The Only Okapi

Captured

Once, in a mystical world, there dwelled an okapi. She had the silkiest hair, which was as brown as the tree trunks. Her black eyes glistened in the moonlight. She roamed around searching for low branches with leaves. As soon as she found some, she stretched out her purple, slimy tongue and pulled the leaves into her mouth. Afterwards, she nestled down in her bed of grass. Slowly, she closed her eyes and dreamed of wonders and wishes.

Suddenly, she heard a rustle nearby. Her ears perked up and she turned her head every which way to make sure of her safety. In the distance, she could make out a shadowy figure. It had arms and a pair of long legs and it was standing upright. She never saw anything like it before. Only stories of such objects were known to her. The one nightmare that haunted her as a child was her reality.

She was discovered by no other than a human.

She could see him retrieving a net from his bag. She stood up and bolted away as fast as she could.The human jumped onto a raging black horse. The horse was quick and nimble, unlike the okapi. The horse caught up to her and the human tossed the net over her. The last thing she saw was the smirking smile on the human's face before a prick of a needle put her to sleep.       

Once she woke up, she was surprised by what she saw. A bright room filled other animals and humans awaited her. She felt something soft and warm on her back. As she turned,she saw it was a blanket. When she turned back, a human with short, blonde hair and glossy brown eyes was standing right next to her. Frightened, she reared back, but the human calmed her by stroking her face delicately.

"Hush. You are going to be just fine," said the young man in such a way she was mesmerized by his words.

"I am Jake. My job is to keep you safe from the Poacher. He hunts animals that are rare and endangered. You, being an okapi, may be the last of your kind."

Jake seemed calm yet the words were alerting to the okapi. Sensing the fear in the okapi, Jake calmly stated, "Do not worry. I will make sure nothing bad happens to you no matter the cost! Before we continue, I need to give you a name besides "the okapi"."

Intrigued, the okapi nodded her head excitedly. After a minute of thinking up names, Jake listed a couple of names.

"How about a pet name like Stripes? No. I need to give you a name that will be remember able."

"I know! Riley. No. Erin! No. Katherine! No! No! No!"

"I wish the Queen of Animals, Debra, was still alive.  She would know the perfect name! That is it! DEBRA!"

Because of the excitement, Debra reared up and startled the surrounding animals.

"Hush. Hush. You are going to cause a riot!"

Once Debra was calmed, Jake put a rope around her and walked her into a room filled with thrones and crowns and a pedestal. Jake put Debra on the pedestal and waited silently, but stroked Debra's face with his smooth hands. All of a sudden, a king and princess came out.

"Greetings, Your Majesties!" greeted Jake while bowing. Confused, but wanted to be polite, Debra bowed her head.

"Hahahaha!" laughed the king and princess. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jake smiling and looking towards her. Embarrassed and a bit puzzled, she turned so no one could see her.

"Aw, Debra," started Jake, "You did nothing wrong. It was just funny and a bit adorable that you bowed, since no other animals have done that yet."

"Debra?" asked the king, "Is that what you called the creature?"

"Yes, sire. That is her name. I picked it out myself," answered Jake.

"Why is that?"

"Because of her uniqueness and because it was the name of your wife, the Queen of Animals. Debra reminded me of her."

"Well, Debra. Has Jake told you what is going to happen to you tomorrow?"

Scared, Debra started to kick and stamp her hoofs on the wooden pedestal. Quickly, Jake calmed her down and replied to the king," No. Your Majesty. I was going to let her adjust to her environment first and maybe tell her later. She is scared and has not been around humans very much or at all judging by her responses and instincts."

"Please, Daddy! Do not tell Debra about it. Let Jake do it. I know he is trustworthy and good with animals," the princess responded.

As soon as the king dismissed them, Debra and Jake headed into a room with a stable. It had trees, water, and a template, which said, 'Okapi', underneath was Jake's name. The stable was new and different to Debra. She did not want to go in. Jake noticed the alarm in her reactions. He took Debra by her rope and led her in, but he did not leave.

When they laid down, Jake stroked Debra. She loved the feeling. It was calming and felt so nice. The last time she had this much attention was when she was little and her mom nuzzled her and loved her so much. Now she was being loved by a human, the last thing she would imagine or even think of. Slowly, she closed her eyes, but hoping that it all was not just a dream.