I rattled my cage as the zookeeper threw in the hunk of meat. Some of them only saw me as a pet. I was not a pet, for I could tear any of them to shreds if I wished. The man that was feeding me now was kind, and never said a harsh word. He was the one to feed me every day, and I didn’t desire to hurt him. I could tell the man respected me, and my kind. His name was Gordon. Often he would come into my enclosure and play with me, the giant cat. I liked to play with him, I could feel like just a little cub. I also knew people liked to watch me play, as I could tell from the delighted laughter from the people watching me whenever I did. I measured nine feet and seven inches from my nose to the tip of my tail, and I was larger than both of my parents. The man regularly told me I was the most beautiful of my species. My father was a lion and my mother was a tigress. I am a liger. I have the face and tail of a lion, and the body of a great tiger. In a sense I was the queen of the African zoo. I was the largest of all cats in there, and because my enclosure was right in the center, I received the most visitors. People came from near and far to see my golden brown fur, with dark spots on my head and hindquarters, and stripes between them, stretching around my chest and back.
I enjoyed the attention and awe of the humans, but the enclosure was not big enough to satisfy my needs. I wanted to get out, run and prowl all day if I wanted. To hunt, instead of eating the slabs of meat thrown into the cage. I would wait until dark, and then make my move. I would escape, and be free of the stares and occasional peanut thrown by children. Dusk slowly descended on the land, and the visitors got tired and began to leave. My last visitors of the day were a mother and a young child. The child put her small hand up to the thick chain link of the fence, and rested it there. Slowly, slowly I padded towards them. The mother instinctively tried to pull the little girl back, but the girl wouldn’t move. To show I meant no harm I stopped and lowered my head, flicking my ears towards the pair. From ten feet away I heard the little girl whisper to her mother.
“She’s so beautiful, mommy.” The mother nodded in silent agreement, eyes locked onto my movements. Reaching the fence, I blinked slowly at the two of them. I could tell that they were amazed a cat such as me was standing directly in front of them. My eyes were level with the girl’s. I pushed my nose towards her hand and nuzzled her through the fence. The girl giggled and tickled the tip of my nose. This surprised me, and I sneezed. I blinked at them again, and began to purr. Clearly the mother had been worried about me standing so near to her daughter, but now she relaxed and smiled. The spaces between the chain links of the fence were large enough for the girl to put her thin arm through and pet me. When she did, I purred louder and turned sideways, letting her run her fingers through my fur down the length of my body. Her hand stopped near my shoulder, and pet me there for a moment. It was then that I saw Gordon walking towards us with a bucket full of meat and a smile on his face.
“I see you’ve met our Arielle, and it seems she likes you,” Gordon said, putting the bucket down beside him and wiping his hands on his trousers.
“Ah, yes, she does seem to like my daughter,” but there was a trace of worry in the mother’s voice.
“Don’t worry, she’s never harmed anyone.” He reassured the woman and then turned to the little girl and crouched. “What’s your name, girl?”
“Kiara,” she whispered shyly.
“That’s a pretty name. Would you like to help me feed Arielle?”
The girl nodded her head eagerly, and Gordon motioned for them to follow him. I followed them along the fence line, and watched as Gordon and the little girl climbed the steps up to the feeding platform. There was a small gate in the fence at the top of the platform that they used to toss the meat in to me.
“Here, you can hold open this gate for me while I throw the meat in.” The girl stepped closer and lifted the gate. I sat and waited for my meal. Piece by piece it flew in and thudded to the ground, and I quickly scarfed it down, afterwards licking my lips. The little girl and her mother were getting ready to leave and go home. I trotted toward them and put my nose up to the fence. The girl pet my nose one last time before they left. I was almost a little sad that I would never see them again.
