�I don�t care how many of your friends are doing it. I don�t want any daughter of mine parading in front of some camera man.�
�But it�s only a department store catalog. And��
�Damn it Felia I told you NO!�
Felia growled and stormed out of the room. She needed to calm down a little. A nice walk through the warm mud of the gusher springs would make her feel better. It had been way to long since she had gone.
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�Wow Jim it really turned out nice.�
�Well it cost a fortune to clean this place up but it was worth it. I mean look at all those happy people. Finally there�s a place away from the city where our people can relax.� Jim replied proudly.
�Inviting all the workers from the car factory was a great idea but the food must have cost a fortune.�
Jim smirked while he thought of his wife�s reply. Luckily there was just enough money left over in the grant to buy the 2000 plant workers lunch. The hard part was getting management to give the afternoon off. But he was persistent and it paid off.
Of course the hope of all this was that the city counsel would see how good of a job he did and hire him as park manager. Then he would be set for life. It was the perfect plan and everything was coming together nicely.
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As Felia approached the familiar path to the springs she smiled. The long walk up the rocky slope left her paws aching as usual but it was well worth it. This part of the springs was in a secluded part of the mountain that no one knew of. She would come here just to walk though the mud. It was her sanctuary.
After getting situated, Felia slowly peeled off her hiking boots and cloths. If Daddy wouldn�t let her model for the store then she would model for the trees instead, naked! Once all of her possessions were neatly stacked behind the rocks, she put on her new radio. She had just bought it yesterday and the whole setup consisted of just two tiny receivers that rested inside of her ears.
Now that she was ready, Felia turned on the music and walked up to the beginning of the mud trail. She closed her eyes and took the first step into the goo. A large smile filled her face as the warm liquid caressed her paws. Slowly she swung her other paw over and started the casual march.
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�Jim the last of the workers are arriving. Is the food ready?� Carol asked.
�Of course baby the caterers finished 20 minutes ago.� Jim replied and looked over at the bus. �Look at all of those tired, hungry, men. You know if they like this place they they�ll bring their families��
�Believe me honey I want this to work out for you. So please try to relax a little.� Carol replied and started to rub her husband�s shoulders.
�You�re right baby. Maybe I should just��
BOOM� BOOM� BOOM� BOOM�
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�Oh damn, I don�t believe I chipped a nail!� Felia exclaimed looking down at her fingers.
A moment later the lioness closed her eyes and started to hum. Her favorite song was on. Since Felia had been on this trail so many times that she knew it by heart. So instead of stopping she continued to walk forward with her eyes closed.
The satisfied grin on her face soon grew even larger as she strolled forward. The mud below was starting to really get warm, which wasn�t usual in this part of the springs. However this time the lioness could feel small pops underneath her feet. Although she had never experienced that before, Felia still walked forward.
Fact was that in between the warm mud and soft pops her paws were starting to feel really good. The combination felt so good it made her purr. If it weren�t for the song she would probably would try to find out what was causing it. But at that point she didn�t care.
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�Try to get to the busses!� Jim called out.
Somehow he managed to stay calm enough to do something. Unfortunately by that point dozens of men had already been crushed flat by the giant cat. The animal�s eyes were shut. But how could she not realize what was happening?
He frantically ran towards a group of terrified workers. They had stopped right in the path of the giant and were just watching as she trampled others to death. If they didn�t move soon they would suffer the same fate.
�Get out of the way!� Jim hollered at the top of his lungs.
Unfortunately as he was about to reach the men Jim tripped on a rock and fell face first. As he started to recover a dark shadow engulfed everything�
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Felia smiled as the last few notes of the song played. �Baby, Baby, Baby boy�� Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Baby boy, oh no she forgot about work. She was supposed to baby sit the Martiz�s children tonight.
The lioness quickly turned around and started to run back. If she hurried maybe she could still make it on time.
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As the gigantic paw descended on him Jim closed his eyes and prayed. This was the end. Perhaps he deserved it after what happened that day.
However instead of a crushing blow from the monster above Jim felt the ground shake. He opened his eyes to find the giant running in the opposite direction. However the sight of men screaming in terror before being smashed like cockroaches made Jim�s stroke of luck bitter sweet. It was a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
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Once Felia reached the beginning of the path she stopped for a breath. Then, for the first time, she looked down at her feet. What she saw shocked her.
�EEEEEWWW! What did I step in?�
Intent on finding out, she climbed up onto a rock and looked down the path. The springs� mud had been drained out and replaced with grass. The whole area just over the first ridge had been turned into some sort of park or farm. But now the little park was littered with bloody pawprints.
Felia knew that the little people in this providence were smart but what they did to the springs was amazing. They had transformed the whole thing in just under a month. What a shame they were dumb enough to do their little project in HER sanctuary.
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Jim surveyed what was left of his life�s work. It had took him over 5 years to convince the city to grant the money to make this paradise. Another 3 years was spent finding the perfect site. And once the 8 months of planning was finished, another month to drain this swamp and plant the greenery.
But now his beautiful park looked like a war zone. There were hundreds of men lying dead in gruesome footprints throughout the area. Countless others were left partially trampled and suffering. Sirens in the distance signaled help was on its way but for many nothing could be done.
But as Jim began to make his way back to the car there was something... A single red shoe, like the one Carol was wearing, about a foot from one of the craters. He got closer and looked down�
�CAROL NOOOOOOOOO!!!!�
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It took almost ten minutes to get all of the blood out but Felia�s legs and paws were finally clean. One of the things she loved about this site was the freshwater spring near the path. It always made cleaning up an cinch.
However as she climbed out the spring something caught her eye. At the beginning of the path was one of those little people from the park. It looked like he had something in his hand.
Then little flashes started to come from the little man. That�s when Felia felt the stingers. Those hurt!
Without a second though, Felia lifted her right paw into the air and stomped down hard. She felt the little man pop under her pads. Then she twisted down until all that was left was mush.
�I hate stingers!� Felia exclaimed while she washed the blood off.
On the way to the Martiz�s house Felia started to think about her little retreat. She wasn�t happy about what the little people did to the gusher springs� mud. Then again, stepping on them feels better than the mud ever did. Perhaps she�ll give them another visit one of these days.
This story was inspired by the �Wandering lioness in color� drawing by inuyasha192, used with permission.