No. 323

 Lily caught the tiger’s tail and it turned around to bite her.

Upon seeing the small, frightened girl, the tiger relaxed. “Little girl,” it said. “Do you know where you are?”

“No,” said Lily, her lips quivering with sadness. “I’m lost.”

“You’re in the jungle, where few people go. How did you get here?” it asked her.

“I took the road,” she said. “It was very long, and I’m very tired. Do you know of a place to sleep?”

“Only my den,” the tiger told her. “And that’s for me. You’ll have to find your own bed for the night.”

“I understand,” said Lily. “I wish I knew the way home.”

The tiger sat back on its haunches and considered her statement. The tiger’s home was all around him. It did not have one place called home.

“I don’t know if I can help you, but if you climb on my back we could search together,” the cat told the child.

 

The pair walked for days and days. Sometimes Lily rode on the tiger’s broad shoulders, and sometimes she walked beside the stately animal.

It was early in the morning when they reached the edge of the forest.

“I can take you no farther,” said the tiger. “Your home is that way, and I cannot leave mine.”

Lily nodded and hugged the great beast. “Thank you, tiger. Perhaps one day we’ll meet again.”

“Maybe,” answered the tiger. But the tiger knew that it was not to be. Little girls can only meet a tiger once.

“Goodbye, Lily,” said the tiger.