The Cheetah

• Molly Wade, Grade 3, Sts Peter and Paul Catholic School
• Short Story
• 2022

Finalist in the 'Unleashed 2022' competition

Her tawny eyes flash in the sunlight as she spots the waterbuck that will be her next meal. She sees her family in the long grass waiting, waiting, ready to ambush the waterbuck. Their pale coats camouflage into the long grass. She leaps, her tail useful for balance when turning. She runs, her claws not fully retracted to keep a firm grip on the ground. The waterbuck sees her, so it runs but it is too slow. Her family jumps and the waterbuck is brought down. She carries her prize back to the coalition and a frenzy of cubs greet her, eager to try waterbuck for the first time. After her meal and a quick nap, she is ready to run again, because she didn't use her top speed before.
She isn't tired, she goes to hunt and spots a baby springbok. She rapidly accelerates to catch up, then slows down to match the prey’s escape manoeuvres, like a deadly tango between the hunter and the hunted. Suddenly she hears a “thump, thump” in the distance, the pounding sound of big elephants! She slinks away, back to the coalition. The only time she would eat elephants is if they are already dead and there is no other food source around. Still feeling hungry, she goes off in search of another meal.
Feeling tired of hunting, she hears the “vroom, vroom” of an engine and sees a human stepping out of a car. She realises this is why there isn’t any more food around. Once again, the humans were killing all the animals for food, clothing and trophies. She runs. She runs away as fast as she can, which is 62 miles per hour. She has only run that speed for one minute and immediately accelerates to get away from the humans. She begins to tire but luckily she is already far ahead of the humans, so begins to slow down and returns to warn the coalition about the greatest predator of all. She along with the coalition seek out to find a new spot in the Savannah to live, to be far away from the humans.
Feeling desperate in their new home, she is ready to hunt once again. She sees an elephant lying on the ground and realises that it is already dead. There is no other food source and she has to eat something. She decides to round up the coalition to help her carry the elephant back to their new home. Unfortunately she isn't the only one who sees the elephant. A pride of lions spot it too. She quickly ushers the cubs back to their new home in the Savannah before the lions realise the playful cubs are there. Lions will hunt, prey and feast on these playful babies. It is time to retreat. She will hunt again tomorrow.