A Mother's Love

She froze when she heard a child scream. ‘Is it mine’, she thought. She waited for what seemed to be a lifetime; waiting for another scream to come. Uneasy thoughts visited her at that moment: my child has hurt himself, something fell on him or worse, something harmed him on purpose. Her body trembled at these thoughts, and she tried her best to drive them away from her mind.

Then she heard another scream. And this time she knew it was her child crying out for help. Her little bundle of joy.

She bolted back to where she had left him. She had never run so fast. She could feel the wind-resisting her face. She reached the vehicle where she had left him and what she saw took the breath out of her. It was a mother’s worst fear. A male predator had her child firmly in his grasp. Her child was bleeding where the scoundrel had hurt him. And he was dragging her child away.

Instinctively, she ran towards him and in three quick steps, she was behind the attacker. He was much larger than her, but that was not enough to dissuade a mother’s love for her child. She jumped as high as she could and dug her claws into his back.

The dog wailed and let go of her kitten. The little one immediately scampered to safety and hid behind a fern. The kitten saw his mother vociferously scratch at the dog. The big scoundrel couldn’t take it anymore. He ran away whimpering, his tail between his legs.

The mother looked for her kitten. The kitten purred to let her know where he was. She bent over him and began to lick his wounds, holding him with her paw. Her motherly love was all the panacea the kitten needed.