The Meaning Of Life As Told By Anton Myrrh The Lion

The first short story written by Wes Selby. 12/16/16.

In a cool den with the morning blue light turning to orange, claw clacks echo off the stone walls as Silas the young and curious cub bounds up to his parents. They lay with their faces flattened on the cold stone, and the father, Anton, with his mane bent and his pinkish-gray skin folded underneath. Silas inhales a large gasp of air, puffs out his chest, and gives his best roar. His parents still snore in heavy sleep. Silas cocks his head, disappointed, but perks up and nuzzles his forehead behind his father's ear.

"Dad!" Silas says smiling. Anton's head rocks as Silas pushes against it. Silas calls his name with each push against his shoulder. "Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad."

Anton's large and thick eyelids rise as if lifted by something other than his power, and his eyes turn with his head to see his young child smiling innocently down at him. Anton smiles and grins a warm and resounding chuckle, deep.

"Let's go, Dad! I want to catch an antelope."

"Do you know if there are antelope awake now, son?"

"Yes! I saw a baby one wandering alone."

"Then we better move," Anton says cheerfully. Silas gallops out of the den as Anton rolls over and stands up. His stance is tall and powerful.

Among the grass Silas bounces just over the tips of the blades and Anton bends them into the earth with his massive paws.

Silas looks up at the cloudless sky. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Why is the sky blue?"

"Because blue looks best against the green trees." Silas raises an eyebrow and Anton smiles wide.

"No, really, Dad. Why is the sky blue?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

Anton continues to tower over Silas, guarding him as Silas waltzes between his father's large forepaws. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I wanna know," Silas begs. "I wanna know why the sky is blue, and the trees are green, and my fur is yellow."

"Because that's how they were made, Silas." Silas looks up over his shoulder at Anton's jaw. Anton looks down at his son and explains. "Some things are made a certain way and that's how they are."

Silas squints his eyes and smirks. "You don't really know why the sky is blue, do you?"

Anton bows and shakes his head. "No, I do not."

Silas laughs, "Ha!" and Anton chuckles. "I heard that the sky is blue because that's the color of water, and when it rains the water is leaving and so is the color. That's why the sky turns gray."

"That's very clever," Anton acknowledges, "but, Silas, why is the water blue?" Silas falls back behind his father, not listening and focused on his father's massive paw prints. He puts his paws in each print, following his father.

"Dad?"

"Yes, my son."

"How come my roar isn't as loud as yours?"

"Your roar is very loud."

"Nu-uh. I tried roaring this morning and I couldn't even wake you up."

"Your roar is as loud as it needs to be, Silas. You are very big, do you know that?"

Silas slumps his head. "But I'm nowhere near as big as you." Anton stops and turns around to see little Silas. He lays down on his stomach and says in a low voice, "When I was your age, I was no where near as big as you."

Silas replicates the soft tone. "Really?"

"Really. And when you're as old as me, you'll be much, much bigger."

"I will?" Silas says gleefully.

"Don't let anyone tell you any differently."

Silas smiles with all his might. "Hey, dad?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Why are we whispering?"

"Because there's an antelope." Silas gasps in excitement. They both raise their heads so their eyes peer above the blades of grass. Thirty feet in front of them is a small antelope gnawing at the grass. Silas lowers his brow and smiles with determination.

"How do I get him," he asks cunningly.

"I will help you," Anton mumbles from the side of his mouth then disappears suddenly into the grass. Silas looks around left and right.

"Dad! But Dad!" Silas shouts at a whisper. "I don't know what to do! Dad!"

"Go, my son," Anton's voice echoes like wind. Silas swallows and arches his shoulder blades. They move like gears as he stalks to the side of the antelope. His small paws make a great deal of noise for their size.

"Quieter," Anton's voice aides him. Silas catches himself before lowering his next paw down. He lets gravity weigh it down until it barely touches the dirt. Not a sound was made. Silas gently creeps up to the antelope; he can see it's legs through the grass. He leans back with his muscles flexed.

"Ok, Dad, what do I do?" Silas waits for Anton. "Dad?" Silas raises his head slightly looking through the grass. "Dad, what do I do?" The antelope crushes a twig right by Silas's paw and startles him. Silas gasps and looks up at the antelope, who seems to tower over him. The antelope looks at Silas and leaps high into the air.

"Hey!" Silas shouts as he finds his footing and sprints after it. "Dad! Help!" The antelope bounds across the plain and soon fades into the horizon. Silas slows to a jog and stops with a pouting face. Anton comes to his side.

"Why didn't you pounce?"

"I was waiting for you to tell me what to do."

"You knew what to do."

"Yeah, but... but I didn't know how."

"Silas, just because you don't know how to do something doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. You knew you needed to pounce, right?"

"Yes."

"Then pounce, my son." Silas keeps his face sunk. Anton takes his left paw and raises his son's head up to his. Silas sees his father wide and broad face smiling warmly down at him. He can't help but smile back.

Anton walks with great fluidity through the plain towards the den as Silas trots behind looking at everything.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Why is our last name Myrrh?"

"That was the last name of my father and his father."

"But, do we get to change it? Could I be, like, Silas Sky?"

"Do you not like our last name?"

"No... I just wanna know how we got that name." Silas pauses. "What does Myrrh mean?"

Anton, pointing his chin ahead with pride, answers his son. "Myrrh is a type of tree."

"Our family is a tree?" Silas giggles.

"Myrrh is a very thorny tree. It can hurt it you touch a thorn. The word myrrh means 'bitter'."

Silas squints his eyebrows. "Our name means 'bitter'?"

"Yes it does."

"That doesn't sound very good."

"Myrrh is very good."

"But you said it's thorny and means bitter."

"Myrrh can be turned into medicine. It is a healer."

"Really? How does it heal people?"

"When you cut the bark of the myrrh it bleeds something called resin. And resin is used for all different kinds of things."

"You have to make the myrrh bleed so it can make medicine?"

"Yes. And that is what we are, my son. The same as your mother, we fight and bleed for others so they may be healed."

"Does it hurt when you bleed?"

"You've had scrapes before, haven't you?"

"Yeah."

"Did those hurt?"

"They really hurt." Silas trots up beside Anton. "Do the people that we heal know that we bleed?"

"Some of them do, Silas. Some of them don't."

"Well what about the people that don't know? Are they still healed?"

"The medicine made from myrrh is for everyone. That is why we are healers."

"But I don't wanna get hurt if they aren't going to be nice."

"That is part of being a Myrrh, my son. The Myrrhs are honorable and brave. And they do good things for others whether they are praised for it or not."

"What if they don't like us? Do we still do good things for them?"

"Yes. And that is the hardest part of being a Myrrh. We must do good for others, and we should not put stones in their paths towards help."

Silas ponders with his mouth pushed to the side. He looks up at his father curiously. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yes, my son?"

"What if they are really, really mean and try to hurt others, not just us?"

Anton looks at his boy and gives a big grin. He comes close to him. "Then we use our thorns." Silas smiles knowingly.

Silas plays with pebbles on a flat stone on a larger rock where Anton watches over the plain. Lioness move in packs heading to the trees for food for everyone.

"When will Mom be back?" Silas asks, still kicking the pebbles.

"When they have food for us."

"Will that be in like five minutes?"

"No. Longer."

"Ten minutes?"

"Longer."

"Fifteen minutes?"

"It can takes hours."

"Hours!" Silas says shocked. "I'm hungry now."

"That is why your mother is leading them to bring you food right this very minute."

"But it'll take longer than it minute. And hour is as long as a whole day."

Anton gets up and approaches Silas. "No it's not. It will go by much quicker than you think."

"Well I think it should go by right now."

Anton laughs. "If only that's how it worked."

Silas walks away from the pebbles and sits at the edge of the rock where his father was. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yes, my son?" Anton says joining him. They look into the horizon.

"How come you know everything?"

"I don't."

"Yes you do. You know all the questions."

"I will never know all the questions."

"But every time I ask you something you know the answer."

"That's because I am older, which means I have learned all of those answers."

"Are there questions I have asked that you don't know?"

"Certainly."

"Like what?"

"You asked me about why the sky was blue."

Silas pauses. "You know why it's blue, don't you?"

Anton looks over at his son. "Yes. I do."

"What is it?"

"It has to do with light."

"Light?"

"Different colors can go farther than others. The color blue can travel way up into the sky while the other cannot."

"But what about the sunset?"

"The sun is making the other colors go different distances at that time."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It will make more sense when you're older," Anton says smiling.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Will you ever know everything?"

"No. I won't ever know everything."

"Why not?"

"There is too much for me to know in a lifetime."

"Well what are we supposed to figure out?"

Anton raises his head curiously. "What do you mean?"

"If we can't figure everything out, what are we supposed to figure out?"

Anton lifts his head to the sky letting the light shine off his golden snout. "We are supposed to learn about the creation of everything."

"The creation?"

"Everything you see here -- the trees, the grass, the rocks, the other animals -- all were created."

"By who?"

"That is what we are supposed to learn. The creator made everything and he knows all the answers. Everything in life is used to help us learn about the creator."

"Will we ever know who the creator is?"

"Yes, we will, Silas. There is proof and evidence all around to help us."

"Are we ever going to know everything about him?"

"Probably not."

"Why not?"

"You see, my son, that is what life is all about."

Silas crouches in tall grass. An antelope stands gnawing on the blades in front of him.

"Go, my son," Anton's voice echoes in the wind. Silas taps silently against the dirt, stalking right up to the antelope. He leans back and flexes his muscles. He springs forward and pounces the antelope. The antelope hobbles with Silas gripping to its back left leg with his teeth. The antelope shakes its leg; Silas tries holding on.

"Let go!" Anton's voice shouts.

"Huh?" Silas questions with the leg in his mouth.

"Let go, Silas!" Silas lets go, and soaring above him is his father, with his forepaws extended out. Anton crushes the antelope mid-gallop and clamps down on its neck. Silas smiles in wonder and amazement. Anton drops the limp antelope and starts to laugh tremendously as Silas skips over in celebration, shouting, "I did it! I did it!"