Short Story Sunday-#22

Kiara's Hunt

Kiara steps out into the light, and takes it all in. The sun streams through the tall trees, making spotlights on the jungle floor. She stands in a spotlight, listening to the beautiful sounds around her. She can hear a distant squawk of a bird calling to its friends. Bugs zip around her head, buzzing as they go, but they don't bother her. Smaller animals scurry in the deep undergrowth and the waterfall constantly rushes beside her. Kiara has become accustomed to these sounds, and she doesn't know what her life would be without them.
   She turns to her babies sleeping in the grass, before silently creeping through the tangle of plants below her feet. Her ears perked, she listens for the perfect prey. While she listens, a large colorful bird flies by, admiring her orange coat. Kiara pays no attention; She is too hungry, and birds aren't her favorite.
   The cry of a monkey catches her ear, and she shoots off into the maze of trees. The call becomes louder as she makes her way towards it. Kiara stops underneath the monkey and stares up at it. It sits on a branch five feet above her head. She gracefully jumps onto the first branch and bats at the monkey above her. It squeals and crawls clumsily along its branch. Kiara pulls herself onto the next branch up and chases the monkey. It continues making high-pitched noises and begins to run faster. As the monkey speeds up, so does Kiara.
   When the branch begins to thin, the monkey hops to another, and Kiara is close behind. Every time she gets close enough to snatch it up, the monkey hops to another branch. Kiara's legs begin to ache, but the sound of her stomach rumbling keeps her going.
   She follows the monkey to a large group of monkeys. Her first thought was that she had hit a jackpot, but now as more and more monkeys appear from the trees, she begins to worry. They snarl at her and some even hiss. Soon, the monkeys begin leaping at her and biting her back.
   Kiara shakes them off and leaps to the ground. She gives the monkeys even more distance for good measure. She collapses to the ground and tries to catch her breath.
   A small bird flutters by. Kiara swats it to the ground and proceeds to eat it. Somehow, the frightening cat manages to eat delicately and almost politely. Immediately after finishing, Kiara feels the energy returning to her muscles, and she stands to find another monkey. This time she has a plan.
   She follows the sound of another monkey cry and finds the monkey in a tall tree. Kiara circles the tree and climbs up the opposite side. She pulls herself up onto each limb until she is just below the monkey. She reaches through the green canopy and claws at the monkey. It squeals in pain, giving Kiara time to leap up and seize it in her teeth. Kiara crawls down the tree, full of triumph.
   Her head held high, she presents the monkey to her cubs. The two of them playfully tackle it and begin to eat. Kiara watches them while cleaning her striped fur. When the cubs are finished, she decides to wash them under the waterfall. The water pounds down on them, cleaning every particle of dirt from their coats.
   Afterwards, they all swim a lap around the small pool at the bottom of the water fall. Kiara hops from the pool and shakes the water off, sending little drops in every direction. She then pulls her cubs from the water and dries them off. They curl up in a patch of sunlight and fall asleep. Kiara then proceeds to drying herself completely then, curls herself around her cubs and watches the ripples in the water reflect the sunlight before falling asleep herself.

   This story idea came from this photo:

  I have always loved tigers and I felt like I needed a story about an animal because all my stories have been about humans (excluding last time's story about the birdcage). So, a story about a tiger just felt necessary. Seeing this photo reminded me to write about a tiger, and here it is!

 

(P.S. The photo of the tiger is not mine and I could not find the original owner if this photo.)