I run. My feet pat on the soft jungle floor, as water falls from the leaves onto my head. By now the thick blonde ringlets are soaked but I pay no mind to it. I must keep moving. I can hear them behind me. I know there's only 20 village men but it sounds like a large army to my weak ears. If I can reach my canoe on the south bank in time I can warn her. Tell her she must run, hide, do what ever it takes to survive, even if that means killing. The thought of her capture makes my stomach turn in agony. My feet increase there pace. She's been my secret for 14 years and now everything is slipping from my grasp. Small twigs break under my toes. I can see the opening, lined with large vines, to the shore. There my canoe would be waiting along with the small warning whistle I made just for times like this. 3 blows and she would know what message I was trying to deliver. I never thought it would come to this, or anyone find out, but the beast just on the other side of the trees, was now known to everyone.The suns high in the sky and all of the winter flowers are in bloom. In a small village in remote Asia, a women is ready to give birth to a son. All of her housemaids are gathered around preparing for the arrival. It begins. The labor is long and torturous. The small frail women almost loses her life delivering her son. After 9 hours of labor it is 12 in the morning and in that minute he is born. The mopey headed baby screams and cries. She takes him in her arms and begins to sing. The words are unknown to the Asian housemaids but she speaks plain German. After a song and a moment of suckling, he quiets and goes to sleep.
Just outside the village, down the river a ways, another mother is giving birth. She lays alone on the jungle floor, no one around. She braces for the pain she knows is to come. Burning begins and an hour later a single cub is born. The mouse like baby lays under the mothers protection and cries itself to sleep. Miraculously the babes are born at the same time. Something magical is happening. For this was no ordinary cub. Her eyes shined emerald green and her size was so large she could be compared to a year old cat. These were magical births.
A month later the women swaddles the baby in a wrap against her chest. She goes to work collecting coffee beans like before the birth of her son. She climbs into her canoe and paddles slowly along the bank searching for the vines that hold the wonderful beans. After spotting some she gets out of the canoe and jumps ashore. She careful loads her gun and checks the bank for predictors, but even the best make mistakes. A tigress jumps out of the knee high reeds launching itself at her and her son. She pulls the trigger and the cat falls to the ground, half in the water and half out. Her son screams against her and she watches the mother cat slowly lose her life to the bullet in her chest. "Oh God no!" She cries out loud, drops the gun, and rushes over to the tiger. By the time she's there the cat is gone. The young cub stands just behind the trees and watches her mothers death. A tear falls from her eyes and a small meow escapes her mouth. She's canters out to her mother and tries to lift her head. The cub knows she's gone but finds comfort in cuddling her dead body. The women watches in pain as the poor cub doesn't understand death. She feels hate inside for doing this terrible thing but at the same time it was what she must do to stay alive. This cub was as large as her mother, but had that helpless look of a new born. "I'm so sorry" she mumbled in German stepping toward the cub. The cat runs at her laying at her feet and whimpering. She swoops down to comfort the little one. There eyes meet, and the women sees something in the eyes of the animal. Her own face looking back at her. The face flashes in the cats eyes and at that moment she knows this cub is now a part of her. Everyday she visits the little one with food and companionship. After 2 months, she names the cub Seacah. The tigress is now large enough to fend for her self but the women keeps visiting. The boy, the mother has now named Rojohn, also forms a close relationship with the cat. That boy is me. My mother told me the story of how she found Seacah hundreds of times before she died. Seacah was like a sister to me. We shared meals, played in the field, and only knew good about each other, until one day I seen a sight that I would never be able to erase from my mind. The morning was much like this morning, but I had a bad feeling in me. For the night before a young boy from the village disappeared while playing down the river. I'd know this boy and he wasn't the kind to wonder far. His disappearance was no accident. I decide to go down stream and visit Seacah. I climbed into the canoe like I'd done many times before but this time the water was different. Blood floated on top in large pools. I knew this must be the child's blood but I kept paddling. The blood got darker and darker, until it seemed to go ashore and into the reeds. That's when I knew, this had been the doing of Seacah. I rushed out of the canoe and began calling her name. "Seacah! Seacah" I yelled. I ran to the den we had create for her and inside was the boys bones. She was hunched over in the river washing the blood from her paws and face. She looked at me and for a second I seen viscous instincts in her. She always communicated with my mother and I well, only using her eyes. I didn't recognize these ones though. She stopped for only a minute and then continued to wash. Like she didn't know me. I rushed back to the canoe and paddle back up river. For days I wrestled with myself on weather or not to tell my mother and then in turn the whole village. It was only a matter of time before she would go to visit Seacah herself. I had to tell her. Once I had told her about what happened she rushed to the field. We made our way to her den and collected the poor boys bones. Seacah found us and was happy as ever to see us. She had no clue the situations she had created for my mother and I. My mother cried alone for hours. This was the same as one of her own children murdering a poor child. She refused to believe Seacah had the power to kill. But I knew it, and from that day on I never visited her without a gun. She didn't mind it, she had no clue I entendid to use it on her if I needed to. In her eyes nothing changed. It was just an act of nature.We returned the remains to the grieving family and gave our apologies. My mother told them we found the bones by the well. It was the furthest thing from the forest so she thought it might work as a diversion until we could move Seacah further up river. The town leader told the kids to stay close to the village until they found out how it happened. I would sneak away and check on her often. I'd check my game traps and then id check her hunts. It was Mostly rabbits and birds. Once in a while I'd bring her the left over fat from a bull for a special treat. My mother would give her any extra food we had. While she was still a cub we trained her to have an appetite for fruit, rice, and vegetables. She enjoyed sharing lunch with me.
