To Grant Wishes Simba opened his eyes. All around his sleeping place was covered in black darkness, except of the outlines of some plants in the nearby jungle. Since he was a little scared of the dark, Simba curled up his outstretched paws, took a deep breath, and tried to fall back into a gentle slumber. He didn't like those sleepless nights much, for they seemed to be an endless period of sadness and loneliness. This one didn’t make an exception. In nights like this, Simba often felt alone. Surely, he still had his new gained friends that took care of him, but in these first weeks they were no equal substitute for his family and friends at home; home that was so far away from him now and to where he would never be able to return. The cub sniffled silently... He was thinking of his mother and his playmate Nala. Would they think of him from time to time, too? Simba blinked sadly and drew the conclusion that they certainly wouldn't even care where he was nor would they waste one thought of him at all; he who killed his own father... Even though Timon and Pumbaa had been trying hard to cheer him up during the past days, Simba still felt guilty for his father's death, and was in a very depressive mood. Actually, he had never mentioned the fateful incident in the gorge towards his two pals, fearing they would react horrified and chase him away from the last place where he had friends and knew he could exist. The cub rolled onto his back and slightly raised his head to take a look at the nocturnal sky, in search of the stars, which were the Great Kings of the Past, as his father had taught him in another starry night, a long time ago. So it seemed to him. Trying to force back a single tear, Simba looked up at the sky... At first, he hesitated, but then plucked up enough courage to have a start. "Dad... are you up there?" He asked silently, his jaw was trembling, "Dad, I- I am sorry. Can you ever forgive me?" He waited a few seconds, then lowered his ears as there was no response. Struggling not to lose control, he paused... “Aiheu abamami. I wish I could just be by your side. I’d give anything!” Simba yelled out into the night. Mournfully, he bowed his head, tears were flowing down from his eyes, soaking the soft fur of his face. He slowly moved onto his side, as suddenly a warm and gentle breeze blew through his fur. Still crying, Simba closed his eyes in another attempt on finding some sleep. He felt like being carried away to somewhere else, but being too tired, he didn’t really care what was happening around him. After having lain awake for a couple of minutes, he noticed that something was wrong and unusual... The air that used to be moist and saturated, was somehow replaced by a dryer and warmer one. But what stroke him even more was that the common sounds of the surrounding jungle seem to had vanished as well. After all the weeks he had spent in Timon und Pumbaa's company, Simba had slowly got accustomed to the rhythmical and never-ending chirping of the crickets, and other creepy sounds caused by a host of animals that kept concealed to him at night in the thicket of the gloomy jungle. But by now, all he could make out was his own breath that came in steady intervals, and when he sneezed, it faintly echoed from somewhere nearby. Looking up to the sky once more, he was pretty amazed. Unwilling to believe the fact that he wasn't able to sight just one star, Simba frowned a bit. “The sky could not become cloudy that fast.” He thought. When he took in one deep breath again, Simba noticed a familiar scent mixed among the still strange smelling air. In a remote area of his memory, he knew the smell, but failed in recollecting. After a while, he realized that he was probably too tired to figure it out. Intending to sleep, he turned around to his opposite side and suddenly bumped into something big and soft. In a moment of panic, Simba jumped up to his feet. Turning around and expecting to see one of his pals resting behind him, he faced the shape of a giant animal laying on the ground, apparently asleep. All his instincts advised him to avoid any contact, but nevertheless he carefully approached the large body and sniffed it. With a cub's curiousity, Simba started padding around the body which was moving up and down from breathing, and when he saw the thick mane around the visitor's neck, he was sure it was... “A lion.” It flashed through Simba’s mind. Since the appearance of one of his kind in the jungle wasn't commonplace, Simba became more and more interested in the visitor's identity, and eventually, when his eyes met the huge lion's face, Simba was paralysed. The cub's little jaw dropped open, his eyes widened, and with a whispering voice, one word escaped from his mouth. His eyes filled with tears, they formed little streams and flew down his cheeks. But this time, it were no tears of pain. And he became aware of where he was. “My son.” The lion said with a warm smile on his face. He was home. The End ----------------- This story is dedicated to my friend Andreas Erben, whom I know for almost one year now, and to Sean Nosal, a very special friend of mine. Special thanks go to all the people who sent their suggestions on this story to me before I published it here. Thank you :) Bye, Steffen __________________________________________________________ Steffen Kilb TLKiaWoL !!! FCOS Groomer of Nala's Fur / Nalaholics Anonymous E-Mail: CubSimba@lionking.org ICQ: 9515885 IRC: EFnet, #TLK-L and #TLK-D (CubSimba) TLK-L: CubSimba TLK Muck: Kituko URL: http://www.lionking.org/~cubsimba We baba ndiyani khumbula. Ndi ya ku khalela mna. - Uzo libusa le lizwe, Simba. Uli buse kahle. Ngo thando. TLK++++ A+ B+>++ D+++ C>+ L++ Mt+ Pnscrz++++ W S++ Tscmrtz++++ RLU a18 cdn++ e- h+ iwt+++ lmnrsxz p- sm# __________________________________________________________