I HOPE THIS STORY IS BEFITTING OF THIS THREAD AND OF THIS SITE.FORGIVE ME IF IT IS A BIT RUSHED OR OFF-SUBJECT.
A long long time ago,when great ancient civilizations were at their heights of power,the great continent of Africa was largely unknown to those who dwelled in countries beyond the great sea of sand known as the Sahara up in the north of this majestic continent.
In the southern lands there lived a cat called a Caracal.He roamed the vast open savanna with its tall golden grasses and the bushveldt woods with their grand old trees and knarled scrub adorned with viceous thorns. Caracal kept to himself and shyed away from the other bigger cats,for he was ashamed to show himself in his true appearance.Poor Caracal had been cursed with big ears much like the little Bat-eared foxes that scurried about at night when the sun set,and used those big ears to locate their prey. Not Caracal.Like other Caracals before him,his ears were cumbersome and of little use to heighten his hearing.They just kept getting in the way when he would prowl through the scrub,and poke up from the top of the tall grasses.He would be fortunate when he could successfully conclude a hunt,but often his ears would give him away.So,he had decided it best to hunt at night,so as the other big cats would not see him.Yet,he yearned to hunt and explore in the day,and enjoy nature in its glory.
Caracal would sit up on a small rock or an unused termite mound and watch silently as the mighty Lion and his brother,set out at the head of their Pride,to hunt for Wildebeest or the dangerous Buffalo.He would watch from the shade of a tree as the trio of Cheetah's would stalk through the grass to the swift and agile Gazelles,and then give chase with speeds like the wind.When night would fall,he would watch from the darkened woods and hillocks as the Leopard crept stealthily towards the great Marula tree where the Chacma Baboons were sleeping. Oh,if only he could have the respect of the Lions.
Once he had plucked up the courage and asked Lion if he could join his hunt. Lion had sneered at him,but had allowed him to take part in the hunt.If he could bring down a Buffalo calf or a Wildebeest,then Lion would give him his due.But Lion was counting on Caracals humiliation,such was his contempt for the smaller cat with the golden brown coloured fur and those big preposterous ears.
Poor Caracal indeed failed to catch his prey.As he crept up closer to a Buffalo calf that had wandered close to the aptly named Buffalo Thorn tree in which Caracal hid,poor Caracals left ear became painfully snagged on a thorn and he let out a yelp that drew attention to the big adult Buffalo nearby,and the herd gathered the wayward calf and trotted away,chuckling to see this awkward little cat caught up in the trees thorn.
Lion had come and roared out with laughter at the Caracal.
Poor Caracal finally managed to prise himself off the thorn,with a little hole in his ear that gave him much pain that night. So much so.that when he tried to climb a small Jackalberry tree,his whimpers alerted the Baboons who barked at the Leopard who had tried to prowl around the base of their Marula tree. Leopards hunt was spoiled by Caracals cries and he had no sympathy for he would have to go another night without food,having lost the previous nights cach of Impala to those thieving Hyena's.
A fortnight later,when the wound had healed over,Caracal had followed the Cheetah's out into the golden grass and watched as they swiftly brought down a Gazelle.
When the commotion had died down and the Gazelle's had calmed down,their attention focused on the Cheetah's. Caracal had decided that he could try and catch a Gazelle for himself. He burst from the grass and out into the low plain,running as fast as he could,and scattering the antelope as they saw him come running,though rather ungainly. The Cheetah's watched amused as the Caracal tried to keep up his speed as he chased a male Gazelle. But alas,his ears acted like sails on the boats the local tribal humans used on the river nearby. They flapped and caught the wind,dragging him to run slower and slower,losing the Gazelle in the process. Finally,he gave up,and slunk back towards the grass,hearing the Cheetah's cackle with laughter behind him.
Poor,poor Caracal.Though he managed to catch smaller prey,like mice or the slow-witted Francolins, or scavenged on the kills of the other predators,he so wanted to be taken seriously by the other cats.
Upset,he felt he was no longer welcome in the bushveldt,and decided to leave his place of birth and go explore the wider lands around him in hopes that he would be welcomed.
For many days and nights he wandered the lands,crossing vast open savanna,through thick scrub bush,over mounds of magnificent granite rocks that stuck out like islands in the vast grasslands around them. Eventually,tired and weary,one dark night,when the moon was in waning gibbous high up in the star-lit sky,Caracal came to a small water-hole..Like a pond in the wilderness,with glassy dark waters that sometimes caught the low moonlight in the ripples made by the Terrapins that swum just below the surface and sometimes poked their heads out to catch a juicy meal of a moth.
Caracal crept to the waters edge and began to drink to quench his thirst.
Once Caracal had finished,he was about to turn away,when he caught sight of an old man sitting on the stump of an old tree. Caracal had always been told to be wary of humans,because they did not always bring good tidings with them,and were considered a greater predator than even the mighty Lion. But Caracal knew somehow that this man was to be no danger to him.
This man had a look of wisdom and kindness to his aged face.He was dressed in fine earthen and leaf green cloak.Bangles of dark carved wood hung from his thin wrists and one held firm around his left ankle.The old man showed his age yet did not look frail.He held a long crook staff carved from Leadwood and its curl draped with the feathers of a Secretary bird.
"Hallo my weary friend." said the old man. Caracal was startled that this man could speak in the tongue of animals.
The man smiled warmly. "Do not be afraid,dear Caracal.My name is Mtwezigumba,i mean you no harm."
"Then how is it that you can speak to me when other humans cannot.?" replied Caracal.
"I am special.You see,i have lived far longer than even the trees that you see about you,dear friend.
I have seen the lands around,change and age.I have seen history pass me by.My heart is in this land." Mtwezigumba stated his words by scooping up a handful of sand nad opening his palm,he gently blew the grains,that suddenly glittered like gold dust.
Caracal sat on his haunches in awe. "Are you the Ancient of old,that i have heard about in legends.Creator of both animals and of humans..?
Mtewzigumba did not reply straight away,and just smiled at Caracal. "I am known by many a name to both animals and humans,but you can just call me Mtwezigumba,the Witch Doctor."
Mtwezigumba beckoned for Caracal to come closer. Caracal hesitated.
"Please come closer to me,i am will not harm you."
Caracal slowly approached the kindly man. He could feel the mans wise eyes search inside him.
"Do not let those ears of yours,shame you.I see no fault in you,like others foolishly do."
"Then,if you are great,can you make me better,so i can be respected amongst the other cats.?"
"You do not need to be a mighty hunter like the Lion,or a runner of the winds like the Cheetah's,to have respect. Change will come to you,but you need to find the spirit inside of you.to feel happy with yourself."
"But i am not happy with myself" replied Caracal,solomnly.
Again,the old Witch Doctor smiled warmly down at Caracal. "You feel unwanted and unloved.Come with me and i will take you to a place where humans have built a grand civilization arisin from the sands beyond the Great Sand Sea.There,you may find the spirit within yourself to gain that self esteem."
Mtwezigumba stood up from the stump,leaning on his staff as if he really was as old as the Earth itself.
He stuck the crook into the sand and dirt,and began to draw a circle in the sand.As he did so,sand grains began to rise and twist in a whirlwind,higher and higher,increasing in circumference and whistling around both the old Witch Doctor and Caracal.
Caracal shielded his eyes as the the sand grew into a maelstrom around them,yet he felt safe beside the wise old man.
The whirlwind continued for a while before it began to abate,and settle back onto the ground.
What Caracal saw in front of him,held him in great awe.It was still night,and the stars shone above in the indigo sky.
They were upon a hill overlooking a great river,lined with lush papyrus reeds and palm trees.Beyond that,was a magnificent sight that Caracal thought was beyond the talents of humans. Three great Pyramids of stone,capped with golden points rose up above grand stately palces held up with mighty pillars and thier huge entrances lined either side with sitting statues of what looked like a human with a Jackals head and another of a human with a Falcons head.
Below the level of the palace,were many small buildings in which humans dwelled.Caracal was dazzled by the sight before him.In many a window,including the great palace,lights from oil torches flickered.
"Welcome to Pi-Ramesses,the great city of the Pharoah Ramesses,who will become known to history as the greatest ruler of these ancient lands."
Mtwezigumba looked down at the awe-struck Caracal.
"How are humans going to change the spirit in me.?" asked Caracal.
"You will see." Mtwezigumba set off down the hill,waving at Caracal with his crook for the cat to follow.
Through the quiet dark alleyways,lit only every so often by the warm orange glow of the lamp lits within each house,man and cat walked silently by..towards the great palace.
Caracal was in such awe at the marvels of the city,that he was unaware that Mtwezigumba had held back. The cat continued walking,when he had heard the voices of humans in a dark corner.He ducked into the shadows as they raced out of an annex beside the great palace. Then,he began to notice a bright orange glow that was growing within the building.
Warily,he approached the building and peeked through the gap in the bronze door that had been left open by the two men that had fled the building. Inside,a fire had been lit,and was burning its way along a fallen timber and a pile of cloth,fulled by the oils of a spilt lamp.
Then to Caracals horror,he saw a prone man adorned with a shimmering multi-coloured necklace,golden bangles on his wrists.A gold helmet had rolled off his head and lay nearby.
As the fires grew within,Caracal cowered in the darkness ,awaiting for other humans to be alerted to the unconscious man within.
The fires grew closer to the man,but there seemed to be no-one coming.
Caracals heart beat faster. Even if this was a human,he could not stay there and let this man die a horrible death. So,Caracal summoned up his courage,and entered the burning building,crawling low on the marbled floor so as to not breath in as much smoke. He approached the prone man,with a little fear despite the human being unconscious. Tentatively,he nudged at the human with his nise,his ear flicking at the heat from the approaching flames.The man lay still. So,with his course tongue,Caracal began licking cautiously at the mans face,until finally,the man began to stir.His eyes opened wearily to see Caracal close by..
Suddenly,there was a creaking sound,and a rafter collapsed onto Caracal.He himself was now in danger,from the fire as well as at the might of the human. Just before Caracals world went black,he could hear the footsteps of humans approach the burning building.
Caracal awoke to find sunlight streaming through a high red coloured curtain,almost blinding him with its harshness.He was laid on a low bed that looked to be made of gold.Bandages were wrapped around his waist where he had injured himself from the falling timber.
The man who he had tried to save,was sat beside him. He looked regal in fine jewels and gold,and the helmet was sat back upon his head.He was dressed in white and gold silken cloth and on the hand that gently stroked Caracals head,each finger was adorned with a gold ring.
"Thank you kindly cat.You have saved my life from the greed of men that wished ill of me.I and my Kingdom are eternally garateful to you."
Caracal could understand this man as much as he understood Mtwezigumba and it baffled him.
The man Caracal had saved,was indeed a powerful man.His name was Ramesses,and the leader of this great land.
As a thank you for saving his life,Ramesses had his attendants care for the cat until he back to full health. And for the first time in his life,he felt such love and affection even it was a human.
Then one day,Caracal just so happened to stroll past a mirror and caught sight of himself for the first time since the fire. His ears..! Those big cumbersome ears of his were no longer big and cumbersome. The fire had burned the tips of his ears and had left him with graceful,elegant ears,tiped with fine black hairs.And around his eyes,the Egyptians had lined them with black ink.
Oh how proud Caracal was.He looked positively handsome.
Beaming with pride,Caracal leapt out to the chariot that held the great Pharoah,and jumped up to sit beside him. From that point on,Caracal would accompany the Pharoah along on his stately ceremonial duties. Once,on a hunt for game birds,Ramesses had brought Caracal along,accompanied by two Cheetah's that he kept for hunting trips. The Chariot party had reached a clearing in the rough grass and saw ahead of them a herd or Oryx,graceful antelope only the Pharoah could hunt. As the Cheetah's singled out a young Oryx,Caracal had crept quietly through the grass un-noticed,and lept out on the Oyrx even before the Cheetah's had got ther with their swuft speed. Pharoah was proud,and the Cheetah's were in awe at how stealthily the smaller cat had got to the prey before them.
Caracal had found his place,but as the years passed and Caracal grew old,he yearned for that final peace back in his own southern lands.
One evening as the sun was setting into the distant desert,Caracal came slowly out onto the balcony of the palace. He was tired now, and knew his life was at an end.
Ramesses,himself an old man,tired and worn by his years of rule and fighting wars,came and sat beside him. He stroked Caracal softly on the head and seemed to know what the animal was thinking.
"You miss your land,don't you.You wish to rest beneath the grand trees of your home one final time."
Caracal did not reply.
From the shadows of one corner of the balcony,out stepped a familiar face that Caracal almost forgotten about. It was the wise old Witch Doctor,Mtwezigumba.
"You have truely found the spirit within you.The lack of love that you missed.It is time i took you home.."
Caracals voice was weak now. "Thank you for showing the love that i had missed,and the humility of my own spirit,..but what of other Caracals after me. Will they all be made fools of.?"
"My dear Caracal,you had showed suched bravery all those years ago as i seen in your heart that you were capable of. Every Caracal that is born after you,will have the grace and beauty of you."
Caracal smiled,..if a cat could smiled.. and settled in the comforting arms of the Witch Doctor as he gathered him gently up. Together they walked towards the golden light of the sun as it shone around them...
THE END