Storytelling: The Prowling Lioness

Leona was tired. It was hot, and she had been working all day at the local Waffle House. It was hard work, but it fell to her, and she would do it without complaining. The little ones had to be fed. Leona poured another cup of coffee, pushing the image of her father lazing about on the couch while her siblings ran circles around him out of her mind. She smiled at the customers, the only way she was allowed to bare her teeth.

When her shift was finally over, she trudged home. It was only two blocks away, but it felt much further when she had been standing for hours upon hours. She could tell, when she stepped through the door, that her mother had gotten home before she had. Her pressed shirt with it's fancy embroidered logo on the chest hung by the door. Her mother had recently gotten a job at a much better restaurant, and she was making great tips, which was great for all of them.

A small gaggle of children rushed by her in the hallway on her way to the kitchen, lovingly tugging on her hands and clothes as they passed. She heard a chorus of "Hi, Leona!" Her mother was in the kitchen when she arrived, starting a pot of rice while beans soaked beside her on the counter.

"Would you like to season the lentils, dear?"

Leona flashed a tired smile at her mother and pulled up a stool.

Her mother had saved for a long time to afford the house they lived in now, with a big kitchen for her to cook in. Leona pulled the spice rack to her and smelled each jar, finally deciding on a heaping dose of sage, as well as some basil and some thyme.

She sat in silence with her head on her mother's shoulder while the food cooked, a good long hour of peace.

When the food was ready, Leona's two sisters had finally arrived home, and the family, all ten of them, gathered at the big table in the backyard that her mother's father had built for them. They all sat over their bowls, chatting softly. Leona laughed as she told her older sisters, "Yeah, that guy I told you about, he proposed to me today."

Leona's father looked up slowly from his spoon, which spilled back into his bowl. "And did you say yes?"

Leona snorted. "But of course not."

Her father shook his head. "Some girls only get one proposal in a lifetime."

Her mother hissed a reprimand at her father, but Leona wasn't paying attention. She didn't expect such a sting from her father. She kept quiet for the rest of the dinner.

***

Five years later, Leona was walking through a flower garden so luscious, she didn't believe it could be real. Her boyfriend, Jack, trailed behind her, and their fingers were intertwined so she could tug him along. Any time she glanced back at him, his beautiful face was lit up with a smile.

When they entered a wisteria grotto, the warmth of Jack's hand disappeared, and when she turned around to find him, he was down on one knee, holding up a large, shining, white sapphire. She knew that's what it was, because they had talked for hours about the evils of diamonds in the dark under a canopy of shooting stars.

"Will you marry me?"

Leona smiled. "But of course."


Author's Note: This story was rooted in "The Jackal Would a-Wooing Go," found in The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by Rouse. In that story, it revolves around a proposal made by a jackal to a lion. There is all sorts of absurdity: The lioness isn't the one hunting; she turns down the proposal because she believes she is better than the jackal; but in the end she is told she may never get another proposal again. In this story, the characters are all humans, but I tried to keep a pride-like hierarchy, with the women working and the one man at home doing nothing, kind of minding the kids. However, even though she is a lower class, hardworking woman, the right man for her comes around, and she chooses him, rather than settling for the first man.

Source: W. H. D. Rouse, The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India

Photo I: Waffle House II by Neal Wellons

Photo II: Wisteria by Patrick Vierthaler