Allison--A Christmas Story
Survival--Story of a Mountain Lioness
The lioness sniffed the crisp fall air, looking around at the forest. She scented deer, but she and her two cubs, a male and a female, had just eaten, so she stayed put. She looked at the cubs sleeping contentedly at her side. She lowered her head and licked their ears gently. The female cub half-opened a brilliant blue eye and batted her on the nose.
The lioness half-turned at the sound of her sister's footsteps. Her sister, Snowflake, sat down. Since Sky Eyes' cubs, Birch Bark and Silver, were asleep, Snowflake's three cubs played among themselves.
The lionesses sat together, watching their cubs and smelling all the familiar smells. A tawny colored cave lion with brown eyes, Brownie, came out of the forest and nuzzled Sky Eyes affectionately. He was not her mate, but he took care of her, since her mate had slipped and fallen from the mountain cave that the sisters lived in.
Meanwhile, the other four lionesses and their cubs were heading from their different places in the forest towards the valley where Snowflake, Sky Eyes, Brownie, and their cubs were in. The group met there every day to be together. There was Cub Eyes, a lioness who was a cub of last year, whose green eyes always seemed to be sparkling with wonder. Tigress had blue eyes and tawny fur with white streaks in it, and she had two cubs just like her. Rainy Day was the oldest lioness in the group. She had dull white fur that always looked as if it were wet and blue eyes that were almost grey. Swimmer was the only lioness who could swim. She was Sky Eye's and Snowflake's mother, and looked just like them.
As the group assembled in the valley, it began to pour freezing rain. The whole group dashed to get under an overhang near the mountain. It rained for five days, and sometimes it snowed with the rain.
When the group awoke to see a sunny day, they each decided to go out and enjoy the weather. Sky Eyes decided to try to teach her cubs to hunt. She was so busy with her cubs that she didn't notice the rising winds of a blizzard until the snow started blowing around them.
Sky Eyes picked Birch Bark up and set him under a nearby bush where she thought he would be safe. She then walked off with Silver in her mouth to go find shelter. She searched for a long time, and finally found a couple of trees that were down, forming a small den. Relieved, she set her cub down in the tiny space and headed back for her other cub.
Meanwhile, Birch Bark whined, shivering with the cold as snow gathered around his tiny legs. He was crouched down tightly, trying to keep himself as warm as possible. Finally, he drifted off into a deep sleep.
When the lioness got back to the bush, she nudged her cub's lifeless body. When he didn't move, she nudged him harder. She finally plodded back to the den, roaring in her grief. Back at the den, she clutched her remaining cub close to her. They listened to the howling winds until they fell asleep.
The next morning when Sky Eyes woke up, she found that she and her cub were packed in by the snow. Panicky, she slashed out with all four legs and finally burst through the snow with Silver in her mouth.
Determined not to lose her last cub, she took her cub with her to watch her hunt. She crawled up a snowbank that was along a well-used path and waited. Finally a big buck passed near "her" snowbank. She lunged at him, killing him with one bite. Noticing the winds were coming up again, she hurried back to the den, with Silver worrying the buck with her little teeth all the way home. It would keep her and her cub full for the next few days.
* * * * * * *
Back at the cave, Snowflake looked out at the swirling snow, wondering about her twin sister. Eventually, she went and curled up with the rest of the group, who had come to seek shelter when the winds came up yesterday. She noticed that Brownie kept one eye on the valley below, too.
When Sky Eyes and Silver woke up the next morning, they heard the winds shrieking. Sky Eyes dug around in the snow that surrounded their den, but she couldn't find the food. She shoved her way up to the top of the mountain of snow that covered their den, and started to dig, but then she saw the wolf tracks. She snarled in frustration. Their food was gone.
She looked down at her cub. She was torn between her fear of losing her only cub, and their need for food. Finally, she bent down and nuzzled Silver, pushed the snow over her to keep her warm, and went to hunt.
For awhile, she couldn't get anything. Then she spotted a doe inching its way toward her. The chase was on. They zigzagged around trees and plowed through snowbanks until they came to a lake. The doe's front hooves plunged through a soft spot in the ice, and the doe went underwater. Sky Eyes grabbed onto the doe's neck with her teeth and held her there to drown her, but in the struggle, one of her paws went into the water. When the deer stopped struggling, she dragged it home.
Silver dug right in, and Sky Eyes licked her right front paw to try to thaw it out. If she lost a paw, she could not hunt, and what would she do then? She sighed and settled down to eat, but she tried to save most of it just in case she lost her paw.
The next day, at the cave, Brownie was growing more worried with each hour. All he could do was sit, pace, and sleep a little. But mostly he just wondered where she was. When he saw it was starting to bother the others, he decided to leave to look for her. He went and nuzzled each lioness and cub in turn. Then he headed out into the blizzard.
It didn't take long to find her, though the blizzard was fierce. She was up trying to walk on her foot, wincing and snarling with each attempted step. Two of her toes had fallen off due to the icy lake, and they were still bleeding.
He stayed with Sky Eyes and her cub through the three days that were left of the blizzard. He even hunted for her so she could lay around and let her paw heal. When her paw had fully healed and she could walk on it, he led her back to the cave. There they found a happy greeting waiting for them.
The next spring found Sky Eyes with three new cubs. Brown Eyes looked just like his father. Butterfly Chaser had light tawny fur and her father's brown eyes. Dawn had her mother's blue eyes and very light tawny fur that looked almost golden in the sun. And of course young Silver was there. She knew she would never forget that blizzard.
The End
Allison was an angel with only one wing. Her mother, Andrea, had been told that Allison was to go with her and the other angels for a job. Allison could hardly wait. She had never been on Earth before, since she was very young. What will the job be? she wondered. What is everyone so excited about? She sat, daydreaming about what the job would be and what Earth would be like.
After awhile, her mother came and took her by the hand. "It's time to go, honey," she said.
As they flew down through the clouds toward Earth, Allison asked, "Mom, how many angels are going with us?"
"A lot," she replied.
The angels finally stopped and hovered near a group of sheperds and their sheep. One of them went out in front and appeared to the sheperds, who leaped to their feet. He talked to the sheperds, but since Allison was in the back of the group with her mother, she couldn't hear.
"What's he saying?"Allison asked.
"He's telling them where Jesus the King is born," her mother replied.
The angels burst forth into song: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors." Then they all started to leave.
"Do we have to go? I wanted to see Him,"Allison said.
"May we see Him, Lord?"her mother prayed.
After a while, her mother said, "He said yes."
They traveled to Bethlehem and went into a stable, which had a bright star above it. Thunderstruck, Allison thought, What's the King doing in a stable? What's God doing as a baby?
There was a tired young woman on a bed of straw, with a manger beside her, filled with straw. The Child was wrapped in strips of cloth. When He saw Allison and her mother, He waved His hands and gurgled happily.
"I think that means ‘come here'," Allison's mother said, just as awed. So they did. They knelt by the manger and prayed. Allison was startled out of her prayers by a Hand on her wing. She looked at Him and smiled. His eyes were beautiful. He gave her a toothless smile back and let go of her wing.
"Allison, we're supposed to go now,"her mother said. They grabbed hands and flew. As they slowly rose toward Heaven, they saw the sheperds, hurrying to meet the Child.
The End
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Copyright May 16, 2000 by Beth Tuthill 
Last Revised November 21, 2000
