LIONHEART

INTRODUCTION

Courage comes at the most unexpected of times. Where courage appears, there is generally an added burst of strength to support it. The adrenaline that provides our muscle strength, fuels the sudden intellect for self-defense or survival. Even in the face of adversity, it allows us to muster the power of the

LIONHEART-the dream

It was a setting similar to her grandmother's home... the yard, the back lot and the setting across the street. They... classmates, co-workers, other family people, and all were inside the house or rear yard until she exited even the scene of patients. Returning from the errand and brief excursion at the worksite, she drove past the friend (or so the woman called herself)... "the friend" who was never really there. Her's was a game of popularity... something that could get you through life in society but perhaps not through a life in which complexities could venture.

She drove on and parked the car at a house not her own. En route, she passed her daughter standing in a yard of snow, sleet or rain falling upon her head. The daughter called out in jest, "I wanted to see if it was better, what you did with it!" The driver glanced at her but did not slow to stop... the daughter had made it clear earlier that she was not "the driver's to control." She had entered and then evaded the scene on that earlier occaision. Because the driver did not stop, the daughter called out, waiving her arm and then trotting a short distance toward the car. The driver took her in.

They chuckled about the upset of "the friend" as the driver [oured on through slushed streets toward what was currently home. The four rooms had to be evacuated. Several streets away, she parked the car and motioned to the daughter that they should get out. Looking around, she mumbled something incoherent... inaudible to even this writer and put the daughter inside. It was the rear door to a larger house. A house in need of repair, but larger no less and more stable, she assumed. "I have to get something, I'll be back shortly, you'll have to open the door."

Departing again, she quickly reached her destination and started back. Not far from "the home" she was joined by another resembling her daughter. She did not think, but walked with her, cognizant of the individual's conversations and concerns. Just before reaching "the home," she encountered a fenced yard. A yard with a dog and a lion, both male, inside a fence. The dog(black and large) was leashed. They both looked up but did not follow. Cautiously, she tipped in a quickened gait toward "the home." The individual was indifferent, had not noticed the yard. Again, she saw at the rear of the houses lions... on her left, a single male facing away from her. On her right, in an open yard two lions... male, standing at a rear porch. She muttered in a lowered voice barely audible to the individual, "The lions are here... they're loose," and quickened her pace cognizant of what was behind and before her, glimpsing all at her sides. She glanced up to see "the home" just within reach, and a neighboring house. As she turned into the yard and readied herself, the daughter opened the door of "the home." She knocked on the neighbor's door and got no response. Their baby was in their yard alone, at the corner of the house. She did not reach for the child, but dashed instead, toward "the home." Just as they reached the rear porch, the first lion and the black dog rushed upon them. The individual slowed her pace, dawdling as though nothing was going on. Nothing was happening. The "driver," who had walked this last distance, called out to the daughter of the danger. "The lion is here, get back." As she grabbed the handle of the screen door and looked back, she saw that the individual was standing between, in the middle of the lion... the dog appeared smaller somehow... but was indeed the same black dog. They circled her, pacing slow steps, and she... the individual... carried little to no expression on her face. "The driver" muttered again, "I need you to come over here, carefully. Be careful of that lion." She twisted the knob on the previously opened door. The mechanism clicked and she pressed the door inward. "Now," she beckoned with voice and hand, "...come carefully." As the individual came toward her, she opened the door wider. The lion and the black dog looked up behind the individual watching her every move, pacing her action and reaction, measuring her emotion... studying her nerve. As they did, "the driver" stepped to one side and just inside the screen door. The individual brushed past her to the minute safety of "the home" and the driver slammed the door shut as she pulled her own leg inside. The heavy wooden door caught the black dog's jawbone, he had rushed to the front of the lion in his attack; his snout just between the door jamb and the open edge of the door. Bone crunched and the black dog reeled away yelping in pain. Those inside dashed up flights of stairs closing doors behind them before the lion entered. As he prowled the lower floor stalking them, they pushed one final door closed... a son appeared now, scrambling for a safety solution. Motioning toward the one last flight of stairs, he grabbed a metal tsai and they headed for his alternative. There was nothing up there except a cot... leftover furnishings, for guests; a window to the roof and a few odds and ends which had accumulated over time. On entering the last room, he shut the door behind them and went over to the window, "We go out here." She looked behind him in his struggle to open the window. He did not break the glass out but persistently pressed and pulled to open it in its track. The individual, the daughter, stood closest to the door glancing at the odds and ends... broomsticks, mop handles, old boards, and a few smaller items. As she started for the corner, the lion burst in; his eyes flashing fierce in his authority. He snarled and rared back his head rising on two rear legs to smite his first victim... the individual. "The driver" called to him taking his attention away and to herself, "How much of a man you are... brave and fierce." He lunged at her, "I am!" and on his hind legs, raised a strong arm to swipe at her. The daughter quickly grabbed one of the sticks to pierce him through the heart... abdomen... or any vital place. The son, still at the window, finally freed it enough to get slight movement; but the driver in the sight of the lion and now enamored by the strength seen in this being sought not to bleed it but instead stepped aside from its lunge, caught it by the tail and plunged her fist into his hind part. The lion yowled in surprise... and lept onto the cot to turn around. As he looked at his assailants, the daughter with a rod in her hand and intent upon bringing forth his own blood, this small man creating yet another escape, and lastly this woman... "the driver"... who would have the audacity to humiliate on of his stature before the eyes of others. He had never had a fist up his rear - never had he been assaulted in the manner. He was always on top. He spoke, "What are you doing?" She looked at her hand... not fecund or bloody, but dripping and wet. She said nothing. She had not thought prior to this action but had acted. It was a distraction. He spoke again, in a human-like manner, "That was unusual. I have never felt that before." The three looked at him. He could not blush, did not hang his head but appeared awkward in this awkward situation. He appeared male but produced a moist residue upon being violated. He sounded human but looked every bit like a lion. He and she stood motionless sizing each other up... her, waiting for his reaction positive or negative, and he... unsure of proper response.

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