365 DAYS 365 TALES

JUNGLE DIARY

He walked into the cottage only to find it empty. It had been two days since he had killed something. His mouth was watering to taste some flesh as his stomach growled with every step.

He had expected something here though. He had seen some humans enter this cottage two days ago. And with the fire raging outside, there was very little chance that they would have been able to leave this cottage. Then where was the food.

He looked over the room once again. The humans hadn't kept any lights on. But he was sure the fire outside was strong enough to illuminate this room. Then why was it so dark? He glanced at the window to see the curtains drawn over. Clever humans. He jumped on the table by the window and pounced at the curtains. It came down at once with its rod making a metallic sound. This is better, he thought as the orange fire lit the room.

He surveyed the room once again. He was disappointed to see everything so still. He walked to the table with some fruits on it when his eyes fell upon the six mugs on the table. It must be for those drinks the humans consume. But something was odd. Those mugs weren't empty like the room. There was steam coming out of them. That could only mean one thing. They are here.

With a rejuvenated confidence, he began to scan every corner of the room once again. He loved this game with his prey. It gave him an unusual satisfaction when he killed a prey that had been hiding. All the time they believed he didn't know. All the time they thought they could escape. But little did they knew that it was tough to get away from the king of the jungle.

He resumed his search once again. Apart from the door he had come in, he could see two other going out from the room. You are just delaying the inevitable humans. He walked to the door in front of him. This would have been so easy if it was in the jungle. They wouldn't have even known he was there. But this creaking floor beneath his feet gave him away. As if it mattered anyway.

He placed his claw on the door and pushed it with all his force. But it didn't budge. The silly humans must have locked it from the inside. But he had to open it. His empty stomach wouldn't allow him to just walk away. He stepped back a pace, ready to throw his whole body at the door. Wait! There's one more door. Though it was obvious that the humans were here, he still thought to check it out. Just in case.

He again pushed the other door with his claw, and it opened with a loud creak. Damn these human houses. They just can't remain silent. He walked past the open door and stopped in his tracks when he heard a noise.

"Twinkle twinkle little stars, how I..."

He was in luck. There was someone here. The lion glanced at the source of the voice. It was a small little boy singing at something outside the window. The boy turned when he heard a low growl coming from him. He can bet any human would have been afraid and even screamed seeing him in the room like this, but not this boy. His eyes showed no sign of fear.

"Are you a lion?" The boy asked taking a few steps towards him, "Mummy says we are here to see you, but I have never seen a lion before."

This boy amused him very much. Some animals stop being afraid of him when they knew they couldn't do anything. So he could understand that the boy wasn't feeling any fear either. But what surprised him more was that the boy was talking to him. That was certainly a first for him.

The lion went near the boy and roared at his face. He had expected the boy to scream this time, but no, the boy just chuckled. And again he spoke something.

"You make funny sounds, Mr. Lion."

This was turning out to be weird now. The great king of the jungle couldn't scare a little boy. If his children heard about this, they would tease him to death. No, he couldn't let this happen. He had to make his presence felt. He pounced on the boy and held him under his paws. He was about to roar once again, when a shrill scream cut across the room.

"No..."

He watched over his back to see those other humans come into the room through the door. Oh great, perfect timing you humans. He knew he could scare them off, but fighting this many humans would be a little tough. He had to make a decision. Either take the boy, or fight for a bigger human.

It has to be the boy. He made up his mind and lifted the boy up with his mouth. At the same time some of those humans rushed in his direction holding something like a stick. He looked around for another exit. But there was nothing except that door and a window behind him.

He ran to the window and jumped through it giving a firm push to his hind legs. He crashed into the window with all his might. The window broke in an instance as he landed on the ground outside. Small scraps from the window stuck in his body as he smelled some blood coming out from them.

He gave one final look at the humans and ran towards that raging fire spread across the forest. A little boy it may be, but finally after two days, he would eat something.

***

(04/04)