I put my paw out to stop my cub from walking any further. “Sh…” I warned him, “I hear humans.” I crouched in the trees near the Jordan, being as still and quiet as possible, and I couldn’t help but overhear.
“Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?” said the voice of an older man.
“Yes!” cried the voice of an exasperated younger man. “Yes, I know! Now be quiet!” He sounded desperate, on the verge of crying. Not good. Humans are always more dangerous when they’re emotional.
“Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you,” said the older man.
“Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit,” said the younger man, his voice cracking.
“You have asked a hard thing; yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As the older man said this, their voices grew louder and I could hear the crunch of earth under their feet. I pushed my cub back and put a paw to his mouth, urging him to be quiet as I prepared to attack.
Then, just as I was about to leap from my hiding place and pounce on the humans, the sky lit up with fire. I jumped back, ready to run, but saw that the bushes were not burning – only the sky seemed to burn. I looked up to see horses run through the sky and a great burst of wind shook the world.
“Mama?” cried my cub, afraid. I picked him up and threw him on my back. As I ran away, I heard the younger man release a sound of pain and grief. “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” he yelled in the distance behind me, his words muffled by the wind.
***
That evening, as my cub and I drank from a spring along with my friend and her cub.
“This spring was bad only yesterday,” my friend commented, “but now it’s cool and fresh.”
“That is far from the strangest thing to happen to me today,” I replied, watching our cubs frolic in the water.
Then, to my distress, I heard the sound of human feet running toward us. My friend and I looked at each other, our ears perking up. The rumble of steps told us this wasn’t a couple of humans out for a walk – this was a whole herd.
“Go away, baldhead!” the humans seemed to be saying, a chant that grew louder by the second. I glanced behind us and saw that on the other side of the creek was a steep incline, too steep to run up. We were backed up against a wall with nowhere to run. I breathed deeply, preparing to fight the herd and protect my baby. I made eye-contact with my friend, silently communicating with her, and she nodded.
Just before we ran out from behind the bushes, I heard a familiar voice yell, “So shall the LORD do to you and even more!” Then, we pounced. The herd of humans went crazy, running in all directions, some running into each other, all screaming – except for one man, older than the rest, standing calmly and watching. Together, my friend and I mauled forty-two of the young humans. Seeing that the man would cause us no harm, we left the bodies sprawled as we and the man headed our separate ways.
2 Kings 2
Neglected Word 