Sprinting through the desert while being chased by a lion had by no means been on Victor Kinsley’s

bucket list. Yet, somehow, that was exactly what was presently happening. Was this how karma

worked, with the universe dishing out random catastrophes on those deserving of them? How was

that even fair? Not that he’d argue for a moment that he should have been exempt from such

inconveniences, but still, a warning would’ve been nice.

Victor looked over his shoulder. Unfortunately, the big cat’s silhouette was still visible in the

distance, marching towards him at a leisurely pace. That was the worst part. Surely it could have

chased him down by now if it had wanted to. But no, instead it was content watching him panic

from a distance. What was he, a toy in some sort of sick game? Would the lioness decide to end this

whenever she got bored, or was she just waiting for him to drop of exhaustion.

What was a lion doing in the middle of the Sahara anyways? Victor had found himself in this

predicament after a sudden sandstorm had gotten him separated from his tour group. What was her

excuse?

He peered over his shoulder again. Admittedly, due to the distance thankfully separating

them, he couldn’t truly tell if it was a lion or not. But he’d rather assume it was and be pleasantly

surprised than guess that it was one of the smaller ones. Not that they would be any less deadly, but

somehow the thought of being pursued by a leopard or cheetah eased his mind, if only by a minute

capacity.

Victor ran on for some time, but eventually the sun’s vengeful rays and his aching muscles

proved too great for the effort to continue. He fell back onto the sand and immediately got up from

the sizzling ground. He lied down once more, this time taking care to ensure no exposed skin made

contact. Victor shut his eyes. What did it matter? He was going to end up in that creature’s stomach
one way or another. And even if he didn’t, his odds of getting rescued were probably slim to none.

He could at least go out with something resembling dignity.

Several minutes had passed when the heat of the sun on his face seemed to disappear. In its

place was the feeling of warm air and the sound of heavy panting.

Victor did his best to control his shaking frame. “Well, what are you waiting for,” he said.

“You already chased me halfway across the desert? Go ahead. Take a bite. I’m sure your hungry.”

The sunlight returned. Victor tried to think of something else, anything else, that could make

what was about to happen even the slightest bit less horrifying. If he was lucky, maybe she’d go for

the neck first and end things quickly.

Instead, what he felt was a sensation resembling sandpaper with needles poked through

being rubbed against his arm. He shot up, eyes wide. “Ow! What the—I was expecting you to bite

me, not whatever—”

The brief feeling of frustrated shock was thoroughly crushed when he was reminded of who

he was talking to. Gazing back at him was a cheetah. A quick glance between the rear legs

determined that it was a female. However, one was raised from the ground. Was she hurt?

Her ears folded back and she withdrew slightly, as if she wasn’t expecting such a reaction

after licking him with a tongue that could probably strip several layers of paint. Oddly enough, she

didn’t appear all that threatening. She seemed more worn out than anything else.

Victor’s muscles relaxed some as they continued starring at each other. In a barely audible

voice, he said, “You’re... not gonna eat me, are you?”

He could’ve sworn he saw the animal roll her eyes at him.

 “What? I’m just supposed to assume that you weren’t going to? What kind of sense would

that make? ‘Oh look, hear comes a big mean predator with sharp teeth meant for ripping throats

out, I bet it just wants to hang out and be buddies.’,” he said, raising his arms into the air.

She gave him a half-lidded stare, blinked, and proceeded to turn around and limp away.

Victor’s brow furrowed. Where was she going? They were both quite thoroughly trapped. He

lied back down. Perhaps she was willing to try and escape, but he saw no reason to. After so many

years his comeuppance had finally come knocking, who was he to deny it.

The cheetah stopped and looked back. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, and

then returned to stand over him.

“Weren’t you, you know, leaving a second ago?”

She meowed and motioned her head in the direction she’d been walking.

Victor crossed his arms. “Yeah, no thanks. I’m not too interested in leaving anyways.”

She sat down, her gaze remaining focused on him.

He glanced up at her. “What, you’re waiting me out now? I already told you, I’m not

moving.”

She only continued to stare. Somehow it reminded him of a concerned mother.

“Look,” he said. “I don’t know who you think I am. But I can tell you that there isn’t a chance

I’m worth your time.”

She tilted her head to the side.

 Victor squinted at her as his mouth went agape. Was this even real, or was it the heat

getting to him. He began to sit up. “Alright, I guess I’m really doing this. I... Well, I used to work for

this big appliance company, okay. I joined when I was... twenty-three? Yeah, twenty-three. And well,

at the time, I just like business. I wasn’t in it for the money or anything, I was legitimately interested.

It was a low-level management job, nothing crazy, but I enjoyed it.”

And then, after a while, I couldn’t help but notice how some of the higher ups were living, all

the big houses and fancy cars. I wanted some of that. I mean, who doesn’t right? So I started trying

to work my way up. The honest way. No tricks, just hard work. But eventually, I hit a wall, and I saw

that guys half as qualified as me seemed to be getting positions left and right. So I started thinking it

was only fair to play by the same rules. I didn’t think I was doing anything too bad at the time. It was

only a lie here, some sabotage there, nothing abnormal really.”

I—I ended up costing a lot of good people their jobs. People who trusted me, thought I was

their friend. I didn’t realise how much they needed those jobs until it was too late. One of them

even... He—he took his—” He hung his head, taking several ragged breaths. “I couldn’t do it

anymore after that, so I quit, and now, I just wander, spending that awful money on whatever

catches my attention. I don’t know. I guess I’ve been searching for a decent distraction. But every

time I look in the mirror, I think about what I did, and I don’t ever think I’ll be able to forgive myself

for it.”

He lied back down. “So there you go, that’s why I’m not leaving. If death wants me, It can

have me. If anything, this seems like a merciful way to go.”

By some remarkable means, the cheetah had managed to express even more concern

through the entirety of her body than she already had before. She laid next to him, and, seemingly
just for good measure, placed a paw on one of his hands. Maybe he really was hallucinating all of

this?

She was stubborn, he had to give her that, But Victor could be stubborn too. She’d give up

on him eventually, everyone else in his life had.

***

Victor almost didn’t notice when she finally got up and shambled off. He checked his watch.

It’d taken six and a half hours. That was all she was willing to wait? Not that he was disappointed,

but, something deep inside him wished she’d stayed longer.

After a few steps, she turned towards him, stomped on the ground, and meowed.

What was she trying to say now? Did she want him to stay put? Why? After a few seconds

his eyes widened, then narrowed. She hadn’t decided to leave him, she was going to try and find

help. He sighed. “You have no idea when to give up, do you?”

She started back hobbling away. Victor could only shake his head. He probably had a better

chance of surviving than she did, and yet she still believed she had a chance of saving herself and

someone who had no interest in being saved. He looked up at the clouds. She was going to die

trying to help him of all people.

A gust of hot, desert air blew over him.

He blinked. She was going to die—she was willing to die, for him.

Victor sat back up. There she was, walking though the sweltering heat as best she could with

a bad leg, all because somewhere in that feline brain of hers, she thought it was the right thing to
do. He was still watching when she began to shake, and was already racing towards her when she

collapsed.

“I got you,” he said as he helped her off the ground. “Yeah, I know. You don’t have to look at

me like that.”

Once back to her feet, the smug cat took another step, but stumbled once more.

Victor grabbed onto her to keep her upright. But his efforts were met with a gentle push. He

laughed. “Look who’s the stubborn one now. I’m not gonna stop helping just because you ask

nicely.”

She let out a low meow and looked away with her ears folded against her head.

They walked in silence for a moment, then he said, “So, what’s the story behind the leg? Did

a cactus fall on you?”

She gave him a perplexed look.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “That was a joke. Because, well, you know, there aren’t any

cacti in the Sahara.” He paused. “Which is definitely something I knew before coming here and was

not at all mocked for being ignorant to.”

At that moment, something sharp poked him in the leg.

“I freaking knew it!” He shouted, looking down with anticipation to find the ankle of a

cheetah darting away from his leg. Said cheetah was presently immensely fascinated by some non-

existent object in the distance. “Did you just tap me with your dew claw so I would think it was a

cactus needle?”
 She faced him with the most blatantly guilty expression imaginable, chirped at him, and

then returned her attention to the invisible wonder.

Victor grinned. Of course his travel partner would turn out to be a prankster. He looked out

at the expanse of sand before them. She certainly wasn’t the kind of rescuer he’d anticipated, yet

one thing was clear. In that moment, he needed her. And maybe he needed to keep going not just

for himself, but her as well. It was a good feeling, having a reason to keep living.