Kirjava smiled sheepishly up at Aapep. Drying seaweed hung from her ears and draped across her shoulders. Its smell was distinct and perhaps slightly unpleasant. Sand caught messily in her whiskers and between her toes and coated the underside of her tail tuft. It was true that she had never been a neat and tidy child, but suddenly it seemed to hit home to her that being seen like this in front of a guest was possibly not the best way to make a good first impression.
“So…you’re my Father’s brother?” She asked after a moment, head slightly lowered.
“That’s right.” Aapep continued, trying to smother a smile.
“And that would make you…?”
“Your uncle.” He continued, his smile breaking through a little more. “It’s nice to meet you, at last.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “You brought Father bad news…”
Aapep sat, sighing and nodding his head. “That’s right. Our mother passed away not too long ago. I journeyed here to let him know. Your dad and his mother went through a lot together. He will probably be sad for a long while, but he’ll be fine eventually. It will be hard but he has you and the others around to remind him of better things.” Aapep knew that getting over a death was near impossible. Thoughts of his mother still came at great sorrow. However, having family and friends around was a great help. He wasn’t sure what he would have done with Mawi Mai and his children. “Did he ever tell you much about his time with her?”
“My grandma? No…not really.” She moved to sit next to him and as she did so the seaweed slipped from her shoulders to the floor, looking dejected.
“You’re named after her.”
She nodded. “Uh huh, Father told me I was named after grandma. I didn’t know her all that well…but I know she was a kind lioness who had a hard life. But, despite it, she was a good lioness who lived life to the full. I want to do that, too. Never live with regret and take chances when they come.”
“That’s a good way to be.” Aapep agreed. “She’d be proud of you, Kirjava. I think she’d be proud of all of us.” He paused. “I like to think she’s still with us…watching over us. I like to think she’s with her friend, relaxing and happy. I like to think I’ll walk with her again someday.” But not for a while. He was sad about her death, but he wanted to live a long and happy life to make her prouder still.
“Watching over us?” Kirjava echoed softly. “I think you’re right. If you listen you can hear voices everywhere. The sea speaks. So does the wind. The whole land does. Maybe her voice is with them. I always wondered what they were.”
Aapep started, what she had spoken of was very true. It was something he believed in with all his heart. That there was voice and music in everything. “That’s a comforting thought, indeed. I think you’re right. The body returns to the earth, becomes a part of it. The voices of the world…perhaps they are the voices of our ancestors.”
They sat for a moment and then she continued. “Tell me about her?”
“I will.” He glanced out across the beautiful landscape, much different from that of his own homeland, and spoke of her – his mother. “She was taken as a slave into a pride of fierce lions. Made to serve them. It was a terrible life there, full of misery and terror. But, despite all that, she had a friend there – a sister, even – who stuck by her. They stuck together through thick and thin. Sadly, when Kirjava escaped the lands, she never saw her again. Later she found out that she had passed away, still so young.” He paused and let his ears droop a little. “But she always thought of her, I think.”
“How sad…I can’t imagine not being free…not being in a land where everyone is treated well.” She shook her head grimly. “A slave…” She had never heard the word uttered before, but it was not a good word and she never wanted to hear it again. One should not be made to serve others, especially others of their own kind.
“Me either. But her life wasn’t all sadness. She had Ravi whilst she was there, too, and escaped with me. After that, I’m not really sure what she did. I know she travelled, reluctant to settle in a pride after what had happened to her. Then she had me and I grew up in the rogue lands, until I fell in love with my mate Mawi Mai and moved in with her. Kirjava came with us and joined the pride. She was there when my children were born and she died there. She was happy. I think.” He found tears in his eyes as he spoke and could not contain them.
Kirjava, touched by the simplicity of his description of her grandmother’s life and the emotion which he showed now, leaned against him, purring softly. “She was happy. How could she not be, Uncle Aapep? She had a home and family. That’s all we ever really need, right?”
“And music.” Aapep added with a grin. “But yes, you’re right. A home where your family is really are the main ingredients for happiness.”
“Music? Oh yes, you’re from a musical pride? So…what do you do exactly?”
“Some lions sing or play on drums. Others dance.” Aapep replied.
“Did Kirjava play music?”
“No. She didn’t.”
“What do you do, then?”
“Me? I’m a dancer.” He seemed proud of that, his dusty-coloured pelt fluffing up a little. “I danced even when I was little, before I realised what dancing was. Then I wandered into the pride and realised that my way of walking could be considered a talent.” He chuckled.
“Dance?” Kirjava’s eyes widened, glad to see how her uncle’s eyes now did not look so sad.
He nodded. “And Mawi Mai plays the drums – very well, I might add.”
“Could you show me?”
He faltered a little. He hadn’t felt much like dancing since Kirjava’s death. “Perhaps another time…” That sadness returned and he stood, seeming suddenly uncomfortable.
Sensing this, Kirjava rose and followed after him. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to put my paw in it. I should be more careful…” She trailed.
“You weren’t to know, Kirjava. Besides, I should dance again. I just…I can’t seem to get it right. I think of Mother and…it makes me sad.”
Kirjava thought a moment. “So your dances were normally energetic and cheerful?”
He nodded.
“Then perhaps you need a new dance.” She said it as if it were a simple answer to his problem. Aapep was about to reply that it wasn’t as easy as that when he thought on it…maybe it was! If he felt happy his dancing was happy and he’d always felt happy before. Now that his mood had changed, perhaps he ought to adapt to it so he could better express through dance what he could not in words.
“You know, Kirjava.” He replied after a moment. “I think you may be onto something there.”
“Of course I am.” She chirped. “See, I am useful for something. Be sure to tell my dad, won’t you?”
Grinning, he gave her a light shove and moved out onto the sand, enjoying the sensation of it against his paws. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body, listening to the call of the sea, the rolling waves foaming against the sand. The steady rhythm of hissing water on warm sand, the crash of a wave against a rock. He drew in a deep breath and then moved in time with the steady thud and lap of water. His body swayed slowly, his paws sweeping out in arcs and coming to land silently against the sand. His hind-quarters span a crescent form, his tail following the motion. His head lowered into the sway and then lifted it with each dance step. And then he switched and moved in the opposite direction, moving closer to the sea, letting it lap against his paws. His head rose, whiskers lifting to the sky, his face full of sad concentration. Then he hunkered forwards, moved forwards into the waves and started the steps again.
Kirjava watched all the while, somewhat mystified. She did not move nor speak throughout, not until he had finished and raised his head to look her way. He looked tired and sad, but not just that. He looked somewhat happy, too.
“You are a dancer!” Kirjava exclaimed.
“You doubted it?” He replied, mocking hurt.
“No. But, I’ve never seen a lion dance before. Where did you find that in you?”
“The world is my inspiration, the earth my drum. I found music in the sea and went with it.”
“I love the sea.” Kirjava agreed with a soft sigh – the sort of sigh a girl would give when daydreaming of a lover. “It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”
Shaking sand from his paws, Aapep moved back up onto the grassy verge. “Next time I come, I’ll bring my children, too. They would love to meet you and the rest of the family. They’d love it here, too.”
“I’d love to meet them. Perhaps one day I can come and see your home, too.”
“You’d be very welcome.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
Kirjava hastened her pace to keep up with him. “When are you and Mawi Mai leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning. We’d love to linger a little longer, but we want to be back to make sure the children are okay. They’re as big as you are, but this is the first time we’ve left them alone for any length of time. You’ll understand our worries once you become a parent.”
Kirjava grinned. “Well, don’t leave without saying goodbye, will you?”
“Certainly not. I expect you all to be there to see us off.”
She grinned. “Try to keep us away.”
---
/fin.
