together to buy my own copy) writing a film novel through Timon's view. This gives ya just a taste of that. It comes at the part after Nala tries to explain to Timon and Pumbaa why Simba returned.

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"Don't you get it?!" Nala protested. "Simba needs us! Now!!" And with that, she ran off.

"Simba needs us??" I yelled, getting angry. "If he needed us, he wouldn't have LEFT us! If he wants to go off and be 'His Majesty', well then I say don't let the branches hit ya on the way out!! Leave Hakuna Matata to someone who APPRECIATES it!" I turned and stormed onto one of the tree's roots, headed back to bed.

Pumbaa tried to reason with me. "But, Timon, it's really not Hakuna Matata without Simba."

"'Not Hakuna Matata'?? What's wrong with you?! That's crazy talk, I tell ya! Crazy talk!! We had Hakuna Matata before Simba and we'll have it just fine without him!"

"We gotta help our friend, Timon!"

I shook my head. "Et tu, Pumbaa? You're just gonna leave behind all of this?!" I swerved around and got in his face. "Whatever happened to 'Friends stick together till the end'?! Huh?? Huh??" I turned my back angrily on him.

"…I was about to ask you to same thing." Pumbaa said, sounding ticked off.

I have to admit, that one hit kinda hard. I listened to his hoofbeats as he began to walk away. When they stopped, I could tell that he was glancing back at me. "I got everything I ever wanted! Right here!" I exclaimed, sliding down into the grass bed with my back still on Pumbaa.

I wish that I had noticed the tears that came to his eyes when he ran off. I hadn't known how much our friendship had meant to him. One thing was for sure… He was gone now, and I was on my own. But…that's what I always wanted…! Right…? Yeah!

"Now this is more like it!!" I said, standing up in our-- my…grass bed. "ELBOW ROOM!!!"

I suddenly jumped a little upon hearing my own echo repeating over…and over…and over again. Everything else was so quiet; it seemed like I was the only breathing creature for miles around. And right then I felt a feeling I hadn't felt for a looooooong time. I felt alone. And let me tell ya, I had forgotten what a dire and blank feeling it was.

After staring emptily at the ground, I sighed sadly and slumped down to a sit, remembering the only other time I had felt this lonely. It was the time when my dad, Buzz, was killed by hyenas. I was only 6 when that happened. But I could still remember the frenzy of the whole colony running and screaming. Being as young as I was, I could only clutch onto my mom like there was no tomorrow and hide my face in her fur.

And I began to worry… What would happen to Pumbaa and Simba?

I dropped my head into my knees and sighed. "Oh, boy oh boy oh boy…" I muttered to myself. What was wrong with me? I had everything I ever wanted-- Lots of room, no digging, no predators, no crowds, no worries…but I still felt miserable. I figured it was because I was thinking about home. You gotta put your past behind ya, I reminded myself. So, I began singing.

Hakuna Matata,

What a wonderful phrase…

I spent the rest of the day doing the things that I'd found pleasure in doing there in the jungle before like lounging in the spring, sitting up in the vine swings… but none of those things even sparked the slightest bit of happiness for me. It just seemed that the harder I tried to entertain myself, the more my conscious was kicking me in the tail and the more I thought of home.

Finally, while I was lying alone on the grass that night where Simba and Pumbaa and I used to watch the stars, I sighed, rolled onto my side, and closed my eyes. Part of my just wanted to go home, even if it did mean that I would only go back to being a loser. At least I always had Ma there to keep me company.

As I lay there, a figure suddenly dropped down in front of me and laughed. It was the LAST person I wanted to talk to right now-- that stupid monkey. And I knew exactly what he was going to say. "You…" I seethed. I quickly put out a hand. "No! Don't! I know exactly what you're going to say! 'Did you find Hakuna Matata?' 'Why, yes I did! Thank ya very much! And I am happy, happy, de-liriously happy!' 'Ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, happy, I see! Then why to you look so depressed?' 'Me? Depressed? Well, I don't know. Maybe it's because my two best friends in the whole world deserted me and left on some heroic mission thing!'" I finally stopped and stared into nothing. "My friends…are gone." I covered my face with my hand.

Suddenly, my eyes went wide as it hit me. "…And my Hakuna Matata went with them!!"

Whoa! Thank you, Captain Obvious! I shyly looked up at the monkey, who had just remained quiet the whole time. "Um…do ya mind?" I grinned sheepishly, pointing to my head. I braced myself, and the monkey took his stick and whacked me on the head with it. "Ouch… Thanks." I said. "I'm glad we had this talk."

With that, I took off towards the Pridelands with all of my natural meerkat speed. "Friends stick together to the end…" I told myself. We had a kingdom to save!!

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R+R!! And may the meerkat be with you!! ^_____^