• Once upon a time in a forest long ago, a girl skipped merrily along a path. The sun shined through the treetops and the beautiful sky was dotted with clouds. Not far ahead laid a lion, lying by a fork in the path. His head lay in his paws and his orange man fell over his face. The girl skipped up to this lion, her black hair fell into her face when she landed in front of the snoring lion. She leaned closer, reaching into the lion’s hair and running her fingers through it until her hand hit a knot and snagged his hair.

    “Ow!” he said, looking up at the girl. He stared into her brown eyes for a second, then lifted his head from his paws. “What’re you doing? I’m a ferocious lion!”

    The girl blinked. “No you’re not.”

    “Yes I am!”

    “No… you’re not. You’d have eaten me if you were so ferocious.”

    The lion didn’t reply. He stood for a few seconds, turned, and walked away.

    “Hey! HEY! Where are you going? Come back!”

    The lion kept walking away, chuckling to himself. “Humans…”

    Suddenly, weight added to his back. The girl had jumped on him.

    “Hey!” exclaimed the lion.

    “Yah!”

    “What’re you…”

    “Go! Yah!”

    “Get off!”

    “Go! Go!”

    The lion shook as if he were wet, trying to fling the girl off his back. Her hands had gripped onto his mane.

    “Onward, ferocious lion!” the girl yelled before being tossed off the lion’s back. She rolled in the dirt for a bit and lay there for a second. She twitched once and made a sound as if she were sobbing.

    The lion slowly walked over to her, kneeling down and lightly tapping her with his nose. “Hey.” He tapped her again. “Hey, are you alright?”
    The girl looked up with a frown on her face, but didn’t say anything.
    “Hey, C’mon. I’m sorry for throwing you to the ground, I just don’t like people… jumping on me like that.”

    The girl still didn’t say anything, but stared at him with big eyes and that frown on her face.

    “Oh if it means that much to you… Do you want to get back on?”

    The girl nodded.

    “Fine.” The lion said with a sigh.

    The girl’s eyes lit up and her frown turned into an enormous grin. She stood, brushing her white dress off for a moment, then climbed back onto the lion’s back. She held onto his mane and pointed forward. “Go lion go!”
    The lion shook his head, smiled, and ran forward. The girl’s “Wee!”s and “Yay!”s touched his heart. He knew this human was different from the rest of the scared ones.

    As he ran, he heard the girl speak.

    “So what’s your name?” The girl asked.

    “Jason. Jason the Lion.”
    “Cool! I never met a lion named Jason!”

    “You’ve met more lions?”

    The girl didn’t answer.

    “Well… What’s your name?” The lion asked, excusing his last question.

    “My name’s Anna. Anna Lenore.”

    “What’re you doing this deep in the woods?”

    “I’m adventurin’!” The girl exclaimed, leaning back on Jason’s back. He slowed down to a mild jog.

    “Adventuring is dangerous. Had you ran into a bear rather than me, you’d have been mauled. That would’ve been a shame; I think you’re kinda cute.” The lion began walking.

    “Oh, the lion thinks I’m cute?” the girl teased. “That’s okay, Mr. Lion. I think you’re cute too.” The girl smiled and hugged the lion, who felt a bit of warmth in his heart yet again.

    “Really, you shouldn’t adventure in the woods alone.”

    “I’m not alone. I’m with a ferocious lion.” The girl returned to her riding position with her hands gripping his mane.

    “I can be ferocious when I want.” Jason replied.

    “You’re about as ferocious as a kitten in a basket.” the girl said with another heart-filling laugh. “But that’s okay.”

    The lion simply shook his head, his speed was a simple walk now. The sun had began to fall below the trees and the sky was beginning to darken.

    “You should be heading home, do you want a ride?” Jason asked, stopping.

    “Sure. Are you going to be in the same place tomorrow or do you have a family...”

    Jason shook his head. “I’m all alone, so I’ll be there.”

    “You’re not lying, are you?” the girl asked.

    “No, I’m not. I wouldn’t lie to my friend.”

    The girl smiled and hugged Jason from his back. Again, Jason felt that warmth that kept him from ditching the girl. But... Jason thought, could I really be so cruel as to ditch her?

    Jason ran her back to her home; passing by the fork in the road he laid by. That was their meeting place for tomorrow, the next day, and many more days after that.

    Weeks later, the lion and the girl were outside of the woods, lying under a clouded blue sky. They lay, Jason outstretched on his side with Anna’s head resting on his body. They stared upon the white shapes in the clouds, pointing them out to one another.

    “Look! A brontosaurus! Those are the best kinds of dinosaurs.” Anna said to Jason, pointing her human finger to the sky. Jason scanned the sky and found the dinosaur shaped cloud.

    “You know what’s better than a brontosaurus?” Jason asked. He didn’t wait for an answer, instead pointed to the sky.

    Anna looked about the sky, seeing mindless shapes until her eyes fell upon the shape of an animal. The animal was a feline with a big bushy mane. A lion.

    Jason chuckled when Anna nodded. “Best animal ever!” Was what she had proclaimed the lion. The third time Jason felt something in his heart, maybe it grew for humans. Or maybe it was just for the girl.

    Later that night, Jason lay at the fork in the road on his back, staring up to the canopy. The only thought through his mind was the girl. Anna Lenore. He let out a sigh and rolled over onto his stomach, laying his head between his paws.

    “Anna Lenore… what are you doing to me?” He blinked, rolling over yet again on his back. Through the treetops, he saw a small portion of starry sky. In the stars, he swore he saw something like a heart.

    “No…” he said aloud. “No, that can’t happen. I’m not in love with her, she’s a human. I’m a lion…” But the doubt was in his face, in the back of his mind, and even weighed on his heart.

    “And even if I did…” he continued. “I wouldn’t be able to hold something with her. We’re friends, nothing else. We couldn’t even live together, I’m meant for the forest…”

    “Is that how it’s meant to be?” Jason was on his feet in an instant, searching for the source of the voice. He emitted a low growl, glancing all around.

    “Show yourself,” he demanded.

    “Or is it just how every other lion and human lives? Since when was this ferocious lion so submissive to ideals frowned upon?”

    “Why don’t you come say that to my face?” Jason said aloud. “I’ll show you how submissive I am.”

    “You know how possible it would be. How easy it would be. All she has to do is feel the same way.”

    “But she’s a human. I’m a lion,” Jason argued. “It just doesn’t work.”

    “Make it work. You know it’s possible, love knows no bounds.” Jason lowered his guard but stayed on his feet.

    “It’s disgusting. I shouldn’t even think of her as a love. A lion and a human can’t love each other.”

    Jason laid down again and sighed. His paws served as a pillow for his chin as he spoke.

    “It’s only as disgusting as you think it is, nobody else has any business with what you and her feel. But it makes things harder on me and her, and what if she doesn’t feel the same way? Then you continue your life as friends. But how can I live by her, knowing she’ll never love me? She may change her mind eventually. All it takes is time. But it’ll affect our friendship! How do you know? For all you know it’ll make it stronger. No, it’ll make it worse!”

    It was then that Jason realized he was speaking to himself. There was no other voice but his, arguing. Then he decided what his plan of action would be, he would tell her tomorrow how he felt. He would hope, and he slept with that hope in his heart. He slept with her in his dreams.

    The next day, she appeared as usual. She approached the sleeping lion with a smile and leapt upon him, which jarred him from his sleep.

    “Morning!” She giggled, he groaned. “What’s wrong? Didn’t get your beauty sleep?”

    “In a manner of speaking. I need to talk to you though, Anna. Walk beside me.”

    She nodded and smiled, they began walking.

    “Anna, I was thinking…” he said, “about us. And…”

    She was interested, her smile never fading but her bright eyes stared into Jason’s. At that moment, he lost all courage but he was in too deep to continue.

    “I…” his throat felt like it closed, his heart was ready to escape his chest. Maybe it would run to her, maybe it’d run away. Jason wasn’t sure.

    “I think I’m in love with you.” Jason finally said. Anna stopped. Her smile disappeared and she stopped. Jason stopped with her and looked at her.

    “Could you love me?” Jason added, his heart beat faster. Anna stared at him for a moment, running it through her mind. She smirked.

    “Not today, Moufasa.”

    Jason felt his heart drop, his eyes wanted to drop waterfalls, but he kept his composure and emitted just a sigh.

    “It’s not that I don’t love you, Jason. No... I can’t be in love with a lion. I love you, I’m not IN love with you. You can understand, right?”

    Jason just nodded, he said nothing.

    “I’m sorry, Jason. I think I should go home...”

    Jason glanced at her and lifted his head. The ride home was quiet, quick, painless.

    After that moment, Jason and Anna grew apart. Anna began school again and Jason had to prepare for colder weather. Eventually they lost contact, but Jason never forgot her. He always waited at the fork in the road during the summer, sleeping and awaiting the day she would return.

    But she never came back. To this day, Jason the Lion waits with his head between his paws and his tail swishing to and fro. And he thinks, he wonders, he ponders if she ever thought of him still. If she had anything in her heart for him anymore. For the first time in his life, he cried. The ferocious lion cried his only tear for the one girl he ever wanted.

    The End