Once in a Lifetime "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful we must carry it with us or we find it not." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oh, how my heart pounded as his warm breath moved the thin veil between us. As the sun set in the distant Serengeti horizon and the midnight blue of the African night arrayed the world in shadows beneath the glittering stars, I heard his roar in the distance, a roar that frightened me as much as it thrilled me.

The weight of his majestic body left marks on the wet soil, soil the skies above had washed down with a rainfall so heavy our improvised campsite had been transformed into an island embraced by a river of mud and fresh rainwater.

Trapped with his herd of mistresses on the little island in the midst of the Serengeti bush, he came to my humble abodes and chose me as his mistress for the night.

Quietly we lay together; I hidden from sight behind the thin veil of a tent and he resting under the clear Tanzanian sky. The great Lion King came to my bed, perhaps drawn to the human scent in its rawest form, or perhaps to comfort me in my time of need. In the days before, news of my beloved cat's sudden death had been brought to my inattentive ears from the icy land in the north, news that cast a gray shadow over the adventures I encountered on daily basis in my four-month long overland trip down the mysterious continent south of my native Europe.

My grieving heart felt his quiet heart beat next to mine and safe by his side I fell asleep, hoping to see his face in the morning hours. But it was not meant to be and what he left behind was but the mark of his weight on the soil next to my tent; his face long gone with his herd of mistresses and cubs.

More than ten years have passed but the memory of our one night stand is as vivid as it was the day night he rested beside me. I often wonder why this grand creature whose reputation of brutality and fierce temper soothed my weeping heart that night.

Where did he come from? Could he feel my sorrow? The answers remain unanswered but in my heart the memory of the Lion King is one of fondness and gratitude.