The Girl and the Lions

8~Grandma's Advice and the Powers are Shown

He told a man named Dr. Matthews about how the new lioness arrived. Dr. Matthews was confused, but brought me in the back for a check up anyways. I tried to act as calm and lion like as I could. After the check up he put me in a nice cage and waited for the head mammal instructor to arrive. As I paced around in my cage I heard Dr. Matthews conversing with what I heard was to be a girl. "The new boy, Ty, brought her in and told me she was our new lioness. I was never informed we were receiving a new animal, were you?" I heard him say as he and the girl walked in. I quickly turned around to see a familiar face that made me almost want to cry, it was Stacy. As she walked in, I noticed her kind brown eyes, now faded and sad. I could tell she heard the news of my disappearance. "It's fine, I'll be happy to accept a new lioness, I'm sure Mr. Barns* would allow it. It's probably just a last minute animal exchange." She grabbed a piece of meat from the table and slid it in my cage with me. I was a little grossed out with the fact that I had to eat this now, but i was strangly drawn to it. I, as a human, wanted to stay as far away from this raw chunk of meat as possible, but the lioness inside me was yelling at me to eat. I was internally resisting, but I ended up ripping into the carcass, filling my stomach and satisfying the lion inside. "There you go girl, eat up, you need your strength." Stacy said, watching me dig into the fresh food. She smiled at me when I finished up. I quickly remembered what I had done and quickly wiped my face with my paw in disgust.

She walked up to the cage and opened it, allowing me to roam around in the small medical room. "S-Stacy! W-What are you doing?!" Yelled Dr. Matthews as he quickly backed up. "It's ok! I'm sure she trusts us, I'm letting her explore. This is a trust exercise. For ours and her sake." I slowly walked out and sat down in front of Stacy. She looked at me in surprise and told Dr. Matthews to step out of the room. He gladly walked out, saying he had to do a check up on the parrots. She bent down to my level and look me in the eyes. "Do you have a name?" She asked if awaiting for a response. I cleverly, shook my head in response. She looked shocked, but went to get a piece of paper and a pen. "Ok, so now that I now you can understand me, which is common for most mammals born and raised in captivity. You can help me choose a name for you!!" I nodded my head I agreement. She paced around the room, writing down names as she thought. I paced around behind her, trying to see what she was writing down. I finally was able to knock the paper out of her hand and scanned over it. "Hey! What was- hey, can you read?" I scanned over the paper, looking for good names. I saw names like Amanda, Crystal, Hannah, then I saw a name that broke my heart, Dawn. I quickly dismissed it and saw a name that I liked. I placed my paw over that name I chose. Stacy picked up the paper to examine my choice. "April, huh, nice choice. Where you born in April?" She asked, it was true, I was born in April.

I nodded my head as Stacy's laugh echoed throughout the room. Stacy got a phone call and as soon as she answered it, she quickly escorted me back into the cage. She got off the phone with who ever it was and as soon as it ended a new face I did not recognize entered the room. "Hello dear, so this is the new lioness you told me about over the phone. She looks healthy enough. I'll arrange for her to be placed with the lions." He said as he walked over to Stacy, kissing her on the cheek in the process. "Thanks babe! I already have a name for her, she didn't have an official name before." Stacy said while returning his hug. "What is it? I'm sure it's a wonderful name!" He said walking towards my cage. "Her name is April. She's very smart! I assume she is around 13-14 years old in human years." She told him all the information she knew of me at the moment. "Well tomorrow, lets introduce her as our newest member of the zoo family!" Mr. Barns happily said.

Stacy's smile never left her face, but her eyes still held sadness. "She reminds me so much of Dawn....." Stacy said with small tears forming in her eyes. Mr. Barns ran up to her and embraced her in another hug," Shhhh. I'm sure they'll find her. They will soon. I promise you.." He reassured her. I tried to hold back the urge to transform in front of them and run to her. I held back my tears as Mr. Barns walked out. Stacy sat in the corner with tears running down her pale face. I quietly opened my cage, noticing that Stacy never latched it shut. I prowled over to her and put my head in her lap. "I'm Sorry Stacy...." I quietly whispered to her. She looked at me in pure shock, hearing what I just said. "D-Dawn......is t-that you?" She said with eyes overflowing with tears of joy and sorrow all at once. I quickly looked around the room for any cameras and to my surprise there were none. I backed away and tried to shift. I suddenly felt cold as my fur disappeared and i felt my human brain taking over once again as the lioness inside was shut down. I opened my eyes, once again as human.