Oh, I didn't see you there! Hi, I'm Surak, and I'm the mate to my dear wife, Nirmala. You are probably reading this and thinking to yourself, "I wonder how you and Nirmala met." I can answer that from my own point of view. It's a wild ride, so buckle up!
It all started on a beautiful morning. I was hanging out with my niece and nephew, Rani and Baliyo, when I heard a loud explosion followed by a shrill scream. "Someone needs help! Rani, Baliyo, let's go!" I commanded. "With strength and respect, Night Pride protect!" we chanted. In the nearby forest, a beautiful teenage lioness was attacked by a very stinky stench by my honey badger friend, Binga.
The lioness went haywire. She was coughing, screaming, and buried her face in her paws. I went up to her. "Miss, are you okay?" I gently asked. She just looked up at me with pain, disgust and desperation in her eyes. I could tell she needed immediate love, attention and care.
Then, from the stench, she passed out right in front of me! I was horrified. Baliyo, my nephew, nudged her to wake up. "Miss, what's your name?" he asked. With the last bit of strength in her body, the lioness whispered, "Nirmala".
With a tear in my eye, I hoisted her on my back and fled the forest. My pride and I were cornered by stink clouds left and right. There was no way out. Rani was losing her breath and was on the verge of collapsing as well. As much as I love her, I can't take the weight of two lionesses on my body.
"Uncle Surak, I can't take this stench anymore," she told me. I gave her a quick nuzzle as we were trying to figure a way out. "I know! We can jump over a stink cloud to escape!" Baliyo piped up. As irrational as he could be sometimes, Rani and I went along with his idea. We just needed to get Nirmala to a safe place.
I backed away to get better momentum for the jump. Rani and Baliyo stayed behind me. Nirmala lay silently on my back. "Cubs! On the count of three, we're gonna jump!" I commanded, "One, two, three!" I shouted as we jumped the cloud and escaped.
Once we were outside the forest, we needed to take a breather. "P.U! That stunk worse than rotten fish!" Rani vented. "Agreed, darling," I agreed as I covered my nose. Baliyo just sat there, laughing at us. "What's so funny, little brother?" Rani asked as I lifted her head up.
"You both look hilarious!" he burst out, laughing. I rolled my eyes as I checked on Nirmala. She appeared okay, but a little nauseated by the awful stench. "We need to get her to the Tree of Life," Rani piped up. So we dashed to the Tree where my mother, Queen Janna, lay sleeping.
"Mother? I hate to disturb you, but we found something in the forest," I explained, revealing the sick lioness to Mother. The queen's eyes widened at the sight of the nearly dead lioness. She put her paw on Nirmala's head and the cave illuminated around us. Within a few minutes, Nirmala began to open her eyes. They were a beautiful blue hue and they were so bright and clear.
"Nirmala, right? Are you okay?" I asked. "Yes, I'm fine. A little dizzy though," she replied. But that didn't matter to me; what really mattered was that she was okay. "I love you, Surak," Nirmala told me as she licked my cheek. My eyes widened as I slowly went into a trance.
That was the moment I knew I would have a happy life with this new girl. "I love you too, sweetheart," I replied as I kissed the top of her head. "Okay, should we give them some privacy?" Baliyo remarked. Nirmala blushed and looked away as I glared at him. "I'm just kidding!" Baliyo added.
We all started laughing as Nirmala started crying. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" I gently asked. "I just felt really embarassed when Baliyo made that joke," Nirmala answered as she cried into my mane. I then grabbed a flower and put it behind her ear. I immediately wiped the tears from her eyes.
Nirmala shyly smiled at me as I hugged and kissed her. "Look at them. Isn't it a beautiful sight, Rani? Uncle Surak finally found the girl he loves," Baliyo told his sister. Rani nodded her head in agreement as Nirmala and I walked up to my mother. "Mother, if it pleases you, I would like to marry this beautiful girl,'' I told her, gesturing at Nirmala. The queen smiled and said, "Yes, my son. You have my blessing to marry her."
Hearing this news, I immediately jumped for joy, but after Rani gave me this really funny smirk, I went back to my serious persona. That's when I felt Nirmala, nuzzling up to me. She then let out the most adorable yawn I'd ever heard. I smiled warmly at her as I escorted her outside the Tree.