The hyena pup Fabana was napping with her family, when suddenly she felt a paw nudge her shoulder.
“Fay,” someone whispered. “Fay, are you awake?”
She grunted and shifted. One eye came open. “Who wants to know?”
“It’s me, Jalkort.”
She whispered, “Oh. Hi, Jal.”
“Let’s go play.”
“I can’t right now. Muti says I have to take my nap.”
“No one’s going to mind--if we don’t get caught.”
Jalkort was her best friend. She didn’t have to think long before she made her decision, rising up carefully and sneaking away from her family.
If her parents had caught her, she would have been in a lot of trouble. Humans had been sighted nearby, and everyone was in a state of heightened alert. Fay had been warned many times not to go off without permission.
“We don’t have long, Jal. They won’t sleep all day, you know.”
“Oh, we’ll be back in plenty of time. Now you’re it!” Jal tapped her and ran.
“Not fair! I didn’t say ‘start’ yet!”
“OK.” Jalkort came trotting back and stood next to her. “Say it now.”
“No you don’t! Stand over there first.”
“Over here?”
“Further back.”
“Now?”
“Further back!”
“Geez, I’m not a wildebeest! What do you want me to do, migrate?”
It was the dry season. In the human camp, an unattended campfire shot out a coal that crossed the ring of rocks and fell in the grass. A small trail of smoke went up, then with an almost shy beginning, the first flame sprang up, greedily consuming the first tuft of grass, then looking around for more.
The rabid flames quickly infected the grass with a fatal fever, overwhelming the golden shafts and turning them into blackened ash. A light wind fanned the flames which spread rapidly over the savanna.
High above, a hornbill spotted what appeared to be a large black thundercloud, then stopped in flight, turning back toward Pride Rock as fast as he could go with the news--brush fire!
A dead acacia stood in the way, but it was soon overwhelmed by the destructive tide. It soon turned into a giant torch, raining limbs of golden light.
Some Thompson’s gazelles were trying to get some good out of the dying grass. They looked up and saw the wall of flame coming. In a panic, they sprinted away. “Fire! Fire! Get out!”
The choking, blinding pall of smoke dimmed the sun and the searing heat was enormous. Some sleeping hyenas were nudged by the Roh’mach.
"What the...."
"Brush fire! Get out while you still can!"
The father looked around and quickly spotted the smoke. He looked in the other direction where escape should lie, but there was more smoke. "Get up, everyone! Up, up!! We have to get out of here!!" He looked around desperately. “Where is Fabana??”
Fabana was hiding from Jalkort. She wondered why it took so long for him to find her, since hyenas had a keen sense of smell.
She looked out. “Jal? Jal!”
That’s when she saw the flames spreading all around. She forgot the game and thought about her family. "Muti! Maleh! Oh gods!"
A zebra went galloping by madly, then balked at the flames and reared up with flailing hooves. She was nearly trampled by his hooves.
"Muti! Maleh!"
Like a predator, the flames sought to surround and drive their victims. Most head toward the river and safety. In the mad rush, Fabana could not tell which way led back to her parents. She ran around in the confusion looking for some sign of her family.
At Pride Rock, young King Ahadi stared at the gray cloud with anxiousness. Zazu landed next to him, but by the time he had reached his King, the message was too obvious.
"It's sheer panic, Sire. The jackals will feast tonight."
The wind shifted the progress to and fro, and blowing sparks that spawned new fires in its wake. Vultures had already began to gather, looking for victims.
A meerkat pushed past Fabana in a mad desire to escape, then encountered a fresh wall of flame. He ran around in circles staring wide eyed at nothing in particular, shouting, "We're all going to die! Oh gods, we're all going to die!"
Flames had surrounded Fabana completely. Perhaps the meerkat was right. And then suddenly bounding over the flames came Fabana’s okhim (father) who grabbed her up by the scruff of her neck in his strong jaws and took off running.
He plunged through the flames, ignoring their hot embrace. Picking out the best routes, he managed to jump most of the flaming ground and come through unhurt in a deadly game of hopscotch. Then finally he saw freedom behind one remaining wall of fire. There were no easy routes, so closing his eyes he plunged directly into the fire. The swirling flames hurt Fabana's nose, the tips of her ears and her eyes. She reached up with a paw to ward off the heat.
Finally they burst through on the other side. Her okhim dropped her quickly with a loud yelp. "Run!! Run quickly!!"
Fabana looked back and saw her okhim become a living torch.
"Maleh! Oh gods!"
"Go!" he screamed. "Run! Run!!" He staggered a few steps, then fell into a crumpled heap, jerking spasmodically. For a moment she stood rooted to the spot. She would draw in a breath and shriek, and do it again. "Maleh!! No!!!"
Finally her fur began to singe. She had the presence of mind to turn away from what was left of her okhim and head away from the flames. She ran sobbing and howling across the ash, raising small clouds with her feet and getting soot in her nose and mouth.
Too late she saw some game wardens with shovels and picks trying to outflank the fire before it consumed their camp.
“I wish I could wring the bloody poacher’s neck! Three elephants weren’t enough--he had to burn up the whole damned place!”
One of them said, "Look at that!" Large hands circled her, and before she can snap at them, they rubbed her behind the ears gently. "There now, fellow, it's going to be all right."
"What are you going to do with it, Ed?"
"We'll see."
Fabana strained to look through the flames. "Okash!" she yelped. Then she began struggling frantically and crying, "Muti, Muti!!!"
"You're a loud little bugger, aren't you! Hey, It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Muti!!!" Tears came to her eyes. "Muti!!!"