Synopsis:
A man gives his children a young wounded animal to nurse back to health. The animal is one they have never seen before. The children are never sure whether to call it a dog or cat. Before they can learn what sort of animal they have been caring for, it is returned to its home. Only years later do the children learn the true nature of their once beloved pet.
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Hello friend, my name is Niilwa. It looks like it’s my turn to tell you a story. This story is about my daddy’s dearly loved childhood pet…Want to hear it? Here it goes.
Daddy told me that when he was about six years old, their house in the village of Tsandi was always full of pets. They had everything from dogs, cats, parrots to pigs and miniature horses. He said that their house looked like a zoo. That’s probably because they owned an animal hospital.
Grandpa was a vet-e-ri-na-rian, that’s somebody that helps sick animals to get better again. Sometimes, Grandpa would bring little animals’ home from the animal hospital to take extra care of them until they could return to their owners.
One day, he brought home a wounded baby animal for daddy and his sister to take care of. This one unlike the others, stayed much longer. Daddy named it Hambie.
He said that it was the oddest-looking creature he had ever seen. Hambie looked somewhat like a dog with his sharp teeth and strong claws. Sometimes he looked like a cat with his pointy ears and whiskers. One time Daddy’s sister, Aunt Vilma’s friends came over to the house to see Hambie. They asked her what type of animal Hambie was. Aunt Vilma told them that Hambie is simply a dog-cat.
Aunt Vilma’s friend’s burst into laughter, because they had never had of such an animal.
Amongst Hambie’s favourite things to do was playing with Grannie’s balls of knitting yarn whenever Grannie wasn’t in there house. He loved kicking the yarn about and unwinding it. Granny would scold him when he did that.
He also enjoyed splashing around in the duck pond. Daddy said that the ducks didn’t like it much when he would do that.
Daddy loved taking walks with Hambie in the village, to show him off to the other kids. But the strangest things would happen whenever he did so. Dogs would moan softly or fiercely bark whenever Hambie passed by and parents would rush their kids in the house whenever they saw Daddy and Hambie approaching.
What’s worse, daddy said that his buddies stopped visiting him at home because of Hambie. None of them showed up for Daddy’s 7th birthday party. That made Daddy very sad.
“Their moms and dads just wouldn’t let them come to our house,” Daddy explained.
Daddy would often ask Grandpa why Hambie got such bad reactions, but all grandpa would say was, “Hambie is different from the other pets, Boyboy. He’s one special little creature. Your friends might not understand that now but they will one day. Trust me they will.”
When Hambie got a little older and better, Grandpa, much to Daddy and Aunt Vilma’s disapproval, decided to return him to his home. Grandpa said that it wasn’t safe for Hambie to live with them anymore.
Daddy and Aunt Vilma watched on tearfully as Hambie was loaded up into a cage at the back of a car by men in green clothes.
“The men in the green clothes then drove off with my Hambie,” Daddy said.
Daddy never understood why Hambie could not stay with them until many years later, when Grandpa took him and Aunt Vilma for a safari drive.
They wound through the wildlife park until they came a large herd of zebras grazing in the savannah. Behind the zebras the branches of an acacia tree full of birds could be seen. Grandpa pointed in the direction of the herd of zebras, “There’s your friend,” he said. Daddy suddenly became confused. He was certain that Hambie couldn’t have been a zebra. He couldn’t remember Hambie having any black stripes.
“Hambie is a Zeb—” before daddy could finish his sentence, a loud and mighty roar came from behind the zebras.
“ROOAAAR!”
The roar seemed to cause the earth to vibrate. Daddy said their car shook for a little while. The roar sent the zebras fleeing. The birds in the acacia tree all took flight, not one was left. When none of the animals were left, a lone figure rose up from underneath the acacia tree. The lone figure let out another roar, mightier than the one before.
“ROOOAAAAAR!”
It was then that Daddy came to recognise his dear old pet.
“So that’s why he couldn’t stay?!” Daddy is said to have exclaimed, “Hambie is a lion!”
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Nande Thomas Sakaria Kamati is a 30-year-old Electrical Engineer from Grootfontein, Namibia, currently residing in Windhoek. While his professional background lies in engineering, Nande’s true passion lies in writing captivating children’s fantasy stories set in Alkebulan, Africa as it once was. Drawing inspiration from his bantu, khoekhoe and Christian heritage, he seeks to transport young readers to enchanting realms filled with adventure. In his spare time, Nande enjoys indulging in period dramas and exploring the depths of literature.
Read – A Tale of Beakton the Clever – A Children’s Literature by Genowere Fortunate, Uganda
