Suiru and the Lion Man

Once upon a time, there lived a young lady called Suiru. She was a beautiful, fair and perfect lady. She was the loveliest of women in the entire town during her days. All the handsome young men visited her mother’s house every day and every hour to woo her, but Suiru never loved any and refused to marry any.

                 One day, Suiru took permission from her mother to visit the country side. She prepared her things and early in the morning she set out for the greatest holiday to the countryside which has been one of her greatest ambitions.

                 She enjoyed the beautiful scenery as they drove through woods and fields full of lilies and forget-me-nots. Sometimes she would ask the driver to stop so that she could take time and admire the beautiful scenery and the beautiful wild flowers along the way.

                 Soon, the Rifem village was in sight. Finally, Suiru reached her destination. She quickly jumped out of the car and pushed her box beside her. Waving at the driver, she pushed her hair which was disturbing her to a corner of her head. The breeze was fresh and Suiru soon found herself at the “Great Masters Hotel”.  Her room was quite a nice one with a well-made bed covered with kingfisher blue bed spreads. A table stood at one corner of the room with a little notebook and a pen on it. There was also a full mirror on the wall and a cupboard with some little things that could be needed by Suiru. A beautiful flower jar with beautiful fresh sweet smelling flowers stood on the window sill. The walls of the hotel room were painted with pure white paint and golden chandeliers hung over her bed from the ceiling. It was indeed a paradise.

                 Suiru still thought herself the loveliest of all the women in the world. The next day, she went out for sightseeing but her imaginations were soon turned into curiosity by a very handsome man who regarded her to be nothing more than a girl. She soon developed the love for this gentleman who was moving along with his brothers and shopping in the market. She could not control her emotions. She gained courage and said to the gentleman’s brothers:

 “Please, I’ll like to marry your brother,”  she said.

“You are not fit to marry him,” they replied hurriedly as though they had known what she was going to say. This gave Suiru the first shock in her life. She then turned to the man and pleaded.

 “Please, I’ll like to marry you. You’re the kind of man I’ve been looking for all my life,” she pleaded.

 “You’re not fit to marry me, young lady.” The handsome man replied without looking at Suiru.

“Please, don’t say that to me. Let me be your wife,” Suiru insisted.

“Well then, come with me,” the handsome man said.

Suiru smiled and walked behind the man. The man moved as gentle as a lion. His footsteps were not heard but Suiru continued to follow him. The man did not look back even though he was conscious of the fact that Suiru was following him. Unlike the noiseless footsteps which the man took, Suiru’s steps were very noisy as her stilettos clipped the pathway, crushing into dust the dry leaves that had fallen from the trees.

                 Soon, Suiru and this man were tearing through forests. She moved noisily with her stiletto heels on dry leaves behind the silence the man kept ahead of her with calm footsteps. When they reached the middle of the thick forest, this man turned round and faced Suiru. The look in his eyes was indifferent, but Suiru thought that it was just for fun. She tried to smile, but something surprising happened. The man touched his hat and the hat automatically disappeared leaving behind a lion’s head. He touched his shirt and it turned into a lion’s body; he touched his trousers and shoes and eventually a previous handsome man was a great lion ready to tear a beautiful girl into pieces.  Suiru was so shocked that when she opened her mouth to shout, no echo came out. Her mouth remained wide open for some seconds before she could close it. Her feet became frozen and she was unable to move even an inch.

                 The lion raised its paws and pieced Suiru on the face. She shouted and screamed for help, but none seemed to come forth. Fortunately for her, there was a hunter in the nearby bush who shut a gun as soon as he heard this cry. The lion left the girl half dead and deformed. The hunter rescued her and carried her to the hospital where she was given careful treatment.

                 When she recovered, she returned home from the countryside and she and her mother lived sadly throughout the remainder of their days. The scars from the lion’s scratches remained on her face and no amount of facial creams could remove them.