It was hot. It was one of those crushing heats that usually left Nkiru stretched out in the shade until her brother came along and lay down cross-wise on top of her, saying only, “Hot enough for you sis?” She was on her own now and didn’t have to worry about that, surely the welcome shade of the tree up ahead would belong to her alone. It was funny though, she almost missed him doing that. But no matter. There was shade under the tree and all she had to do was get there. Get there and lie down. With a happy sigh, Nkiru stretched out under the tree, spread out to take as much room as she could. She was glad that she didn’t have to worry about her brother ruining things. Real glad. Right? Right. So she’d just take a little nap and that would be it.
Or so she thought.
High up in the tree above Nkiru, Tendaji was also taking a nap. He gotten separated from his siblings for a little while, although he was sure he would catch up to them again soon enough. He twitched slightly, and then more violently, almost losing his perch as he struggled. Those damn crickets! They were always attacking him! With a final jerk down the entire length of his body, he woke up and blinked. Where were Izin and Kamau? No, no, he remembered now. There hadn’t been enough room for the three of them in the tree they’d found, and Tendaji had won it. But they were going to meet up at the waterhole come nightfall. He wasn’t sure he could wait that long though; the heat had made him awfully thirsty and although he would never admit it, he was too afraid of the giant crickets to go back to sleep just then. He looked down the tree and –
A lion. Not just any lion, a lioness. The best kind of lion, in Tendaji’s not-so-humble opinion. He smiled to himself as he admired the dark red stripe running down her back. But how to approach this? He dug his claws into the tree. That might be his true love down there! He had to be smooth, perfect, elegant. He had to say something memorable, something nobody else would come up with.
He climbed down the tree ever so carefully and stood next to the lion, still trying to figure out what to say. Nkiru purred ever so slightly, thinking in her sleepy state that she was back home and her brother had come to bother her. She missed him, the dumb oaf. Any minute now, and he would say -
“Hello beautiful.”
That was not something her brother would say to her. Nkiru was on her feet in minutes, claws extended and teeth bared. Who, what, when, where, why?
Damn damn damn damn. Tendaji backed up hurriedly, ready to high tail it back up the tree. “Hello gorgeous?”
Nkiru snarled, making her displeasure clear. Who was this insolent little green runt anyway? But… her mind cleared a bit more. He was little, yes, but also young. His mane hadn’t even grown in all the way.
Seeing her calm down, Tendaji regained some of his courage. “Nice day, isn’t it?”
“It’s hot.”
“That’s probably because of the crickets.”
“Crickets?”
“I bet they bit the sun man.”
So he was quiet insane in addition to being a runt. Right. The best thing to do would probably be to high tail it at this point and pretend she never met the crazy green thing. But he intrigued her as well, he was such an unusual looking lion. And although she had no intention of admitting it, she’d hardly been gone a week and she already missed her family and missed being around other lions. She’d spent her entire life with her parents and six siblings and wasn’t quite ready for life on her own just yet. Exult as she might in her newfound freedom or space or lack of responsibilities, it felt undeniably strange to not have somebody bumping into her or stepping on her tail or –
Okay, so she liked being on her own.
Okay, so she was glad she had high-tailed it when her mother’s belly began to swell with the tell-tale signs of pregnancy.
For starters… green! What a strange color! She’d never seen it on a lion before, of all things.
Tendaji shifted uncomfortably while the lion stared at him. From so close up, she was undeniably huge. Of course he wasn’t full grown or anything, but… lions. And here he was, just a leopard. Just. And green to boot. But maybe the staring was a good thing? He didn’t have very much experience with girls, after all. “You have… have very pretty eyes.”
Nkiru blinked, startled by the compliment. “Thank you.”
“They look like the sky,” he continued, gaining confidence, “when night first starts to come creeping across the heavens, but hasn’t gotten there quite yet and there’s the first cool breeze after a long hot day and everything is going just fine, just perfect, there’s nothing better.”
“Thanks,” she said, completely taken aback. “You look like, uh. Your eyes look kind of yellow.” She paused. “Like your mane.”
He was doing it, he was totally winning her over! So what if her compliments were terrible? His were good enough for the both of them! “Your fur is red, like…” don’t say blood don’t say blood “… sunset. When the sun is sinking bellow the horizon and the sky around it catches on fire and is all yellow and orange and purple and red.”
Nkiru was confused. Was this some kind of new game? Like a riddle game? She tried to think of something good for her next reply, but she didn’t have as much experience with this whole game thing as the green thing seemed to. “Your pelt is green. Like grass.”
He was totally going to win her over, she was totally going to be his mate, they were totally going to have tons and tons of kids and mom would be oh so proud. It was going to be perfect and –
Grass? He looked like grass? He’s always been a bit sensitive about the color of his pelt, how it wasn’t black like mom or ‘Brafo, but… grass? With a choked sob, he turned and fled.
Nkiru watched the green thing run, more confused than ever. Did that mean she’d won the game? With a tired shake of her head, she lay back down in the shade. It was so very hot today.
((1105 words.))
