Letting Go

“It was an accident!” the little girl choked. Her sobs were quickly drowned out by the black panther’s laughter.

“Go away!” she pleaded. She was clutching at her forearm. Long bloody marks covered her soft skin, and she trembled as the blood dripped slowly on her lap and feet. The panther circled around the child like a vulture, and her lips curled back in a vicious smile. The child trembled more at the sight of her fangs.

“He warned you about those flowers, didn’t He? Told you only to look and not to touch, and now you know why, don’t you?” the panther hissed. More tears slid down from the child’s red and swollen eyes.

“I just thought...I thought...” she stammered with quivering lips.

“You thought what? You thought you could pick it without His help? You really thought you could do anything without Him?” the panther interrupted with a growl. The child tried to open her mouth to speak but she choked. The panther laughed again, high and cruel, and the blood poured more freely from the child’s wound.

“Liar! You knew better!” she hissed.

The child only whimpered.

“Wretch! You disobeyed Him!”

The child only whimpered.

“Traitor! You ran from Him!”

“Enough.”

The Lion had not spoken loudly, but at the sound of His voice, the panther leaped in fright. However, she did not back away from the child. The Lion’s deep golden eyes scanned the child and panther slowly, and for a while, only the child’s crying could be heard.

“Come here, Little One,” the Lion said, barely above a whisper. She stood and shuffled over to Him. Staring at her feet, she tried to hide her arm behind her back. The Lion frowned.

“Let me see your arm,” He commanded. His voice was more firm this time. With a sob, she held out her right arm, and He sighed sadly.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to- ”

“I know, child; I know. I have already forgiven you, see?” he said. He held out His right front paw, and scars lined His honey colored fur, identical to her own wounds. The panther recoiled, as if in disgust, and her fur stood on end.

“But then why have your wounds not healed?” He asked. There was anger in His voice now.

“I knew better! I disobeyed You! I betrayed - ”

“Silence!”

His roar shook the ground and the trees and rocks groaned. The child looked at the Lion and He was terrifying. His sharp teeth were bared. His deadly claws dug into the earth in fury. His golden eyes burned with rage...but they did not look at her. The panther was crouched so low to the ground, her belly was pressed against the dirt like a snake.

“How dare you come near My daughter!” the Lion roared. The panther cringed, but this time, she did not recoil. Instead, her narrow red eyes peered at the whimpering child and her lips curled into a sickening smile.

“I stay, only because she allows me,” she answered. The Lion frowned and looked back at the child. She lifted her eyes to His, and saw the unchanging love she had so quickly forgotten. Throwing her tiny arms around His neck, she buried her face in His mane.

“Abba, please make her go away,” she asked. The panther’s red eyes widened as the Lion bared His mighty fangs again. With one last echoing roar, the panther scrambled away into the shadows. The Lion’s warmth filled the child, and she looked back at the skin on her right arm. It was flawless.

“She will come back?” the child asked, her tears dried by the softness of His mane. His golden eyes darkened, and He nodded. She shivered and her tiny hand clutched at His mane. He pressed his cool, pink nose against her cheek, and His breath washed over her like rain on parched earth.

“There will come a day, child, when she will never return, but until that day, know this...she will not take you from Me. No one can. You are mine, and I will remain by your side through every age of time. Never will I leave you,” He whispered gently in her ear. He drew away, so that He could look into her eyes.

“Do you know why, My Little One?” He asked. She smiled brightly, the shame of the panther’s words gone from her.

“Because You love me,” she answered. Her voice no longer trembled.