How Timon and Pumbaa Met Chapter One As the sun awakened in a blazing red sky, a lone scorpion took its daily stroll in the sand, and as he stopped at the sight of a dead jackal, which he had killed the day before, he thought of himself as the Great Predator, who eats and is not eaten, the all powerfu--WHACK! -Life’s not fair, is it? You see, I’m the next guard. And you...you’re my breakfast! *crunch* -Hey, Timon!-said a voice from the underground.-No time for eating now. It’s your turn! Didn’t you already know? -Unfortunately, I did,-muttered Timon, as he looked down to the entrance of the burrow.What he least liked of life was standing guard. For him, it was the most boring thing in the world. -Why me, anyway? I’m tired and hungry,-he said, as he munched the scorpion’s head.-Right now I’m more likely to sleep. -Aw, c’mon! Just stand there and watch for danger!!-demanded the voice. Timon yawned, sighed, and stood up, still with he scorpion’s tail dangling from his mouth. He stretched, opened his eyes wide, and stared into the horizon. Meanwhile, in the burrow, 2 female meerkats discussed Timon. -He’s so... -Yeah, so... -So irresponsible! -So handsome! -How can you say that?-they both asked each other, at the same time. -Well, his eyes, his stripes, his taaaaaiiiil...sigh! And he’s so smart!! -Mwithu! Even a hyena could be smarter than him! -That’s not true, Jandka!!! -Besides, he hates to work. I’ll bet he’s sleeping on the job right now. -Oh, really? Well , I’ll bet he’s NOT!! -Well, why don’t you go see? -As a matter of fact, I will! And so, with the speed only meerkats possess, the sleek female meerkat hurried over to the burrow’s entrance and listened. Nothing. She was afraid Timon was sleeping, so she silently peeked out of the burrow. There he was. His back shining like copper against the sun, in an upright, stiff position, using both tail and feet as a tripod. Mwithu scurried over to where Jandka was and said, “See? I told you he was working!” _________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 Night fell, covering the Kalahari Desert with its black cape and cold breath. As the stars-great kings of the past-began to appear, a meerkat stretched himself, shook, and tried not to close his eyes. He sat down and relaxed his body, which had been stiff all day. As he listened to the night’s orchestra, wondering what the stars were, he watched their various-colored shines: 15 white, 10 cyan, 9 orange, a pair of greenish yellow ones-- “Greenish-yellow?!?” , he thought, startled. He froze ,as the “stars” got closer. He heard a low growl and saw a white glow under the greenish-yellow ones. Timon reacted quickly and merely escaped the jackal’s attack, zooming into the den and giving the alarm.Tha jackal, too hungry to give up so soon, dug in the entrange to make it big enough for , at least, her head. As soon as her head got in, she attempted to grab the nearest meerkat. Suddenly, she felt a great pain in her ears, and cheeks, and blood was drawn. Five adult meerkats were biting and scratching her fiercely. Timon ran straight to the jackal’s neck and closed his jaws on a small part of it. The jackal turned her head quickly and grabbed Timon by his back, shaking him, making him bleed. Mwithu saw this, and she attempted to save Timon. Being a female meerkat, she was more fragile, and Timon knew this. -Mw-w-i-th-u-u!! Sta-a-an-d b-a-a-ck--agh!! -Timon!!-she screamed. She felt the anger rising up to her throat, and attacked the jackal with all her might. She left the jackal’s ear all bitten, and her face was almost completely red with blood, but the jackal wasn’t stupid. She got her head out of the hole, shook Timon harder, and opened her jaws, sending Timon flying far away. She quickly got her head inside again and found Mwithu, got her out by the tail, fastened her to the ground with her paws, and with one bite and a shocking crack, broke Mwithu’s back, and left ,with her dead body, to her den, never to return. Meanwhile, as he was still in the air, Timon felt the wind through his wounds, and that was the last thing he sensed before his head whammed against a rock, and everything went black. ************************************************************************* Still with his back hairs on end, an adult meerkat told everyone else that the jackal had gone. -...but not without taking 2 great souls: Timon’s and Mwithu’s. Even though Timon was a little irresponsible, we all know he was a very, very good friend. And Mwithu, we shall remember her for her nobleness and beauty. Let us mourn for their death. And so, they remained silent, sadly mourning, quietly crying. _________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 Slowly, Timon’s eyelids slid upwards,but as soon as his pupils were revealed, he closed his eyes quickly, blinded by the sun’s bright light and at the same time attempting to keep away the water that came into his eyes. He knew it wasn’t rain, so he soon realized he had been unconcious and someone was trying to revive him with water. He opened his eyes once again, this time looking for the one who had helped him. There was noone in sight, so he next ried to recognize the scenery. He had fallen in front of a rock, that was for sure, but there were no rocks around. He was in a little spot where there was no grass, in front of a puddle with clear water, which still had some ripples. -Where...am I?-asked Timon weakly, to nobody in particular, not expecting an answer. -Do you want to know exactly where, or just where? “!,”thought Timon, who was too surprised and confused to think anything else, at that momet. When he recovered from te surprise, which was soon, he asked all the questions that came to his mind. -Who are you? What are you? Where are you? What am I doing here? And...what’s that smell? As he talked, a putrid odor filled the air. -Oh...sorry. Anyways, I’m Pumbaa. -I see that. But not you. -But not me what? -I_don’t_see_you!! Come on out!! -Sure you want to see me? Reeeaaally sure? -Sure I’m sure! C’mon! -Uh... OK. The souce of the voice timidly took a few steps forward from where he was hiding, behind a dry bush, towards the very confused meerkat. -Umm....hi? -AAAGH!! a-a-a wart hoggg! -I-- -You-you-you...saved me,- said Timon nervously,-thank you! you saved me, thank you. -Oh, it’s all right! -Pumbaa said, as he slowly approached Timon. The closer Pumbaa was, the more frantic Timon got. In his community, it was illegal to talk to warthogs, espacially outlaw warthogs, and Pumbaa certainly smelled--I mean, stunk like one. Why was it illegal? Here’s a short explanation: a very long time ago, a warhog with some kind of virus (maybe rabies) had destroyed a whole meerkat community and a half, of which only 3 or 4 meerkats survived. From then on, warthogs and meerkats were prohibited to even see each other. So then Timon, being a meerkat, wasn’t very sure of establishing a frienship with Pumbaa. He saw Timon’s unsureness and stopped walking towards him. Right beside Pumbaa there was a big, juicy beetle moving slowly. He hit the beetle with a hoof, leaving it unable to do anything. He offered it to Timon, but received in turn a face with a “Gross!Ew!Yuck!” look. -Don’t you like beetles? Are you kidding? I eat scorpions, lizards and very small mammals. -B-- -Oh, well,I guess it’s the only thingthere is here,right? -W-- -All right, then. I’ll taste it. Eeee. It’s all...slimy. -It’s slimy, yet satisfying! -Mmmh! Et shr es! Hmm-mm! Nat huff bud! *munch* -See? You liked it, didn’t you? -Yeuh!(crack, gulp)Aah. That was really good! Now let me just stand up and I’llOW!! -Hmm, seems like you were in a fight or something. You had blood everywhere when I found you. -Yeah, a jackal attacked me. Saaay, could you take me? To where you found me? On your back? -Allll right!! Pumbaa leaned forward and picked up Timon with his tusks, and Timon crawled painfully to the back of his head and held on to his ears. They walked and walked until they came to the rock where Timon had crashed. -Aha! Here we are! See that sand mound over there with a meerkat guarding? That’s Home!! Come on, Pumbaa, move it! -Uh, just 2 questions before we leave. -2 questions. -What’s your name? -Oh, yeah, my name, sorry. My _beautiful_ name is Timon. -Beautiful indeed! -Thanks. Next question? -Are you sure *I* should take you? -Oh, Pumbaa, please! Once they see how good-natured you are, maybe you’ll even get to live with us! -Really? -Yeah! -Let’s go then! Meanwhile, the guarding meerkat, who was half asleep, opened his eyes really wide when he saw... Timon!! Riding on a warthog!!! He ran down the entrance as fast as he could, interrupting a conference. As soon as he explained what he had seen, they were all shocked. Of course, all with different feelings. -Hey everybody!! I’m back!!!-shouted Timon, suddenly. -Timon!-said everyone in unison- -I’d like to introduce you to my new friend, P-- -Friend?!-asked an adult, closing in on Timon.-That wartog there, is your friend?!! -Yeah, well, but you don’t understand! He-- -I understand perfectly, Timon,it means you have broken the law!!! -But he’s not like the others! I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him! -Even if he saved the universe, he’s still a warthog and you should have nothing to do with him! Timon... I_am_sorry, but it’s the law. -You mean...? -G’bye, Timon,-said a young kit. Timon opened his mouth to say something, but he knew it was no use. He just turned back and slowly climbed up to the exit. He stopped once, and looked back to his dear community, sighed and went on climbing. Once outside, he sat down and lookd at the sand, the golden sand with which he had grown up. The sand in which he had fallen more than once as a kit. He took a few in his fingers, and watched it fall back. He felt the sun, the hot sun warming his wounds, the sun who had always been with him. He looked up at the clear blue sky, and realized he had nowhere to go. He looked at Pumbaa with sad, sorrowful eyes. -What happened?- asked Pumbaa. -I’ve been exiled,-answered Timon, absently,-exiled... _________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 -To the what?! -The jungle, Timon! The jungle!! - But it’s dangerous! -Not where we’re going! There’s a part where there’s no carnivores what-so-ever! Timon doubted and thinked for a moment, then asked: -You sure it’s safe? -Perfectly!-Replied Pumbaa. -Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!! Some time later, they came to a small waterhole in the borders of the jungle. They drank like camels, for they had walked for many miles (yes, *both* of them). They soon found a cozy spot to sleep, under a wide, gray tree, and slept soundly. The next day, Timon found a big rock and asked Pumbaa to help him lift it. Underneath were piles of slimy and crunchy invertebrate cuisine. Timon still wasn’t very sure about eating bugs, what left Pumbaa with most of them. -See?-asked Pumbaa to his friend.-There aren’t any problems here!*crunch* -You’re right, Pumbaa.*slurp* In Swahili, that would be translated into...”Hakuna Matata”...Hey, sounds great! -What are you thinking, Timon? -I’m thinking, Pumbaa, that every team needs a motto, and that could be ours! -Good idea! Oh, you always have good ideas, Timon! You’re soooo smart!! -Thanks, Pumbaa. They wnt on peacefully eating, until Pumbaa sniffed the air. -Hey Timon....sniff...smell what I smell? -*sniff* Yyyyess, Pumbaa... I_told_you not to eat so much. -Not that! The +carcass+! -Pumbaa, Pumbaa, Pumbaa.You surprise me. What oh, just tell me what, is sooo great about a *carcass*? I certainly don’t see anything great about it. -But Timoooooaan! Predators kill things, and eat all they can, but they can’t eat it all, so they just leave them there and guess what comes for the leftovers, guess what guess what!-asked Pumbaa, jumping up and down excitedly. -Um...hyenas,-replied Timon with an obvious expression of boredom on his face. -Not_just_that, Timon! MAGGOTS!! -Maggots!? Ha! And what do you expect us to do with all those squirmy wormies? -Well, they’re worms, we can eat them! -EAT THEM!? That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever--Wait...what if we eat them? I’ve heard they’re even tastier than beetles! Let’s go, Pumbaa! -Will we eat hem? -Of course! Now, follow that smell! -YAAAAAAAA! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a maggoty feast, both friends returned to the big gray tree and took a nap, burping every now and then. From that day on, they became the best of friends, and Timon became an expert on bug-eating (and Pumbaa helped at this). Everything was just the same routine (with some minor daily changes) until that one day... _______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 -...get it? -Got it, Timon! -Sshhh! You’ll scare them away before we get a chance to do anything! -Oh, okay,-whispered Pumbaa in a very low voice. They were silently hiding close to the ground, between a tree and a bush, and watched the furry, brownish-gold body laying motionless on the ground. -Get ready, get set...GO!!! -YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!-they shouted, as they kicked, hit and smacked the vultures away from their “food”. -I love it! “Bowling for Buzzards”!-commented Pumbaa. -Ha ha! Gets ‘em every time! Ha ha ha ha!! As Pumbaa got closer to the body, he saw he didn’t have the signs of being “totally dead”, so he warned Timon. -Hey, Timon! You better come look! I think it’s still alive... And then, Back to the movie! THE END