Chapter 1: How they found each other

  When Sera was five years old, she found an abandoned, cute little white lion cub abandoned in a bush. It must have been the runt and the mother must have left it. Filled with pity, she wrapped it carefully in a cloth and took the little white lion home. Sera lived with her parents in the woods. Her father was a pottery and ornament maker and Sera’s mother a baker of pastries, cakes, and everything related to tea or sweet food. Both her parents loved the forest very much (except the insects) and most of all, the animals. So when Sera took home the little cub, her parents immediately fussed over it—her mom pouring warm milk into a bowl, her father rushing to make a clay bowl for the white lion to sleep in… soon the cub had been wrapped in a blanket and set to sleep in a warm clay bowl.

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  Now, five years later, both the cub (now a lion with a mane that had crystal colors at its tips) and Sera had grown in height and size. Sera couldn’t believe how fast the lion, who she had named Elon, had turned out to be. She had always assumed he was a runt—it was why mothers usually left their young. But now, she could hardly believe that. Looking at Elon climb out of his warm blanket, place his strong paw on the wooden floor and pouncing into her arms, she wondered if he really was the runt...or not.

  Sera and Elon often went into the woods together. Sera collected berries, fished, and farmed, while Elon preyed on rabbits or even deer. They were the perfect team and they were the hunters and gatherers of the family. Everyday they hunted and provided food for the family, working themselves until they were extremely tired. But they were always happy. Soon, her father's birthday was just around the corner. Sera wondered what she should get...