The Lion in the Valley

The Lion was proud and fierce...he reigned in his kingdom but he reigned alone...no mate had he found who would stay with him for very long...he was so lonely...so alone...but pride kept him from seeking the one mate that would have healed his heart....The Lion sniffed the air...there is something different he thought.....Magic...Magic in the air....I can smell it...I can feel it...
Not too far away a woman wandered the land...she was looking for a home...a place that called out to her...a magical place to build a life...she stopped and listened...the rocks and land around here welcomed the woman...this was the place...this would be home...the woman sat down and began to breathe deeply...she closed her eyes and envisioned what she wanted first...a gate.....a beautiful gate to mark the entrance to her place....it seemed so real to her that when she opened her eyes...there it stood before her...

a magical door to a magical place...her place...in time it would all be just as she dreamed...and the woman could leave the past behind and start anew....new hopes...new dreams...she walked through her gate and with a sweep of her hands...closed the portal to her world...
The Lion sniffed again...the magic had disappeared...he must have imagined it....just like he imagined love once upon a time...he layed down and thought about that time when he had thought he had found a mate...sweet memories, but it had all ended badly...he had made her leave his kingdom...the memories were still too raw to bear so the Lion forced himself to think on other matters...the land was dry and desolate...even more so this year...he hoped the rains would come in the spring to fill the streams or the land would dry up and everyone would leave...he would be left with a kingdom but no one to rule...he sighed and closed his eyes....sleep and dreams came...the Lion dreamed long forgotten dreams...dreams of love...happiness...laughter...he felt gentle hands calm him....kisses so filled with promise and love...eyes that looked deep into his and saw who he really was...and still loved...understood so much of him...more than any other ever had...oh, how he longed for that love again...how could he have been so wrong and lost the one thing he had always needed in life...
the Lion tossed and turned as his sleep turned restless....he cried out in pain and loss and woke to find himself alone...oh, so very alone...but he remembered the dreams...remembered what he had lost...he was so tired...so tired of being without the one he really wanted...but she was gone and his pride wouldn't let him go after her...the lion lifted his head and roared...a sound that sent chills up and down the spines of all who heard...except one...
Behind the gate...hidden in her own world...the woman heard the lion and knew what was in his heart...for she was the one he wouldn't seek...and she smiled....

He could live and die in his Kingdom if that was his wish...all alone...forever...he had chosen...but not her...so she would build her own kingdom...a magical place...a place without a Lion...