Visions in the Night by Eva

Characters:

Lakarni (luh - kar - nee) - female

Taya (tay - uh) - male

Rafiki (ruh - fee - kee) - male

Niablah (nee - ah - blah) - male

Msajah (muh - sah - jah) - male

        Njozi (nuh - jah - zee) - female spirit

She was coming. Coming too quick. What to do? Run away? Face her? Or die?
Think fast! She lunged forward, showing her fangs and large claws.

"Ahhhhhh!" she woke up.

Lakarni woke up, breathing hard and heavy. She carefully got up and
walked over to the water-hole. She looked at her face in the reflection.
Her eyes were blood-shot and she had purple on her eyelids. She didn^Òt
feel well. She took a drink and went back to sleep.

In the morning, Taya, the prince, came to see how Lakarni was doing. He
found her near the water-hole, as usual. He smiled and walked up. When
she turned her head, his smile faded. He could tell something was wrong.

"What^Òs wrong with you?" he asked softly. "You look like you just came
back from the dead."

"The dreams." she answered.

"Not again!" he said. "How long has this been happening?"

"I^Òm not sure...... maybe about a year or more."

"Come on, I^Òll take you to Rafiki. Maybe he can tell us what^Òs wrong."

Taya lead Lakarni to Rafiki^Òs tree. She really didn^Òt look or feel
good.

"Hey! Rafiki! Are ya up there?" Taya shouted.

Rafiki looked down and saw it was Lakarni and Taya. He saw Lakarni
looking bad, so he brought his medical kit.

"What happened?" asked Rafiki.

"I^Òve been having dreams...... very weird and odd." answered Lakarni.

"How long has this been happening?"

"About a year." said Taya.

Rafiki took out a medicine "bottle" and gave Lakarni some liquid so
she^Òd feel better. After that, they sat down and Lakarni told them what
her dream was about.

"Well," she started. "I was walking around the Pride Lands...... the
water-hole I think. And I was enjoying myself, when a large lioness came
up to me. She was freaky looking and had weird eyes. It was like she had
no pupils..... just red eyes. Matter-of-fact, she looked a lot like me."

While she was talking, Rafiki made notes about her dream.

She continued: "Then, it suddenly became dark and the lioness bared her
teeth to me. I got scared, so I turned and ran. I ended up in a
corner..... trapped. I couldn^Òt decide what I should do. She was coming
too quickly! Then she lunged at me and I woke up."

There was silence.

"I don^Òt know what to make of it." said Lakarni.

"Hmmmmm...." said Rafiki. "I^Òm not sure either, but it sounds like
you^Òre in trouble if you^Òve been having these dreams for a year."

Lakarni bent her down feeling in almost complete loss. Taya came up to
her.

"Come on," he said. "Let^Òs get you to Pride Rock; maybe my dad can help
you."

So they made their way to Pride Rock and talked with Taya^Òs dad,
Niablah. Lakarni told him the exact same story and Niablah thought for a
second.

"Hmmmm...." he said. "It sounds to like you might be having visions. I
don^Òt know for sure if they are visions, but they sure like them."

Lakarni and Taya looked at each other.

"Visions?" said Taya.

"You mean, like when you see something from the future in a dream?" said
Lakarni.

"Could be." said Niablah.

Taya and Lakarni walked outside.

"Visions?" she kept asking herself. "What does he mean? Visions?"

Taya shrugged.

"I don^Òt know." he said. "He did say he wasn^Òt sure if they were."

"But he said they sure sound like ^Ñem."

"Maybe he^Òs right." said Taya. "And maybe he^Òs not."

They walked over to the water-hole (their favorite place if you couldn^Òt
tell). They sat down and started thinking for awhile.

"Maybe it was just a silly nightmare." suggested Taya.

"Maybe," said Lakarni. "But it was so real!"

Taya just sat there, speechless.

"Who knows?" Lakarni finally said. "I guess we^Òll hafta wait and see."

"Yeah..."

A few weeks later, Lakarni had another dream. She went to Taya again.
They talked to Niablah and Rafiki again and they said the same as last
time. As they were walking throughout the Pride Lands, they ran into
Msajah, a lion from their pride. He had "psychic powers."

"Hey guys!" said Msajah. "What brings you two out this far?"

"Oh," said Taya. "We were just getting some fresh air."

Msajah looked at Lakarni.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"I^Òve been having strange dreams." she answered.

"Poor dear! Do wanna talk about it?"

"Only if you can help me." she said. "Everyone else says they^Òre
visions..... but I don^Òt think...."

"Visions?" he said.

"Yeah," said Taya. "Do you know anything about visions?"

"Actually," he said. "I do. It^Òs the future in dreams."

Taya and Lakarni looked at each other.

".....yeah." said Lakarni.

So she told him about all the dreams she had in that one year. Msajah sat
and thought.

"Well," he started. "Has anything from these dreams happened yet?"

"....no.....no they haven^Òt..... not yet." said Lakarni.

"Maybe the future^Òs waiting for the right moment to appear." said
Msajah.

Lakarni thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think you^Òre right.... thanks."

"You^Òre welcome." he said.

Taya and Lakarni left and went to Pride Rock for the night.

"Good night Lakarni." said Taya.

"Good night Taya." said Lakarni.

They nuzzled.

"Lemme know if you^Òve had another dream, OK?" he said.

"I will." she smiled.

They both paused, then they walked to the sides of the den.

That night, Lakarni had another dream. This time, it was serious: She was
at the water-hole with Taya and that lioness came up, looking sweet and
innocent. Lakarni was uncomfortable. She nudged Taya and they backed up
and ran. As Lakarni looked back, she saw the lioness looking mad and her
eyes were burning red-hot. The lioness started running after them.
Lakarni and Taya had run into a dead end. She and Taya then, started
climbing up the slope. The lioness caught up and tried to follow, but
couldn^Òt. Lakarni and Taya made it up to the top and they looked down to
see the lioness....... but she wasn^Òt there! They turned around and
there was the lioness!!! She slapped Taya over the slope and was about to
slap Lakarni off too, when she was woken up by Taya.

"Wake up Lakarni!!!" he shouted.

She jumped and saw it was only Taya. She started weeping and buried her
face in Taya^Òs mane.

"I had another dream!" she cried. "I^Òm tired of them! I want them to
stop!"

She started crying so hard, she could hardly breathe. Taya hugged her and
rubbed her back to calm her down. When Lakarni calmed down, Taya took her
to the water-hole for her to wet her throat.

"I^Òm so sorry about this Lakarni." he said.

"Thank you Taya," she said. "I^Òm glad you^Òre my friend and that you^Òre
willing to help me through this."

Taya smiled. Lakarni nuzzled him.

"I don^Òt know what I^Òm gonna do about this." she said. "It^Òs like a
nightmare you can^Òt escape."

"I know what ya mean." said Taya. "I have nightmares a lot. How about
this: we go to see Msajah tomorrow morning and see if we can figure out
and settle this."

"OK." she said.

That next morning, Taya and Lakarni went to see Msajah. They found him on
a big rock, "meditating." They walked up to him.

"Hey Msajah!" said Taya.

"Oh hello!" said Msajah. "What brings you two to me?"

"It^Òs about those stupid dreams again." said Lakarni. "I^Òm sick of
^Ñem! I was hoping you could me figure out how to get rid of ^Ñem."

"Hmmmmmm...." he started.

He thought for a moment.

"Well," he continued. "I could use my psychic powers on you to try to
figure out what^Òs going on."

So, Lakarni sat down on one side of the rock and Msajah sat on the other
side. Taya sat on the grass and watched. Msajah looked into Lakarni^Òs
eyes and he used his powers.

A sudden flash went through them. Msajah saw every part of Lakarni^Òs
dreams. He saw the first dream she ever had, to the latest. When the
flash stopped, Msajah was thrown back by the "force" of the dreams.

"Whoa!" he said. "You most certainly are having visions!!! Everything in
those dreams that you said never happened, did! I remember all those
things that happened in the past!"

Msajah stood up. "My dear, you^Òre in danger!"

"What do you mean ^Ñdanger^Ò?" said Taya.

"Those ^Ñdreams^Ò are actually visions! If something goes wrong, she
could get in trouble..... even die!!!" he said.

Lakarni gasped.

"How ^Ñbout this," said Msajah. "How ^Ñbout you come over to my den
tonight and I^Òll use my powers to break this ^Ñspell^Ò that^Òs over
you."

Lakarni paused. "OK."

When it became dark, Lakarni left Pride Rock and head out toward the
jungle for Msajah^Òs hidden den. She finally reached there, and she took
a deep breath. Then...... she walked in..............

(Sequel: Lethal)