The Shepherdess and the Lioness

Once upon a time, tucked far away in the hills of England, there was a beautiful, shady forest. All the trees had variated greens and made the sunlight look unreal. It was late afternoon and all the bluebirds, robins, deer, woodchucks, hedgehogs, groundhogs, owls, bunnies, hares, and everyone else was winding down, making dinner, sleeping, or going to bed. But Astrid the lioness was hunting for food until a sandspur flew into her eye! She howled in excruciating pain and agony, but no one came to help. Astrid tried to lick it out, pull it out with her paw, and do many other things, but nothing worked. Whenever she blinked, it burned. Finally, she decided to seek help outside of the forest. Eventually, Astrid saw a young shepherdess with a small flock of sheep. She bowed her head low in reverence, and to show that she would not hurt the shepherdess, she quietly walked up in front of the girl, who was gracefully munching on a sub sandwich. The shepherdess, whose name was Isabelle Kate, gently picked up a leaf off the ground and used it to get the sandspur out. They tried to do it quickly because it was against the law for humans to associate with wild animals. After all, no one wanted to be attacked. Astrid purred to thank Isabelle, and she started to dart back into the forest, but Queen Elizabeth II had spotted them. Her private carriage rolled bumpily down the path. The soldiers of the queen jumped out of the carriage and sprinted to Isabelle Kate. They handcuffed her and led her roughly to the prison. The prison was so close that Astrid guiltily heard her helper’s cage click shut. After a while, Queen Elizabeth II decided to throw the innocent shepherdess into the forest to be eaten by the lions. But when Astrid saw Isabelle, the lioness remembered her and did not eat her. The other lions backed off. They followed Astrid. When the queen saw this, she freed Isabelle Kate and revoked her law.