Free Flash Fiction: Saving Tia’s Pet
“We have to find you a new home, Kiki,” Tia said, waking her sleeping pet with a reassuring rub as the dawn light penetrated the nest she’d built her in the jungle.
Kiki yawned, stretched, and placed her paw on Tia before answering, as she tended to do whenever she needed reassurance. She blinked her large eyes and in her low purring voice, she asked, “Why?”
“My brat sister was spying and caught me bringing you food. She told dad.”
“Is he going to kill me?” Kiki gasped.
“Oh, yes.”
“But why? I never did anything to him.”
“You don’t matter. I disobeyed him. I brought you food that should go to our livestock, and I am spending my study time with you instead of studying. As soon as he has time, he will come out here, catch you, and feed you to the livestock and make me watch. He’s said as much.”
Her pet’s back straightened, its large bright eyes darted around the forest.
“What am I going to do?”
“You need to join a troop of your own kind.”
“No! The only troop near, killed and ate my family.”
Tia sighed and gave her another rub to calm her down. “There are three troops bordering our lands, not just one. You are too young to go it alone, and even if I move you further away, my dad will find you.”
“I am not too young. I like the treats you bring, but I am feeding myself just fine when you don’t bring any.”
Tia put herself nose to nose with her pet and looked deep into her eyes. “You are safe only because the very dangerous predators won’t come near my clan, and I hunt this area every time I visit of anything that might eat you or your food. If you are close enough for me to do that, you are close enough for dad to catch you. You have to join one of the troops of your own kind. Just make your approach very very slowly.”
“But I can’t, Tia,” her pet whined.
As much as she dearly loved her pet, Tia stood her ground. “You have to.”
Kiki’s huge eyes focused, and looked deep into Tia’s own. “Will you come with me?”
“No! Out of the question. They cannot know I took care of you. They would fear you and kill you, thinking I am using you to bait a trap for them. Get up, let’s go. I will escort you to the edge of their camp.”
“Now!?”
“Of course now. What part of, my dad’s coming for you, did you not understand? Which do you want, upstream, downstream, or deeper into the forest?”
Kiki’s voice trembled when she replied, “Upstream.”
“Do you need me to scout ahead and make it safe for you?” Tia asked, keeping her voice innocent.
“No, I am not that helpless,” she said in defiance, then started toward the trail that would take them upstream at a lope. Letting her young pet lead should be safe enough. There should be nothing that would want to mess with her this close to her clan.
Kiki kept up her lope, determined to make Tia run to keep up.
**
Arriving at a wide beach on the stream by midday, Kiki stopped, turned and said, “Isn’t this far enough? Surely your father won’t come this far.”
Tia sighed. “Who do you think made this trail and keeps it up? Further, this is about the worst place to sleep that you could find. There are crocs and snakes in that stream that would make short work of either of us if we were foolish enough to nap here.”
“That’s a game trail,” Kiki said, pointing back the way they came.
“Not exactly. It is a trail my clan set up for game to make it easier to hunt.” Tia noticed that Kiki didn’t try to argue that she would not be eaten if she tried to sleep here. She had gotten that point, at least.
“They really hunt this far?”
“Every new moon. They stop maintaining it about two bends further up and the going gets a lot harder. It gets a bit more dangerous too. But not a lot. Instead of fearing my clan, large predators have that upstream troop to deal with.”
“They’re that close?”

Tia gave her a good calming rub. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t pick any fights with them.”
Kiki’s steps became cautious as they worked their way up the creek.
After the sun dropped a hand-span more, Kiki dove behind some reeds.
Tia looked and darted to join her, trembling herself. She’d forgotten just how small her pet was and how damn big the males got. All four juveniles accompanying the big male were twice the size of her pet, and that large male easily four times her size.
When she looked again, her throat when dry. They were staring right at her. Tia had just become prey.
A terrifying roar came from right behind her, and her heart leapt.
Kiki didn’t even look, just took off running right at that troop in pure terror.
Tia knew how pointless that was and turned to face the jungle.
The massive head with a broken fang pushed out of the jungle and roared again, its deadly claws sinking deep into a dead tree.
A lesser roar came from the big male of the troop, and Tia looked back to see Kiki cowering behind the four males as they faced an opponent they could not possibly beat.
“Let’s go home. Your pet will be fine now. They will take care of her, and you are not supposed to be out here.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Tia looked back at Kiki cowering behind the big male hiding from her father. She would miss that helpless, hairless primate.
“Now!”
“Yes, Daddy.”
She leaped for the woods, her father right behind her, as he had no doubt been their whole trip, she now realized.
***
Thank You for reading. I hope you liked Saving Tia’s Pet. I have more fantasy, and science fiction available on Substack, Reamstories, or, Patreon, some of it for free.
https://jamessteinhaus.substack.com/p/a-list-of-my-fictions-currently-on
https://reamstories.com/jamesrsteinhaus
https://www.patreon.com/c/jamesrsteinhaus/collections
Please consider following me on one of these.

James R Steinhaus