Ever since she was little, Anna loved playing in the woods. It never occurred to her that she was her own best friend, she was only six, why would it matter?
But the moment she found that lion sleeping in the midst of the trees, she instantly fell in love. She fell in love with its beautiful, mesmerising, long mane. She fell in love with its warm, gorgeous, brown eyes. She fell in love with its almost invisible smile, as if she was the only one in the world that could see it.
She crept up to it and slowly stroked his fur. It opened its eyes and gazed up at her. It didn’t move. It didn’t pounce upon her as a wild animal would, it just sat, watching as if it were mesmerised by her as she was by it.
“Hi,” she whispered and the lion just buried its head in her lap. It was a large lion but when she looked at it, it looked young. “I’m Annalise.”
“I’m going to call you Cleander,” she smiled. Although she was only six, she knew a lot about Greek history and Greek names, Cleander meant lion-man. In reply, the lion just ruffled his head in her lap.
She looked up. Surrounding her were beautiful trees, of white roses and dark green vines. It looked almost... magical.
The sky had turned a tint of dark blue. She wondered if she should go back home as her older brother expected her to be at home by nine. She leaned down and kissed Cleander’s head. She got up and ran, ran home.
Ever since then, she’d rush to the woods in the morning, sometimes she would sit with Cleander and do her homework, sometimes she would read him her favourite story, ‘Faeroe’, sometimes she would sing to him and dance for him. And he would always look at her with those innocent, welcoming brown eyes. That was when she realised that she had fallen in love.
She never saw Cleander again.
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