Nine Lives

ii

In my second life I am jaguar.

I live to adulthood once more, prowling the jungle for my next meal.

I will never tire of the feeling of the long grass tickling my whiskers. Nor will I tire from the adrenaline that courses through me as I hunt, the way the ground beats beneath my paws and my heart echoes in my ears.

My coat is gorgeous with spots of black on top of tanned fur. Maybe that's why I am killed.

A bullet passes through my chest, and that is all I can remember.