When the little panther was born, it was a very hard year, and he became the only cub that survived. It was harsh on all the panthers everywhere; food and water was scarce. Through it still, the little cub not only survived, he seemed to prosper. He learned quickly how to hunt on his own and could always find snacks in small prey. His parents had named him Earnest, and by the time he had entered into his 4th year, he had 3 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters.
He was about to come into his own and be free to roam about, but before this happened his mother sat him down to have a talk with him. She spoke of many great things; she spoke about the beginning of things on this earth and how “Sisa” (Hogan, p. 73) was the first cat to slice through the veil and taught a great many people many things. He roamed when all the earth was one land, before the great thunder came and broke the land into many pieces. She told him about family or clan as she called it and his responsibility to his younger siblings.
Recently poachers were seen in the area watching and searching for younger forest animals of this jungle and when found their parents killed; all the offspring taken and sold. Many of their friends had disappeared only to be taken to zoos and circuses for a good sum of money. The mother suspected that this was also why the smaller game they would hunt was also disappearing. She made Earnest promise that no matter what, he would always be there for his brothers and sisters.
It was during a warm summer day when Earnest was out hunting with Clyde, his best friend and a great hunter in his own right, when the poachers came to his area. Just like all the other areas they killed the mothers and fathers and took all the young, hauling them away in large carts with cages attached on top of them. By the time Earnest and Clyde got back each with large kills to share with their families, they found nothing. No sign or trace of anything but the death and destruction the poachers had left behind. Clyde became quite upset and ran off to find his family, only to return a few hours later alone; the poachers had left nothing behind; Clyde’s parents were very young and he was the panther from their first litter. Earnest explained to Clyde that he had promised his mother to always care for his family and that he would be leaving soon to go find them. Clyde tried to insist on coming along, but Earnest knew he was an only cub and had no obligation; Earnest waited until Clyde was asleep before he left. He decided he wanted no “good-bye’s” or Clyde trying to follow so with a quick glance back as what was his home, he went quickly on his way.
About three hours into his journey, he stopped for a quick drink of water and saw a young impala dash; feeling hungry and knowing he would have little time later to hunt, he leapt after the rabbit and was quickly rewarded with a fine lunch. After eating his fill, he climbed a tree and hid the rest for later as his father had taught him. As he finished his lunch and climbed back down the tree he turned to leave and there in front of him was Clyde with a huge grin from ear to ear. Clyde let out a ferocious roar to let the forest and Earnest know he was no kitten and he was going on the quest with or without Earnests approval. He was a grown panther and he would be going with Earnest. Earnest seeing the futility of arguing any further agreed and set off again with his friend. A few more hours into the journey they came to a high rising in the land and could see a compound off in the distance. They set off at a very quick pace with the hopes that this was the compound where his siblings were.
What neither of them could see from that distance was the human police authorities creeping up from the other side of the compound. They had been investigating the disappearing forest creatures and were about to close in to both capture the poachers and free the animals. The poachers had various alarm methods and before the authorities could get to the compound, the poachers started a hot fueled fire, then made their escape through a hidden tunnel. By the time the panthers made it to the compound it was fully engulfed in flames; they stood in disbelief watching. It surely seemed that Earnests siblings were gone forever. Tears started to flow and Earnest roared loudly, he could hardly bear the grief of it all. How could he go on? He had failed. He lay there watching the fire, deciding to wait until it was burnt out so he could gather his sibling remains and give them a proper rest. Earnest fell asleep waiting.
The next morning Earnest was still filled with grief, but Clyde had already been awake, wandering around the compound giving it a thorough inspection. He knew this place had only smaller animals in there and told Earnest so. He became animated because the siblings might still be alive and Earnest needed to act. Earnest would have none of it; he was so physically tired from his journey and did not want to face the possibility of facing another compound fire. Clyde moved closer and spoke to his friend about what he had promised his mother, and how important his brothers and sister were to him; Clyde had no family left at all and he knew Earnest would one day regret not continuing on, finishing his quest. Eventually he made his argument and Earnest began to ready himself to continue on. Suddenly they heard a rustling off to the side and surrounded the noise. It was a monkey from another jungle community entirely who had traveled miles to rescue his family that were actually prisoners in the compound. The monkey spoke of passing a compound filled with cages of cats and told them he could lead them there, as it was on his way home.
In 2 days they made the journey and were but a ½ mile from the compound. They could see a small moat with a few Hyenas wandering around waiting for kill refuse. The poachers did not mind because their cry was like that of an alarm and they would easily know of anyone coming and could protect their catch. The monkey immediately hatched a plan; first they would from a safe distance circle the compound and find the escape tunnel. Then once the poachers had left on a hunt for more animals the monkey used some sort of magic that would make him appear in one spot and suddenly reappear a short distance away. Using his skills and tricks he managed to lead the hyenas a good distance away to a small cave opening where Clyde and Earnest were ready to push a large rock down from overhead. All went as planned and the hyenas entered into the cave thinking the monkey was in there. The monkey suddenly appeared right where the rock was falling and Earnest thought they had killed the monkey. Again he became quite upset; Clyde was quick to point out that they had a limited time to get in and free the animals before the poachers returned.
As they entered in through the escape tunnel, they could see the monkey suddenly appear inside the compound Earnest was overjoyed at the monkey being safe. The monkey informed him that he had too much magic inside to be squished by a dumb old boulder and they set about freeing all the animals who made their escape the same way the panthers had come in. Finally they found the cages with his brothers and sisters, freeing them; they kept at the task until finally the last of the animals they exited through the tunnel and none too late. The poachers were just returning from the other compound where they found all the animals gone and the place in ruins and their fellow poachers missing. They were certainly not prepared for the site that opening their own compounds gates provided; hundreds of empty cages with their doors swinging on their hinges and not an animal in sight. They were very angry at the lost bounty and resolved to hunt them all down, recapturing what they could and killing what they could not.
The animals quickly spread out each group going in the direction of their home, with the panthers moving quickly along together. Earnest could hear the poachers starting out and knew their time was limited. His brothers and sisters had been in cages with little food and they had no energy to run far; Earnest knew they would have to hide and hide in a way that the scent dogs the poachers had could not find them. Remembering a trick his father had taught his when he was a little cub, he led them down by the river intending on having them roll in the mud to conceal their scent from the dogs. The river’s edge however was rocky with not with a lot of mud so he had them do the best they could. They were quite the site. Polka dotted panthers that smelled of river mud. Suddenly he knew the poachers were closer, and had his siblings all hide among the rushes with Clyde and him. The spots broke up their shape making them not easy to see, while the mud masked their smell letting the dogs and poachers run right by without a hitch. Earnest was very relieved, but they were not safe yet. Both he and Clyde went for a quick hunt bringing back a small gazelle and a small deer to feed everyone. When they had eaten their fill, they all had much more energy to make the journey back home. They way back went pretty much without incident arriving safe back at the compound. They were so grateful to the monkey, they offered him a home until the end of his days, be he declined and at once vanished in an extraordinary way. Earnest set about the task of ensuring everyone had their sleeping places back and would now be responsible for their proper upbringing. In turn teaching his siblings the ways of the forest like his father did for him. It would be no easy task to be mother, father and big brother to his siblings, but he knew with Clyde’s help he would surely find a way.
The next day there was a strong wind storm and many trees were downed leaving wide areas of the jungles forest exposed. In the middle of one of these areas was a mound made of hard green emerald. It looked like a green pillow sticking up from the ground except it was not so soft. Earnest sniffed and scratched around the mound when it began to vibrate. Earnest leapt back and watched as a bolt of emerald green light shot up from the ground that was so bright that is filled with air with green light. It was all anyone could see. Finally it let up and standing on the mound was “Sisa”, standing tall and proud. A roar like none of them had ever heard before came from “Sisa” and they were all afraid. They knew “Sisa” was their great ancestor and held the power of life or death before them
“Sisa” spoke: “Arise! Get up off the ground! Arise! I shall not harm you in anyway” “You are mine and belong to me”. Earnest arose and approached Sisa, who turned to Earnest and said, “You have done well my cat child in keeping your promise and bringing your family home to safety. It pleases me greatly. I have decided to reward you for your cunning; stealth and sheer bravery with having you keep your spots as a reminder to all the cats of your deeds. I shall call you leopards for you are now above the common panther and hold a place in my kingdom when you pass over.” “You, your siblings and all your and their ancestors will be born with these spots and they shall remain with you forever.”
And so it was that all the leopards from that day on were born with spots. Earnest lived a long and happy life becoming a father of a very large clan of his own. He taught them all like his mother had; about where they came from, their proud heritage and how they became spotted.
Works Cited
Hogan, L. (1998). Power. NY: W.W. Norton & Comoany, Inc..
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