Abandoned Cubs Part 1  by Eva Janus

 

A young lioness walked through the jungle, pregnant. She was to give
birth soon. She walked on, looking for a safe place to await her cubs.
After awhile, she found a hidden spot, surrounded by palmettos. She lied
down and waited. It didn^Òt take long before she had two tiny cubs in her
arms. She sighed aloud.

"Why did I have them?" she said softly, in doubt. "I^Òm not ready for
such a responsibility...."

She looked to the cubs and smiled a faint smile.

"I^Òll keep them til they^Òre old enough to walk."

As the days passed, the twin cubs were able to walk, see, and hear. The
lioness, Neaira, took her cubs into the territory of a pride and had her
cubs hide. She smiled at them.

"I^Òll be right back!" she whispered.

Then she took off across the African plain. She never looked back once.
Her two cubs sat in the brush, never moving. Hours had passed and Neaira
hadn^Òt returned. The cubs decided she wasn^Òt coming back, so they got
up and started to walk away. They were hungry and thirsty. They just so
happened to run into a pride of lions. The male of the pride looked to
the tiny cubs.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Where^Òs your mother?"

"Mommy^Òs gone." said the girl cub. "Can we please stay with you?"

The male looked at them for a moment.

"Only if you can keep up and don^Òt get in the way."

The cubs smiled and began to walk with the pride. They were doing a good
pace for awhile. Then, hunger struck them....

"I^Òm hungry," said the girl. "When^Òs lunch?"

A lioness walking next to them replied.

"You^Òll get lunch whenever we decide to stop and hunt. Until then, be
tough!"

Some of the cubs of the pride came walking along side the twins. The
twins were smaller than the other cubs, but just as smart.

"So," said one. "What are your names?"

The twins looked at each other.

"Mommy never gave us names," said the girl. "Could you give us names?"

The cubs laughed at the twins.

"You^Òre so dumb!" they cried. "We^Òll call you Katu Takiwa (never
wanted)! I mean, who^Òd want you?"

"Hey!" growled the boy cub. "Don^Òt call my sister that!"

"I didn^Òt even know you talked!!!" teased the cubs. "We^Òll call you
Mwoga (timid)!"

Mwoga growled and pushed his sister away from the laughing cubs. They
walked by themselves, among the adults. It was more quiet there and no
one would talk to them, so they could focus.

Pretty soon, it was noon-time and the pride stopped for a lunch break.
The females went out hunting while the male stayed behind with the cubs.
Mwoga saw the cubs approaching.

"Sometime after lunch," he whispered to his sister. "We^Òre leaving for a
better pride, understand?"

Katu Takiwa nodded.

"So," said the cubs. "How ya guys doing? Feeling welcome?"

Mwoga turned his head in annoyance and stuck his nose in the air. Katu
Takiwa sat still, acting if she were asleep. The other cubs scoffed and
left them to be.

"We were born to suffer." said Mwoga, sadly.

"Don^Òt say that!" said Katu Takiwa. "When we find a better pride, we^Òll
be treated better, ^Ñcause this pride is mean."

The adults soon came back with the food. The twins were offered the
scraps of the meal, but they ate it gratefully. After a short rest, the
pride began to walk again. The twins stayed towards the back and
pretended to lag behind. Once they were ten feet behind the pride, they
darted into a bush and waited til the pride was out of sight.

"That cruel pride!" shouted Katu Takiwa. "I hope never to see them
again!"

Mwoga led his sister in the opposite direction that the pride went. They
walked for hours until they reached a thicket. They settled down in the
thicket for the right. The two of them sat, sleepless and in thought.

"I hate mother...." mumbled Mwoga.

"You hate Mommy?" Why?" asked Katu Takiwa.

"^ÑCause she left us and never came back to us. Now we have no parent or
anything!"

Katu Takiwa^Òs head sank to her paws as she cried. The twins were lonely
and needed an adult of some kind.

That night, Mwoga looked to the stars in great pain and agony.

"Please," he cried in his heart. "Send someone to help us! Please!
Anybody will do!"

Morning came. Mwoga woke up and stretched. He nuzzled his sister and she
woke up too. She stretched and yawned.

"So," she said sleepily. "What are we gonna do today?"

"We^Òll walk around and keep searching for someone to help us."

They began to walk in the cool morning air. They walked through the
thicket, then began on the African plain. The two cubs walked for about
two hours until they had to stop for water. As they drank, a male lion
approached them.