Fear

Chapter 1

My name is Dalu, I live in Africa in Zambia on a farm that I inherited from my uncle after he sadly passed away during the previous summer. I’m going to tell you the story of my white lion, through the joys and sorrows. This is how it all began:

It was a boiling afternoon, three cubs played with each other whilst their mother hunted for food. They hid in the long, yellowy green meadow for protection against larger predators. One of the cubs was very unique as he had a pure white coat and blue sparkly eyes. His litter mates were the usual tawny colour with dark spots and golden-brown eyes. For generations his family had passed on this rare gene but none had been fortunate to bear it until now. The cubs joyfully scrambled on each other and playfully bit and scratched each others’ backs. The cubs thought they had nothing to fear and were eager to explore the large savannah whilst their mother was out hunting.

As the cubs happily played under the old chunky tree, nearby a young male lion was about, looking for an easy meal, but leisurely passed the small cubs without a thought. A few hours later the cubs grew restless and hungry so began to call for their mother wa ow wo… no response came. She must be out still hunting for a zebra, thought the cubs. Yet as the sun faded and the moon began to rise she still had not returned. The next morning the cubs awoke to a loud bang. They could hear loud echos yelling in the distance but all the twittering larks and swallows and the noisy baboons had grew silent. Oh where is our mother? cried the cubs to each other.

The cubs soon heard something coming towards them. At first they thought it was their mother finally returning full of flesh in her stomach and warm milk to suckle. But the footsteps were unusually loud. Neither could they hear her loud panting. The three cubs quickly fled into a large hole under a giant cape tree.

The oldest and biggest cub stood forwards, protecting his tawny sister and white brother from the dangers outside, pushing them deeper and deeper into the darkness of the hole.

This was when I found them. I wandered up to the old tree and saw this small fuzzy cub just staring straight up at me. At first I wondered where their mother was and most importantly if she was nearby, but I examined the cub and noticed that it was hungry so I got my backpack, which was dangling from my shoulder, and carefully put the cub in.

Suddenly I saw the younger female who had begun to crawl forwards. I leaned forwards, gingerly trying to get her, and then put her in the backpack as well. With both cosily in I stroked them both and begun to walk off, until I heard a faint noise from deep inside the hole… wa ow wo.

I went back to the tree and curiously stuck my arm in the small hole. As I brought my hand out I was truly amazed as I held a small white lion cub. I had heard legends of lions whose fur was as white as snow and eyes as blue as the soft clear sky from the villagers but never had I dreamt of ever seeing one. I quickly paused what I was doing and glared at his sapphire eyes, was it wrong to take him away from his life in the wild? I thought for a few seconds. He could grow to be king of this savannah but then I knew hunters would kill the cub if they ever found him. Then I thought that if their mother was really gone then he and his siblings would not last long alone in the wilderness.

Finally I put the cub into the very bottom of my bag, leaving enough room for him and his siblings to scramble about inside. Earlier that day I too had heard the big bang and knew what it was and how the cubs were involved. I knew their mother would not be returning. I am truly sorry for man and his greed. I will look after you and make sure you grow into a fine king to rule this savannah one day. I paused to reflect then whispered, I am Dalu and I will protect you. The cubs meowed a friendly greeting and I carried them away. That day, I did not know the challenges that lay ahead but I knew that this would be a new adventure for us all.

Chapter 2

I did not know if I could look after those cubs like I had first promised. When I got home I rang up lots of zoos and parks asking if they could take the cubs in, but the best they could do was send an expert in lions to help me raise them in a few months’ time. Until then it was up to me.

Why did no parks want these cubs? I guessed that they already had too many animals to look after. With rhinos and other rare creatures dramatically dropping in numbers their concerns were elsewhere.

That evening I soon finished making milk for the cubs. The older male lapped it down yet bit and scratched me as thanks. The female was shyer to drink the milk, nonetheless she drank it all. But the white male did not drink. I wondered why, was he not yet hungry? But he must be. I tried a few tactics but they did not work, so I rang up a park and they told me something that I thought would help a bit, yet he did not have a sip. I had heard tales of young chimps and elephants who had watched their parents be slaughtered in front of them, it was traumatic and many of them died of a broken heart.

He was rare so I could not let him die. Wouldn’t it make me like the poacher if I let him die? All I knew was not to give up, I had to help him. His brother and sister seemed happy in a small dog bed I put them in. I then got back to the white cub and held him while putting the bottle in his face. He disliked that a lot, I knew that I wouldn’t have liked that myself. I then went into some kind of dream and sang the song my mother sang to me when I was a child.

The fear has gone, don’t hide away,

I will care for you, and teach you as you grow.

I will never harm you.

I called that song Fear. When I had finished I looked down at the cub who licked his lips clean. I looked at the bottle and the milk had all but vanished. I was grateful that the cub had finally had something to drink and so he would not starve. Once the cubs starting drinking their milk they could never stop and often called for seconds and even thirds.

At first I hesitated at the thought of naming the cubs because I knew I would become too attached to them and there was still a risk they might not all survive. But as weeks wore on I did name them. The oldest and strongest cub was known as Samson, the shiest and smallest cub was Sita and the white cub was called Abu. As predicted I quickly came very attached to all the cubs, especially Abu. Every morning they came with me to feed my cattle, it was our little routine. I had moved to the farm only a few months ago in hope of making a living from farming the land. Every week my farm was expanding into another field and my herd of cattle was slowly growing.

The cubs gave the cattle little evil looks and tried to stalk them. Whenever I saw this I would quickly distract them and race them up a tree, I didn’t want them harming the cattle. If they were going to stay then I needed the other farmers in the area to know they were no trouble to their livestock.

They were now about a month or two. I was not really sure and did not know what I would do with these cubs once they were fully grown, as I had heard they took up much room. I got a call from a park near me and I went to visit them in my old car with the cubs sticking their heads out the window. We soon arrived and they were all mesmerised with Abu.

The three cubs kept following me and did not leave my side. The park’s vet checked they were in full health by checking their teeth were white and that they had no fleas, luckily they were all in good health. Finally she gave them vaccinations to prevent them getting ill. They all struggled at first and tried to escape but I knew what calmed them so I sang Fear to keep them relaxed.

I could tell the park owner really wanted Abu but not Samson or Sita. I soon put the cubs back in the Land Rover without giving the park owner chance to say he wanted Abu. I did not want the cubs to be separated and I knew that this was what he had in mind. As I drove out the car park a man stopped me and yelled, ‘Your helper will come in a few weeks, good luck my boy.’ I was filled with disappointment, yet I was glad Abu was still with me.

As we headed home Samson and Sita had their heads out of the window and Abu sat on my lap whilst I drove. As we headed back to the farm we saw lots of giraffes and zebras. All were free, living free.

Chapter 3

The cubs were soon eating meat and I struggled to find the money for their food. I would always give them my left overs from my plate; they would fight over the tiniest pieces of meat. I was starting to understand how much lions cost but I still loved my Samson, Sita and little Abu.

I was going up north to go see my mama and papa, as my father was truly sick. My brother Little Jack said he would come down and look after my cheeky cubs and the farm whilst I visited our sick father.

I woke up in my bed and the cubs were