Childhood

I rest my rear on the sun-baked ground of the scorching plateau. Staring out into the horizon, I see the invaders marching off in a slow, downcast stroll, as their heads hung low from the defeat they had just received. The heat of the sun intensifies as i slowly squint my eyes until they are completely closed. I let my physical feelings and thoughts overpower me. Soon, my idle mind begins to drift, into the vast spaces of my memories.

My belly was exposed to the sun as i hung all four of my paws in the air. Dehydration made my tongue languorously hang out; I took short breaths to keep my heart going. Being born into the pride meant that i was the luckiest of all cubs; I had always had a silver spoon in my mouth. In moments, mom came up to me, dragging a juicy piece of baby gazelle meat and dropped it onto the ground next to me. Such were my living conditions that I even got to choose which parts i wanted to eat, and left the scraps for the hyenas. And when i was done, I quenched my thirst from the watering hole just meters away. Mom told me I was born to be a king so I feared no predators.

However, as I was munching down into my share of the tender meat, Little Sis' joined me. "There goes my food", i thought as she sprinted towards my lunch. She was my only real competition when it came to food. When the other memebers of the pride tried to take my food, mom would come to the rescue and save my meal. As a cub, I did not understand these complex things, why my mom needed to protect me, why other animals ran away from us, and why the other males were fighting with other strange males. When an epic battle took place, Dad would use me to distract the invaders because of my speed. I was really plaing catching rather than running for my life. Like mom said, I was born to be a king, so why would I be afraid?

Yes, why would should I be afraid? So I walked wherever I wanted to - and on that day it was beyond the territory of the pride. The savannah seemed to completely change; it suddenly seemed darker, and every animal would successfully scare me off, especially those colosal elephants, that towered two million feet above my little body. Little Sis tagged along and we soon found ourselves hiding under a fallen tree branch. And then, out of a corner, came one of those invaders. He had not noticed us, though we did.

He was a furtive animal with a face that bore the scars of many battles. Those were attractive features on a male lion, so much so that my sister was absolutely infatuated with him. What a better time to exercise my "kingly" authority than to go and talk to him now! I conceitedly matched towards him, for upon noticing me, he pounced upon me and almost crushed me with his body weight. Little Sis' came out screaming and begged him to release me. No such luck. He opened his jaws to expose his huge canine teeth and I braced myself for what would be my first feeling of real agony.

A thunderous roar echoed down the savannah and the mae released his grip on me, petrified by the roar. I managed to slip away, when I saw where the roar came from. It was Dad. He stood up tall with his back arched and his mane revealing his power. Now that was the majesty of the king! He leaped in front of me to shield me and gave me a powerful swipe at the other male. One more scar to add to the collection on his face! It was thus taht i realized how naive I was. It was life and death out here and it was no child's play. Dad was appalled at out mischief and we got what was coming our way - harsh punishment.

Evidently, it was the innocene of children that made me do those things, an innocence that has long since left me. Now, on the sun-baked ground of the scorcing plateau, I sit as the head of my pride, as the king of the savannah, in all the majesty and glory of a lion. I sit and guard here to make sure other cubs have the silver-spoon fed, gazelle-lunch childhood I had, so that from that childhood, they would rise up to be where I am today. My mind came back to the present moment as I slowly opened my eyes. A small grin came across my face as I saw two curious cubs venturing beyond my domain. I got up and walked in their direction, knowing what they would get themselves into. What a childhood they will have too!