The Open Gate
When the humans abandon the game park, its inhabitants face the ultimate question: stay or go?
The pride’s leader circled before making herself comfortable. “So you’re telling me the humans have abandoned the park?” she asked the cheetah.
“Correct, Folami,” Chibuzo replied, eying the chief’s posse with trepidation.
Desta the hyena’s ears pricked up as she processed the news, exclaiming “The gates are open — we are free!”
“Free from what? This is our home,” Folami asked, flicking her tail in annoyance.
Chibuzo paced before the council, head bowed, the frustration clear in his voice, “You only call it home because it’s all you’ve known — you were born here. I was kidnapped. I miss my homeland.”
Feeling the cheetah’s pain, Folami probed, “You’ll return to your family?”
Staring into the distance Chibuzo said, “No, they succumbed to illness before my capture. I have no-one to return to. But I yearn to be free.”
The lion Queen stood to address him, “The plains beyond are wide, but there is no guarantee of food.”
“No humans means no meals,” the cheetah hissed.
“No. But we have the traditional ways. There are plenty of lessers,” the lion stated.
