A short story by Rebecca Smethurst
I enjoy script writing and wrting short stories. This was a piece of homework I was asked to do at school. I love anything to do with animals, lions in particular. When I wrote this story I tried to show how the Masi-Mara tribe and the wild animals are connected. In fact we are all connected to the environment but we don't realise it.

THE TRIBAL TREASON

On the African plain, in a small tribal village where the moon’s crystal glow filled the night sky, illuminating the nearby clouds, a young nomad boy was preparing to do his war dance. This signified that he would become a Masi-Mara warrior and he would go on his first hunt. He would have to kill and bring back a male lion to show he was worthy of his title. He was supposed to be asleep, but he couldn’t, he could hear the faint sounds of the cattle pushing past each other in their confined space surrounded with thorny bushes and twigs to make a fence, adding to their claustrophobic life style. He could feel his heart pulsing and his stomach kept feeling like a million wild butterflies dancing around, which made him feel slightly sick with nerves.

He was a skinny boy who was very tall and wore a robe of brilliant red, with bracelets around his right leg and wrists. His name was Taka. He was very nervous yet excited by the prospect of his first hunt and waited for the golden sun to roll over the horizon and spread its warmth and light over the land.

The next day, after his ceremonious war dance, Taka crept with the other young warriors on his long awaited hunt. His heart pounded an unsteady rhythm in his chest, making his hands shake with fear, as he approached a male lion asleep in the grass surrounded by lionesses with cubs. When the lionesses saw him, they struggled to their feet, still packed with meat from their latest kill. Their cubs followed, their ungainly bodies carrying them as quickly as their unsteady legs would allow. The pride male stood his ground and the deep, murmur of a threatening growl echoed in his vast throat. Fear swelled up inside Taka like a swollen river ready to burst its banks at any moment. Taka got his bow and arrow ready and pulled the arrow back, tipped with deadly poison, ready to fire.

The lion looked deep into Taka’s eyes, deep into his soul. The male had a chance to charge at Taka, he let go of the arrow and it flew through the air and struck the lion full in the chest. With a dull thud, the lion fell to the ground.

Amazingly the lion wasn’t dead immediately. It forced itself to its feet and tried to fight with Taka, but Taka knew its time was up. Before every last bit of life left him the lion raised his head and roared his defeat, yet it seemed the roar still had pride in it.

It was as if the lion was calling out, “who is the lord of this land? I AM, I AM.” The roar sprung fear deep into Taka’s heart and echoed throughout the land. The magnificent beast fell, his heaving sides stopped and the warmth of his body ebbed away with every second.

Taka cautiously approached the lion’s body and called to his fellow huntsmen with pride in his voice, “Humu, Humu.” They ran to his side and looked at the lion in awe. It was huge. They carried it to the village and that night they had a celebration that echoed the night with laughter and joy.

Many moons after the death of yet another lion as a ceremonious trophy, a hungry lioness broke into the small hold where all the cattle were kept, screams and panicked wailing was heard. Taka shot from his bunk and sprinted towards the lioness with his arrow forward and ready to kill. The lioness managed to kill three goats and made off with one, many goats escaped and had to be found in the darkness of the night. The confusion bought time for the weak, young lioness to escape with her prize, but as she had stolen from the villages of men, the lioness had to be killed.

Taka trudged through the blackness of the night and didn’t find any goats. CRACK! Taka spun around and pulled his bow tight with an arrow pointing to where the noise had come from. Suddenly there was a loud noise that sounded unlike any sound heard on the African plain. This particular night there was no moon to give him even the slightest bit of light to see the intruder that was slowly circling him.

Taka could feel red, hot blood around his veins making him sweat, yet his hands felt ice cold and were shaking. He couldn’t hear the noise any more, but he was desperately looking for what had made it.

Then he saw a strange form in front of him, it didn’t seem to be real. Yet in a strange way it was real. The form was of a young man who was older than Taka and had every tribal decoration possible. His clothes weren’t blood red, but gleaming white, so white they gave off a glow that covered his whole body.

“You are Taka,” boomed the man, almost as loud as the lion’s roar.

“Yes, It is I,” stuttered Taka in a very timid voice, still holding his arrow pointing at the man.

“You have betrayed your spiritual ancestors, you have disgraced your family name,” bellowed the man, folding his arms in disapproval.

“How have I?” Taka asked, a little braver, yet still shaky.

“You killed the lord of the savannah. The lion you killed was a spiritual god and you should have known that. The blood still runs warm on your hands, you village will pay for your actions,” the man sneered intimidatingly. Taka felt himself tingle all over, every urge in his body wanted him to run but his feet remained still, frozen to the spot.

Taka no longer felt hot, every part of him was freezing, he lost his bearings and forgot where he was. All he saw was darkness and the spirit man in front of him. Suddenly he heard a menacing, blood curdling scream, this time it sounded human…………….