The singing came to an abrupt stop when my father approached the podium, silencing the
crowd, with only the bristling wind sending desert sand and dusk flying in its path. “For years we
have been used, discriminated and tortured by these evil humans.” uttered my father.
“We go in peace yet they go in violence. Wandering comrades are captured, skinned alive for
their fur or for their insides, or even just for the sake of fun, worse of all, being put in a zoo for
the rest of their lives. Humans pay no respect to their fellow animals or environment and only
care for their own greed and voraciousness.” continued my father.
“Look upon the scars of fury and dishonour,” said my father, turning his side to the crowd,
showing a red scar that had been there since I had known him. “This scar was caused by a human
machete 10 years ago when some hunters chased my parents and I down, killed them with a stab
on the stomach in my horror,” spoke my father with a tinge of sadness in his voice. “I passed out
when I got a blow from the left which allowed me to escape once I resumed consciousness as I was
assumed dead.”
“We stand no more,” continued my father, this time with a firmer tone. “We have had enough
of this. They want our fur, they want our insides, and they want everything from us. We must
fight back, and here we are today.” said my father, pausing at the end. “This shall be a day that
every leopard shall remember; this shall be the day that we liberate ourselves to freedom, dignity
and reclaim what’s ours,” uttered my father proudly.
“The time is six in the morning now, comrades. In thirty minutes, our chief engineer
Breadtam, shall lead his team on a mission to accomplish what we have long waited for. As some
of you may know, we have acquired a weapon of mass destruction from the middle of the desert
by luck which must be a blessing from our lord Tigger,” started my father, carefully lifting out a
silver object with two bells on top of it which to me looked like an alarm clock.
Puzzled with what I was seeing, I trotted out of my tent and spoke to my father in front of the
crowd. “But…Dad, that’s an alarm clock!” stammered I.
There were quite a few approving nods from the audience before my Dad started defending
himself. “Look here Habib, didn’t you forget? It looks metallic, it round and has wires connecting
the two bells. This is a bomb without doubt! Look, it even ticks and allows me to choose the
perfect time for me to detonate it, it must be an advanced model.” continued my father as he
fiddled with the gears behind the alarm clock, turning the hands from six to six thirty.”
“Enough of this rubbish, we must start our day.” said my father, deciding that the drama was
enough. “Let us see off BreadTam and his team and we shall have to see them again on the right
hand side of Tigger the lord, which would not be long for us old chaps,” chuckled my father.
“Habib, join Uncle Breadtam and come back before he and his team detonate our weapon,” said
my father suddenly, remembering the opportunity I was offered the night before.
I nodded my father goodbye as I trudged towards my uncle, who was still packing his
equipment. The morning wind blew against my face, sending shivers down my spine but I
continued trotting, kicking up sand as I walked.
“Surround them!” came a high pitched voice from outside the complex. Startled, the crowd
turned their backs towards the origin of the voice only to find at least fifty armed men charging
towards us.
“Let’s see how Liang’s henchmen get themselves into our almighty trap system this time,”
chuckled my father, apparently enjoying the drama.
To everyone’s surprise, instead of charging to their deaths towards the traps, one of the
