The Lion King - The Bonds of Trust

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Trials & Tribulations

10 years later...

"Shani! You lazy girl! Get out here!"

Shouted Shani's aunt, Bolah. She was a middle aged woman who was wearing a short sleeved orange dress with a black ribbon around her waist, an apron with patches on it, and small shoes with laces.

"Coming, Aunt Bolah!"

Shouted Shani, coming out of the small house. She was now at the age of sixteen and had grown into a beautiful young woman with long, curly black hair, purple eyes, and a red Hindu dot on her forehead. She was wearing a yellow dress with rolled up sleeves, an apron with patches on it, an anklet on her left ankle, a giant hoop earring on her left ear, and her mother's necklace.

Bolah asked her with a glare, "Why weren't you out here already?"

Shani answered wiping the sweat off of her forehead,

"Because I was sweeping the floors, cleaning the dishes, and dusting off the blankets like you told me."

Bolah then ordered while throwing a pile of laundry to Shani, making her stumble a little,

"And now, I need you to wash all these dirty clothes until they're spotless!"

Shani said with a sigh, "Yes, Aunt Bolah."

And she walked the huge pile of clothes over to washing tub full of water and soap, grabbed a washboard, placed it into the tub, and started scrubbing the dirty clothes.

While Shani continued to scrub the dirty clothes, Bolah looked at her and said with disgust,

"I can't stand those purple eyes of yours! Only freaks would have eyes like that!"

Shani said with hurt in her eyes, "My mother had eyes like that."

Bolah said with even more disgust,

"Your mother! Oh, how I despised that woman. I did everything I could to protect my poor brother from that Gypsy witch! But he was blinded by her sorcery and treachery, and was too foolish to listen. And look what's become of it! He's dead and he and that sorceress left me with another little witch to look after!"

Bolah continued to say as she leaned in close to Shani's ear,

"You're just like your mother, and you'll never be anything more than an undeserving, treacherous little witch!"

Shani bit her lip and turned away from her. She wanted so badly to stand up to her Aunt Bolah and tell her who the real witch was. But she couldn't, out of fear that she would get another merciless beating.

As she continued scrubbing the dirty laundry, Bolah ordered,

"And when you're done with the clothes, I need you to hang them up and go pick some more mangos for me. Is that clear?"

Shani said with a nod, "Yes, mam."

With that, Bolah walked back into the house, leaving Shani alone to work.

After about a few more minutes, Shani finished washing the clothes and started hanging them up on a clothing wire with pins, trying to forget about what her aunt said. She said with a sigh as she finished pinning up the soggy clothes,

"Oh, I wish I could leave this place. And When that day comes, I'll know where I'm meant to be. I'll finally be home."

She said looking towards the horizon, "Yeah, that'll be the day."

Putting that thought aside, she left the house to go get mangos. While walking to the mango tree, she said hello to a few fellow villagers and started singing a tune;

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya

While this was going on, a young village man was watching her in a rather curious way. He was a handsome young African man wearing a red shirt with rolled up sleeves, brown below the knee pants, and a brown belt wrapped around his waist.

Shani continued to hum that song as she walked closer to the mango tree. It was a tall tree, and it was filled with many branches and mangos. As Shani continued eyeing the tree with determination, the boy watching her came up to her and asked, holding a fruit picker stick.

"So, you're picking some mangos?"

Shani looked back and said with a raised brow, "Um, yeah. I'm picking them for my aunt."

And started climbing up the big tree. The boy asked her with a raised brow while raising up his stick,

"You know, you could easily pick them with this."

Shani said as climbed the branches, "Thanks, but I prefer this way a lot better."

The boy said, "Well, I like climbing trees too. But using this would save you a lot of time."

Shani said reaching the highest branch, "Yes, that maybe true. But doing it this way is a lot more fun."

As the boy continued to watch her in amazement, Shani asked with a smirk,

"Enjoying the view?"

The boy snapped out of his daze and said, "Oh! I'm just amazed that you're such a good climber."

Shani said with the shrug of her shoulders as she picked a few mangos,

"Well, I've been climbing pretty much all my life. I know this tree like I know the back of my hand."

She then stepped on another branch, only to here it cracking at the bottom of her feet. She gasped out with worry and felt the branch snap, causing her and the mangos to fall, letting out a scream.

Taking quick action, the young man ran over and reached out, catching Shani in his arms. Catching their breathes, the young man said in relief while introducing himself,

"I'm so glad I caught you. My name is, Tamur."

Shani introduced herself with a smile, "I'm Shani."

Tamur nodded with a smile, setting her down. Shani said feeling grateful,

"Thank you for catching my fall."

Tamur said helping her pick up the fallen mangos,

"It's no trouble, really. You know, I've got a basket at my house that you could use to carry these mangos in. Would you like to come with me to go get it?"

Shani answered with a smile, "Sure."

Tamur nodded and said with a smile, "Great!" And with that, they started walking towards Tamur's house to go get the basket.

During their walk, They told each other a bit about themselves. Shani told him about how she lived with her parents in another village and how they were killed by the lion, having to be sent to live with her aunt. Tamur spoke of how his parents died when he was a young boy due to illness, and how he had to be sent to the village to live with his Grandmother. Things were good for them until recent years when his grandmother passed away due to another illness.

Shani asked him, "So, you live by yourself?"

Tamur answered, "Yes. I use to live with my grandmother, but she passed away about two years ago."

Shani said with a saddened look on her face, "Oh, I'm sorry."

Tamur said, grabbing the basket, "It's okay. At least I know she's in a better place."

Shani said, placing the mangos in the basket, "You know, it must be nice living on your own."

Tamur said shrugging his shoulders, "Well, I wouldn't say that. It gets kinda lonely sometimes."

Shani said grabbing the basket,

"At least you don't have to deal with an aunt that constantly berates and insults you and your family from day to day, beating you if you do something wrong."

Tamur asked with shock, "You're aunt beats you?"

Shani answered as they walked out the door, "Yes. Do you know what that's like? someone insulting and beating you because you're different?"

Tamur explained with a sad sigh,

"Yes. Pretty much my whole life, people made fun of me because of how sensitive I am to other people. Other boys often bullied me for the sound of my voice, and would beat me, calling me a girl and saying I wasn't man enough."

Shani admitted, "My aunt called me a freak because of the color of my eyes."

Tamur said shaking his head, "She's wrong. I think your eyes are beautiful, and I really like how they're unique. They suit you."

Shani blushed and said with a smile, "Thank you, and I think your voice is beautiful too. It suits you."

The two looked to each other with warm smiles. Chemistry was starting to build between the two, as the two continued looking fondly at each other and started inching towards one another.

Before they could get closer to each other, however, out came an angered Bolah! She shouted,

"You lazy girl! What do you think you're doing?!"

Shani stammered, "Aunt Bolah! I-I was just-"

She was immediately cut off when Bolah snapped, "I leave you to go pick mangos, and I find you lollygagging and flirting with some village boy?!"

Shani tried to say, "Aunt Bolah, he was just-"

Bolah snapped while grabbing her by the arm and ripping the basket out of her hands,

"You are coming with me! And you, stay away from her!"

With Bolah's back turned, Shani looked to Tamur and shrugged her shoulders with a look on her face that read 'I'm Sorry'. Tamur gave her a sympathetic look, and watched as Shani was being dragged away by her mean-spirited aunt.

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Hey guys! Here's chapter 1! I hope you enjoy it! ;)