Chapter 1: Because I Said Yes

I opened my eyes and turned to the left side of my bed, the windows. I could not see any sunlight, the night was still peepin’ in. I blinked then grabbed my iPod touch generation 5. I pressed the power button and saw that the lock screen reads that it is 12:01 AM. 'Today’s a new day,' I thought to myself. 'But... I just want to fall back asleep.' Without a doubt, I went right back to sleep.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was out shining on my beautiful forehead down to my oily t-zones of my face. I found myself at a zoo as soon as I turned around my surrounding. I did not notice that I was at a zoo! I was currently looking at a park with slides and swings. Isn’t it awkward how there was a park at a zoo? Ahah, me too. However, there was a lot of other people at the zoo. The people around me were Hmong! Men, women, children, elders. Everyone was there as if it’s a place for only Hmong people like me! And they were dressed in Hmong clothes! Those black cloth with colorful printings. I did not think much at all. As I’m sitting down with my knees up high enough to cross my arms around it and hugged myself, I glanced to those around me and made a couple eye contacts. As I was looking, I made eye contact with a lion! Wow! His eyes were huge! His green pupils... He was pacing right at me! But somehow, I didn’t scream at all. No noise came out. No voice was heard. It was as though I have a close relationship with him. I closed my eyes glued shut and crumpled my legs up, crossed my arms around each other and put my head down. All in a slow pace.

There was darkness in my vision, of course. I hear a loud roar. I opened my eyes real quick. I saw grass. I could see at the corner of my eyes, my inner thighs. They were skinny! I’m a skinny girl after all. I lifted my head, in front of me was the lion who already laid himself on the grass. I saw him rolling around, then coming up to me slowly. Without any fear, I petted him. His soft bronze fur, I watched him as he closed his eyes. I closed my eyes again and just hugged him. He was warm, and it made me happy.

As the lion got up, I examined its skills. I didn’t know how he did it because as soon as I blinked, he was already up on four feet. He bowed down his head and was waiting for me to get up on him. Without a doubt and fear, I got up on him and started going for a ride. It was so cozy and safe. I don’t remember having fear of any sort. I just went with the lion’s pace. Riding him was a connection I never felt before. Like, I never met something like this before and I never encountered such a connection.

I then saw my parents. My mom was crying and asking if I’m doing okay up there. I said I was fine. My mom then questioned me as to why I got up there. I simply said, “It’s a long story, but don’t worry I am doing fine and safe.” My mom let out another loud cry while my dad just stared at me and the lion with his eyes being emotionless like it won’t bother him if anything happens to me.

I remember just walking away from my parents, still riding the lion. He let me go later on, and magically transformed into a human being. A human being! He was so handsome. His beard was brown, his face was in a V-shape, he smelled really good, and he also, overall, looked fit. I like him a lot more than the vision of a lion he showed me. He smiled and said, “Let’s go visit my place, shall we? I’m sure you’ll like my world.”

'Like your world? What do you mean?' I thought to myself. Without hesitation, I replied, “Yes! Let’s go!” He slipped his hand between mine and held it. We held hands, the world around us seemed to stopped and I loved every second of it with him.

I slowly opened my eyes, it was still very dark. I realized I've been sleeping on my left side this whole time. I grabbed my iPod Touch and pressed down on the home button. It read 6:45 AM. 'Wait, everything was just a dream? That can't be. I saw him. Wait, him. Who? The lion or the human being? I clearly saw both. Ugh, whatever. I should get up and go take a shower,' I thought to myself. I reminisce about the good time I spent with him in my dream as I got out of my bed.

Thank you for making it this far. This is my experience, my story. There are still more to this journey with the lion. This is a story that happened to me about four years ago. I hope you enjoyed reading it, I tried to be as simple as I can. Feel free to give me feedback. I hope you will support me in my upcoming chapters.