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ZOO LIFE
"Wake up, Boy!"
The zookeepers' shout made Safari put his ears up. Two zookeepers were standing outside the metal grill that led into the kitchen. Safari stood up and walked over to them, nuzzling them playfully. They scratched his ears and he purred with delight.
"Atta boy, Safari. Atta boy." The female zookeeper said, stroking the small amount of fur on the cub's head.
They opened the grill, signaling to Safari to stay. They put down a bowl full of fresh meat and went out, closing the grill behind them. Safari went over to the meat and sniffed it.
Better than yesterday, he thought, gobbling it up.
He had just licked the last traces of meat from the bowl when a grown up lion walked up to him.
"How was it?" he asked.
"Better." Safari replied, licking his whiskers.
"Good." the lion said, walking over to the large carcass nearby.
Two lionesses emerged from the den and began to nibble on the carcass. Safari greeted them both with enthusiasm, they were like mothers to him.
"Hey, Janet, Savannah." he said, cheerfully.
"You're in a cheerful mood today." said the lioness with green eyes.
"I'm excited, Savannah." Safari said. "I'm now old enough to eat from bones."
"That's good, Safari." said the lioness with soft,blue eyes.
"I'm happy for you, son." said the big lion who had a dark brown mane with eyes like Savannah.
"Thanks, Simon. That means a lot." Safari smiled at the huge lion, who was like a father to him.
Just then, the enclosure's door opened and the zookeepers came in. The four lions ran around them, trying to lick any bit of flesh they could find. Safari literally jumped on them and knocked them down, licking their faces.
"All four of you, calm down, down boy, down girl." The male zookeeper said, petting all the lions on their heads.
The lions backed down. The zookeepers stood up and wiped the lion saliva off their faces. All around, an audience had gathered to watch the young two-month-old lion cub eat his first morsel from bones. The zookeepers pushed a small animal, a vole, towards Safari. He stared at it, dumbfounded.
"Its okay, I'll help." said Simon, coming from behind the little cub. "First pluck the fur off the prey before you eat it."
Safari put his head down and tugged at the fur of the vole. He slowly plucked out clumps of fur and spat them aside. Once the vole was fur less, Safari looked at Simon.
"The next step is to find the softest part of the meal." Simon instructed. "Use your nose and find the softest part, find the bone and eat around the bone."
Safari did as Simon said. Soon, the vole was nothing but a pile of bones. The audience clapped. Safari burped. The zookeepers cleaned up the carcass and took it away, giving him and the other lions a pat. Once they were gone, Janet picked up Safari and began to give him a bath, ignoring his squeals of protest.
Soon, afterwards, the lions napped. Safari was excited. He fell asleep with thoughts of his first real meal. But his dream disturbed him too much.
"Take him and go!" a voice yelled. The cream-colored Pridelander lioness picked up the tiny orange cub and ran. A shot rang through the night followed by a roar. "No!" The lioness screamed, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked at the light flashing from the Twoleg building. She had reached the border of the Pridelands. She knew they were coming after her. She placed the cub on the porch and ran. Another shot fired and everything went black.
"Safari! Safari! Wake Up!" voices yelled in his head.
Safari forced his eyes open. Janet and Savannah were looking over him, worried expressions on their faces. Simon was worried too. Safari saw that he was lying at an awkward angle. His eyes were filled with tears that were running down his face.
"Are you okay?" Savannah asked, concerned.
"I'm fine." Safari sniffed, wiping his face with his paw.
"You were squirming and thrashing in your sleep." Janet said. "You were crying out loud 'Take him and go', 'NO!' You had us all really worried."
That was the most weird dream ever. Safari's head hurt, but the image of the lioness was still on his mind.
"Get some sleep now, son." Simon said kindly.
Safari snuggled down but couldn't sleep. The lioness he saw was so familiar, yet so unknown. He cuddled against Savannah's warm body and tried to sleep. Savannah licked him comfortingly on the head, as if he was her own son. Safari pretended to be asleep but Savannah knew he wasn't.
"Can't sleep?" the brown lioness asked. Safari shook his head.
"I had a most weird dream ever." Safari said. He told her everything about his dream.
Savannah considered. "Let me tell you a story." she said. She told him the story of the great Pridelanders, how King Mufasa was killed in a wildebeest stampede, and how his son Simba ran away, was found by his friend Nala, returned, overthrew the evil king Scar and reclaimed the throne.
"That's one amazing story Savannah." Safari said, feeling sleepy. "Is it true?"
"Its a legend." Savannah explained. "To us, those stories keep us going. They're stories that are true inside of us and give us the courage to do the things we're afraid to do."
"Do you think I may be a legend someday?" Safari asked.
"You may, seeing as you're such an extraordinary cub." Savannah licked his head and he cuddled up against her belly and fell asleep.
-A few years later-
Safari stood on the highest rock in the enclosure and looked over the zoo. The people who were around the enclosure were clicking pictures of the adolescent lion. Safari had now begun to sprout a mane. reddish-brown bangs were already hanging over his face. His fur colour had begun to darken and his voice was deeper. His blue eyes seemed to show more and the fur on his elbow was beginning to grow longer.
He jumped down and walked over to the rest of the pride. Savannah, Janet and Simon looked proudly at him.
"My, how you've grown, Safari." Janet complimented. His eyes shone with pride.
"You're so grown up, it seems like only yesterday that you were a cub." Savannah said.
"Looks like he's going to become a strong lion after all." Simon said.
"Guys, stop it. You're embarrassing me." Safari said.
The entire pride of four lions laughed. The audience were trying to see if they'd do something, but the lions lay down and slept. It was a hot summer day and they needed their space. The people reluctantly moved off. Safari's ears picked up something being said outside their enclosure. He wasn't that interested until he heard his name being mentioned.
"......against raising Safari in this zoo."
He got up and moved towards the manager of the zoo and one of the zookeepers. They seemed to be arguing.
"We have to set him free." the manager was saying.
"But he's only an adolescent. He's too young to survive out there on his own." the zookeeper protested.
"But the animal-rights groups are protesting now. They think Safari should be set free."
"But he loves it here. Its his home."
"He wasn't born here. I found him outside my door as a newborn. He's technically a wild lion. He belongs out there."
"But he gets along so well with the other lions, it would crush him to leave them."
"Don't worry. Simon's taught him to be strong. He'll be fine."
"I still say he's too young. And he doesn't know that Simon, Janet and Savannah saw his mother dieing."
"But I don't know how much longer we can keep this up. Soon, the animal activists'll get us to free him."
"I'm not saying we shouldn't free him, but give him a little time to grow up."
"Till he grows his mane?"
"Till the age of three."
"We'll set him free then."
They hadn't realized that Safari was right behind them and had overheard the entire conversation. After they went away, Safari still stood motionless. Anger began to boil up inside of him. He turned and walked towards the other three lions.
"What's up?" Simon asked.
"WHY DIDN"T YOU TELL ME I WASN'T BORN HERE?!!" Safari roared.
"We......we..." Savannah stammered.
"OR THAT I RAISED UP A CURRENT OF PEOPLE TELLING THEM TO SET ME FREE?!!"
"Safari, listen to us." Janet said softly.
"OR THAT YOU KNOW WHO MY MOTHER WAS?!!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH, SAFARI!" Simon roared, silencing Safari at once. "We didn't tell you because we knew how you'd take it. We didn't know your mother, we saw her leave you by the office there and run away leaving you."
"Mom abandoned me?" Safari asked himself.
"No she didn't." Janet said. "She had to leave you because if she stayed with you, the poachers would get you."
"She sacrificed her life for me?" Safari asked again.
"Even your father." Savannah said.
Safari couldn't take it anymore. He walked into the den and lay his head on his paws, silently letting tears slide down his face. Janet came in and stopped at the entrance.
"Safari?" she asked.
"Janet?" he asked, surprised. "What's going on?"
"I came to talk to you."
"About what?"
"About your parents. They did what they thought was right, Safari. Don't be mad at them."
"I'm not."
"Then why're you so sad?"
"I never got to see them, or even know them."
"They did the right thing, Safari. If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be here."
"But why were the poachers after them in the first place?"
"Well, as far as your mother told me before she ran off, your father was a rare white lion. Normally, white lion with a normal lion brings out a white lion, but you came, an orange cub. You would be worth so much money in the market, you know."
"So, to stop them getting me, Mom and Dad gave their lives?"
"Yes, your mother left you right there. I was awake so I exchanged a few last words with her before she left. She was an amazing mother."
"Wish they were still alive."
"They are, Safari, in you."
Safari looked out of the den. He imagined his father standing in front of him, protecting him, and his mother leaving him. He sighed. He somehow knew that his parents would always be there for him. He stood up and walked outside. Janet smiled proudly. She had seen that Safari was going to be a legendary lion.
When he went outside, the mood was pretty cheerful. They had forgotten about the small squabble and were a pride again. The four chatted and talked happily. Soon, it was dinner time. As they munched on the zebra, Safari apologized to them.
"Its okay. We'd feel the same way if we never knew our parents." Simon said, reassuringly.
Safari smiled. It didn't matter if his home was the wild Serengeti, these three lions had been his family since he was a cub. But, his mind kept going back to his parents' deaths. Now he knew, his dreams were more clear. Though he always had the same dreams again and again.
-Two years later-
"Where's Safari?" asked Savannah. "He should be here by now."
"Calm down, sis." Simon said. "Its only been two weeks. He need to be properly trained if they're going to set him free."
"He's training now, is he?" Janet asked, amused.
Then, the back door opened and a fully grown Safari stepped into the enclosure. The three lions put their head up and smiled. Safari looked so different now. He had a thick reddish-brown mane and darker fur. He was larger and stronger and looked fircer. It was difficult to think that this huge lion was the tiny cub they raised.
"You've changed since I last saw you." commented Savannah.
"That training must really be paying off." Simon agreed.
"How was it?" Janet asked.
"It was okay." Safari said. "They did take me into the savannah (Savannah giggled) and get me to catch a few zebra. Tackling the water buffalo was the hardest. You have no idea how wild they can be.And how smelly too."
"Hey!" A water buffalo from the opposite enclosure grunted.
"Sorry!" Safari called out.
The four laughed.
"Did they make you do anything else?" Janet asked.
"Well, they did assign me a jump course." Safari said. " I was made to jump and get through a whole lot of boxes and hoops."
"Well, you must be very tired." Simon said. "Have a nap."
"I'd love to." Safari yawned.
Safari jumped up on a rock and curled himself up. The other lions went to sleep, but Safari was having trouble. Sure, he was getting training to be out in the wild, but was he ready to leave his home, and his family? He asked Simon, Janet and Savannah this and they told him it would be fine. Safari felt comforted by their warm words and felt sad that soon he would have to leave them.
Days passed surprisingly quickly and soon it was time for Safari to say goodbye. Before he had to leave, Safari went to see the other three.
"Safari, be good, okay?" Janet said.
"We'll keep an eye out for you every week." Simon said.
"Don't forget to keep in touch." Savannah said.
"I won't." Safari said sadly. "And I'll never forget you guys."
He nuzzled all of them and then turned. The zookeepers were waiting. Safari walked into the crate and sat down. They loaded the crate into a truck and drove off to the edge of the savannah. They opened the crate and told Safari to go out.
As Safari went out into the thick plants, he looked back and saw the truck driving away.
"Goodbye guys."
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