Ruffie Lion’s Quest [YA] 2,500 (standard:adventure, 7185 words)
Author: Oscar A Rat	Added: Jun 19 2020	Views/Reads: 1438/996	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
In Almost Africa, humans capture his family. Little Ruffie must save them. He is aided by a deer, a rhino, and a raven.

Did you ever try to see something moving alongside your head?  No matter
how quickly you turn, there's nothing. There is a land out there, 
almost seen, where things are the same as in front of you, but only 
almost. 

You think you might be hearing someone talking softly, you're almost
sure. The only one present is your goldfish, and he's ignoring you. You 
can almost make out what that something is saying,  almost. 

In that almost place, there are plants and animals that are almost like
the ones you know, but only almost. 

There are important differences in Almost Land. For one thing, the
animals are much smarter in many ways. They talk among themselves and 
some can even talk to humans.  It's the same thing here, but only 
almost. Do you sometimes get the feeling that your cat is trying to 
talk to you and you can almost understand, well ... almost? 

Maybe you would be a tad smarter if you were in Almost Land? And that
place is almost there, out of the corner of your eye ... almost. 

For example, take the family of Lena and Larry Lion, in Almost
Africa.... 

*** 

"Put down that book and get your butt back to town," Lena growled at her
husband as she peered into the refrigerator. "We're about out'a Joe, so 
you gotta go shopping." 

"Grwww," Larry replied, placing a stray human finger bone in his copy of
"Pleasing your Mate" before closing and laying it down on a coffee 
table.  The king of the jungle slowly rose to all four legs. Reaching 
back to scratch his butt with one paw, he replied, "Darn, but that Joe 
was good, though. Especially the liver.  Pickled liver makes me feel 
nice all over." 

A week before, Joseph M'tomba, the town drunk, had been slow getting
under cover when Larry Lion came to town to shop.  The lion had been 
looking for food to feed his family. Faster in lifting his elbow than 
his feet, poor Joe ended up dining with the lion family. 

At that moment, the last member of the family, a six-month-old cub named
Ruffie, was a little distance away playing "Tarzan" in the bushes.  
Although he tried, he couldn't swing on any of the branches. He tried 
jumping, but they would either break or bend down to the ground. Tarzan 
never had that problem. But, then, Tarzan did have opposable thumbs. 

Hearing a growl from his daddy, Ruffie stopped, panting, to see him
plodding off into the distance. 

Suddenly, there was loud banging, booming, and blammmming, as his daddy
fell down on the ground.  Mama Lena ran out of the house and over to 
Ruffie. 

"Your Daddy's hurt," she told Ruffie. "Now, no matter what happens, you
stay out of the way. Don't you dare leave these bushes. You hear me?" 

Ruffie nodded, watching humans surrounding his father. He was very
frightened, seeing his mama running at the humans, roaring curses as 
she ran. 

She knocked three humans down before they captured her, putting her in a
cage and hauling them both away. 

Although the humans walked around and inside their home, stealing the
television and microwave, Ruffie obeyed his mama and stayed hidden in 
the bushes. He did almost come out to fight when one of the humans 
stole his favorite Oscar Rat novels. 

Ruffie stayed in the bushes when the humans left, then all night,
shivering alone from both fear and loneliness.  Just as he became 
hungry enough to sneak back home, the hyenas came.  His fear returned 
as he heard them laughing and plundering the rest of his family's 
valuables.  He was a big guy for his age, but knew he couldn't fight 


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