I saw a lion once.

You'll never know what you can see if you never open your eyes.

I saw a lion once. The lion wasn't behind a cage, zoo, or in the wild. The lion was prowling in the street. I couldn't believe my eyes. I immediately thought was anyone else seeing this? Here is this lion roaming about. This king of the jungle in my neighborhood. Although, I did notice something odd. The posture of this lion wasn't right. From what I remembered, through pictures and videos, lions have this indomitable ferocity to them. This particular lion had a limp. The lion would stagger. Then the lion would stop to catch his breath. Finally the lion would stagger some more. He must have had his last meal a long time ago. On television lions travel in packs: A pride of lions. But this lion was alone. Had the lion been the leader only to then be replaced? What about that majestic nature of lions? I had a hard time seeing the wonder let alone the prideful of this lion. As I got closer I noticed more. The lion had bruises, cuts, and pieces of flesh torn off. Bone and tissue was what this lion was made of. Maggots were crawling in and out of the wounds. Flies were tiny satellites circling this lion. The lion didn't seem to be bothered at all. The lions face was a steady one: calm and persistent not unlike a steady tide. The more I examined the face the more I lost myself in it. My curiosity had blinded my common sense. We were headed towards each other. I was entranced by the lion that the sidewalk had seem to go on forever; yet in reality we would be face to face in seconds. My chance to cross the street or turn around had passed. And to be honest I couldn't stop even if the desire was there. I just had to gaze at every inch. Suddenly everything got unusually quiet. The cars passing by as silent as a graveyard. The wind had steadily died out. It was as if someone finally turned down the volume of the city. “Was I going to become this lion’s prey?” “Would the lion devour me?” “Is this going to hurt?” “Was I going to end up the news as casualty of this lion?” I was perhaps twenty feet away before I glimpsed into the lions eyes. I was staring into the sun. I stopped then and there. I imagined this is what death must look like. This was a warrior, survivor, force of nature. The lion then began narrating a story to me. From the time of being a cub to time of being a fully grown lion. Even after I heard it all; the lion still felt surreal. I began to sweat. Heat had started to emit from the lion. It was a deep burn. My skin was being pierced. The burn didn't stop there. The tissue under my skin was melting. After a while my nerves were crisp. Even my bones could no longer support me. I had evolved to an invertebrate. This lion had cremated me altogether. It was at that point we were officially face to face. After what I witnessed I didn't mind dying by the lion’s doing. Whether it was for sport or survival. To become part of something greater than myself. My choice was to surrender to the lion. I closed my eyes even if it was a pointless gesture. I waited. The wait was the best part. I saw the lion standing over my corpse. I saw the lion feasting. I could have the honor of being a last meal for something beautiful. Yet something told me to open my eyes. Maybe the lion wanted to stare into me before killing me. I didn't want to insult the lion. At the same time I didn't want to open my eyes. I tried to open them fast and close them. When I did open them something kept them open. What I saw I couldn't comprehend. This lion was still just sitting there. The lion was waiting. Nothing had changed. I continued to be at the lion’s mercy. At any moment I could be snapped in two. Instead all the lion did was hold his paw out. So I awkwardly shook his paw. Even after the handshake the paw was held out. I handed the paw water. The lion drank it. The paw was still out. I gave the paw food. The lion ate my food, but that damn paw came right back up. Just then another person came next to us. She gave the lion a dollar and kept going. I swear I saw a grin creep along the lions face. I searched through my pockets. Maybe I could find change. All I found was a twenty dollar bill. I couldn't give away a twenty. The lion pointed me in a direction of a gas station. I broke the twenty. I gave the lion a couple of bucks and then we both went on our way.