“Cuando llueve en la sabana, nacen los valientes”

UNDER THE RAIN, A PROMISE

The savannah was dyed grey that morning. The clouds, puffed up like storm bells, covered the horizon. The wind smelled of mud and vice versa. In the midst of that arid vastness, a lioness walked alone. Slender. Wounded. With the ribs marked and the eyes burning. But she wasn’t alone at all.
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Beside her, wobbly, went her puppy. A shaky little bundle of big ears and clumsy steps that didn’t know how to roar yet. They called it Nuru, which means “light” in Swahili.

His mother, Safi, had been kicked out of the pack for protecting him. The other lions didn’t accept weak cubs, unless food was scarce. She stood between her little one and the dominant male fangs. He paid the price with loin claws and exile.

Since then, they have wandered in search of shade, water and time.

—Mom, why are we hiding? —Nuru asked one afternoon, when they were taking shelter under a dry bush.

—Cause the ones that are worth it… sometimes you must learn to grow away from the noise — Safi replied, licking his forehead tenderly.

The days were hard. The nights, getting worse. But Safi never stopped looking. One day he confronted a hyena for a rat. The other day scared a vulture stalking Nuru in his sleep. His paws were bleeding but his determination was not broken.

One night the storm rolled through.

Lightning like knives splitting the sky. The savannah has become a lodazal. Little Nuru was crying terrified under a bush.

—Mom, are we going to die?

Safi covered him with her body, wet to the bone, tugging.

—No, my love. Cause as long as I’m breathing… you shall have coat.

When the storm passed, the savannah was reborn. The earth, once arid, was covered in green. And among the wet grass, gazelles, zebras, hope appeared.

But Safi had no strength anymore.

One morning, he couldn’t get up. Her body, exhausted from weeks of hunger and struggle, said enough. Nuru was pushing her head, calling her in a snoring voice.

—Mom, wake up… no more rain.

Safi looked at him for the last time, with eyes full of light. As if I saw beyond.

—Remember who you are, Nuru… and never be afraid to roar.

And she closed her eyes.

A group of young lionesses, who had been watching from afar, approached. One of them — the strongest — sniffed Safi, then Nuru. And without a word, without a threat, he licked the little one and let him into the circle.

Life went on and on.

Years later, Nuru became one of the largest and most respected males in the region. He never forgot his mother. He never left any weak puppy behind. And when the storms came back, you could always see him staring at the sky.. as if he heard that voice that once told him that as long as she was breathing, he would have a coat.

And so it was.

Because some promises are made in the rain… they never dissolve.