The First Encounter (Honey)

• Aletia Nel, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2019

I opened my eyes and I saw a humongous panting lion resembling me, she seemed very fatigued... Although this is my first time seeing this lion that looked almost exactly like me, I felt like I could trust her. But then it went south, a peculiar figure with two legs came in and dropped in a strange looking being that had orange and black stripes out of a humongous webbed stick. Although he was asleep and at peace, I didn’t trust him. The peculiar being with two hind legs left and looked at me and the orange and black creature and had a bizarre glint in his eyes.

The orange and black creature had woken up, he had a look of concern and sorrow scanning the filthy deserted stone room around him. He looked at my mother and then looked in the distance as if he was remembering something. I looked into his eyes and felt a temporary moment of sympathy but soon after it went away. I heard the two-legged creatures chattering about Smokey and me with horrid looks on their faces (that’s what I assumed that the orange and black creature was called).

A few hours later I woke from my long sleep quivering on the dusty stone hard floor, I scanned the room around me to see if my fatigued mother was still alive. After I had scanned the room I realized that Smoky was being taken away, she was roaring to me “help me” frantically I pounced at the fence to Smoky but it had no effect, the two-legged creature just kept waltzing along as if he had no care in the world. I heard her echoing thundering roars as it got quieter and quieter until I heard nothing. My mother began to look ill, her eyes had begun to shut I roared “I love you” but I had no acknowledgment.

A weird looking two-legged creature looked at me in annoyance then at my mum. She had seen my mum. The two-legged creature came in and began walking toward me. I zoomed to my mum like thunder and held myself out like a shield but he didn’t take my mother, they took me. The weird looking two-legged creature got this metal rod with a long point on the end, he injected it in my neck and I began feeling tired. I wrestled my urge to fall asleep but it hadn’t done anything. I had fallen asleep.

I looked up and saw a giant shining light above me I thought “Is this the end”? As I began regaining my consciousness I looked down and saw these weird straps restraining me down and I scanned the room seeing a glimpse of Smokey and the weird two-legged creature still not realizing I had woken up discussed a few common words “Breed” and “Prototype” I had a glimpse at smokey and he was looking at me distressed.