Sometimes, people do horrible things to others. Sometimes it's as revenge. Sometimes it's for no reason at all. My reason was two things - jealously and for attention. As a cub, I always felt that no one treated me with the respect I deserved. Now that I look back at my childhood, I can see why they didn't respect me. I was selfish and greedy. I stole food from the other cubs without considering their feelings. As a young cub, I didn't understand why no one liked me, and when a cub, named Kanij, whom they equally disliked joined our pride, it was wonderful. I finally had my very first friend. However, we couldn't always spend time together, because he was betrothed to the princess, Uru. That was one of the many reasons why I disliked Uru as a cub. That's when I became a bully.

One of my favorite ways to irritate her, since I loved food, was to steal her meals. Sometimes I would just snatch it from her, other times I chose to be creative. I remember the one morning, just as the princess was having her breakfast, I entered the cave coughing and then collapsed on the floor. Uru, the kind and thoughtful lioness that she was, quickly noticed.

"Kulisha, are you alright?" she asked as she walked over to me.

"Oh, no, I can't say I am," I said in a most pathetic voice.

"What's the matter? Are you hurt? Sick?" the princess asked, becoming quite worried.

I let out an awful groan and said, "Oh, Uru, it's the disease."

"Disease? What disease?"

"The disease that predators all over the Pride Lands are getting," I replied pathetically. "I must have caught it."

"Oh, Kulisha!" Uru was beginning to panic. "Is there anything I can do?"

"You can say goodbye to everyone for me," I said as slowly closed my eyes. "Because I only have a few minutes left in this world."

"You mean there's nothing that can be done?" Uru asked frantically. "No cure or anything?"

"Well..." I opened my eyes slightly. "There is ONE cure, but..."

"Oh, Kulisha, no matter what it is, I'll get it for you!"

"You see... Gazelle is the cure, but I had zebra for breakfast. The only gazelle caught today was the one you and your family ate..."

Uru looked back at the remains of the gazelle.

"Kulisha, look! There's still a leg left!"

"Oh, Uru, I couldn't possibly eat your breakfast! I'd rather face the consequences of the disease!"

"Kulisha, you are taking it!" Uru pushed the leg in front of me and refused to take it when I offered to give it back.

"Well, if you insist..." I ate a piece, then said, "Hey, I'm feeling better already!"

"Wait, Kulisha..." Uru looked at me suspiciously. "You weren't just faking all that so you could get my breakfast, were you?"

"Gotta go now!" I stood up, holding the leg in my mouth. "Thanks for saving my life, Uru!" And I dashed out the cave before she could reply.

I kept running, just in case she tried to follow me, but soon I stopped as a thought ocurred to me. That trick was mean. I took advantage of Uru's kindness so I could steal her breakfast. I looked back at Pride Rock. I had only taken one bite of the leg. There was still quite a bit left. I considered returning it to Uru, but then I thought of my reputation. What would others think of me, being all sweet and nice to Uru, after all the times I've been so horrible to her? What would Kanij think? One of the main reasons I bullied Uru was to impress him.

As I sat there, trying to decide what to do, I didn't notice that the dry grass near me had caught fire. At last I could smell smoke, and when I turned around and saw the fire, I forgot all about the leg. I dropped it and ran away screaming, but the fire had spread all around me.

"I truly am going to die today!" I cried aloud.

Just then, I heard a distant voice. "Is someone there?" I called out.

And there, emerging from the smoke, was Princess Uru. I had never been so happy to see her.

"Oh, Uru!" I hugged her. "I didn't notice the fire and now I'm trapped and there's no way I can get out from here and the fire is just gonna come closer and we're all gonna die and-"

"Calm down, Kulisha," she said, pushing me away. "I know a way out of here. Follow me."

Together, we crawled under the smoke. I looked around. There was fire all around us. How could we possibly escape? Did Uru really know of a way out? Just as I started to loose hope, we came to some rocks. There was nothing for the fire to burn there.

"We're free!" I cried, charging up the rocks.

"Be careful!" Uru warned as she followed me. "Some of the rocks might be loose-"

Just then, I heard Uru scream, and when I turned around to see what had happened, I saw her tumbling down the rocks, heading straight for a burning tree that had collapsed. I ran down to her, and just before she hit the tree, I grabbed her by the scruff on her neck and pulled her back up.

That night, just as we had both laid down beside our mothers to sleep, I  got up and went over to Uru and said, "Hey, Uru?"

"Yeah?" She opened an eye.

"Sorry about earlier today. With your food."

"It's okay."

"Oh, and Uru? You aren't always so bad, you know?"

"Yeah, you too." She closed her eyes again, and I went back to my mother and fell asleep.

Our friendship didn't last, though. The next day, I went back to irritating Uru, and she went back to scolding me for it. But I don't think either of us ever forgot the time we saved each other's lives.