by Dave Leys
some more. ‘I don’t like the colour blue. I only like pink.’
‘Timothy?’ said Mr Lukra, turning to his son.
‘We let it go, Daddy,’ said Timothy. ‘Anyway, that’s not what we want any more. We need the cage for a real pet.’
‘You what? You let it go?’ Mr Lukra thought of the trouble he had gone to, to get it for them.
Yes, Daddy,’ Sapphire cried, ‘a really special pet!’
Mr Lukra sighed. He sensed they had something in mind already.
Timothy spread his arms wide in excitement. ‘A Barbary lion,’ he said, ‘is what we want. What a great shaggy coat it has. And it looks so growly!’
Mr Lukra looked it up in a book. ‘Timothy and Sapphire,’ he said sadly, ‘The Barbary lion is extinct in the wild. There‘s only a few remaining in the whole world, and only in captivity …’
Sapphire began to sob again, and as she did so she hit her hands on the floor. ‘We want a big lion,’ she wept.
‘But honey,’ said Mr Lukra, ‘I would have to steal one from another country’s zoo. It would cost me so much money.’
Timothy started to climb up one of the curtains. He was flushed in the face and fast approaching the ceiling. ‘A Barbary lion!’ he screamed at his father from above.
‘I see,’ said Mr Lukra. He gave in. ‘You must promise that you will look after it. It will be terribly difficult to get for you. Do you promise you will feed it?’ He looked at his children desperately.
Timothy slid down the curtain and picked Sapphire up. They clung to each other and did a strange round and round dance in the hallway, singing, ‘A lion for us, hooray for Daddy!’
Mr Lukra almost cried with relief. He sighed, wiped his face, and walked out to his car.
Mr Lukra made some calls. It was very difficult, and extremely expensive, but he managed to hire some soldiers to break into Hong Kong Zoo and steal their only Barbary lion. The big cat arrived with a flourish, held in a large net suspended from a helicopter. It was indeed a noble beast, licking itself slowly. When it was put in its cage it padded back and forth, sizing up the area. It let out a low growl.
Timothy stood absolutely still watching it. He had a huge grin on his face. Sapphire stood behind him, nervously holding onto his shirt.
Mr Lukra slowly let out his breath and went to the office.
Later Mr Lukra drove home. He was in a very strange mood. He had rung his bank manager and discovered he had absolutely no money left. The three pets had cost more than he’d realised – millions of dollars. He swallowed dryly. All that money, gone. He might have to sell the house, and his gold plated car. What would he do? What would he tell the children?
He walked in the door. His two children were kneeling in the hallway, holding each other as they sobbed and screamed.
Mr Lukra stopped short. His heart began to race.
‘Daddy!’ they cried. ‘We need a new pet!’
‘Ummm,’ he said. He couldn’t speak.
‘The stupid lion was ugly!’ shouted Sapphire.
‘And just like any dumb lion! It was BORING!’ yelled Timothy.
‘And it had icky eyelashes!’ screamed Sapphire.
‘And it growled when I threw rocks at it!’ squeaked Timothy.
Mr Lukra stood there looking at them, but he didn’t say anything. Slowly he picked his bag up and walked to the bedroom.
‘We let the stupid lion go!’ shouted Timothy, but by this time Mr Lukra couldn’t hear them. He was lying down on his bed with his hands over his ears.
He woke up in a sweat and went to work. The day was a miserable blur. Then something happened to change his mood. The road seemed smooth as Mr Lukra drove home. He had just had a very interesting phone call with a certain Mr Bullion. He had made a highly lucrative deal. He was no longer poor, he had made all his money back. He was so cheerful he even began to whistle.
He walked in the door. Just like usual his two children were waiting for him in the hallway. As soon as they saw him they started in on how they really needed a new pet, but he put his fingers to his lips to shush them, and something about his smile made them stop talking.
‘Timothy, Sapphire,’ he said, ‘I have some big news for you.’
They eyed him suspiciously.
‘I have just spoken to a friend of mine, named Mr Bullion. Mr Bullion has two children, named Jewell and Leo. Well, they are very, very rich children, and they are used to getting whatever they want. Mr Bullion has been trying to get them a rare pet, but everything he has tried has not worked out. And guess what they asked for this afternoon?’
‘I don’t care,’ mumbled Timothy. Sapphire stood still.
‘Ah, but you will, Timothy, you will.’ Mr Lukra was definitely in a good mood. ‘You see, they had a very original idea – they thought they might like to have two children – human children – to keep as pets.’ He spoke louder. ‘Apparently they have a very comfortable cage - it has pillows and a high ceiling and it gets plenty of sunshine.’ He folded his arms and looked at them. Timothy and Sapphire were gaping up at him. ‘So, I have decided to sell YOU to Mr Bullion.’ He rubbed his hands together.
Sapphire fainted, slowly slithering to the floor. Timothy retreated a step, and then asked in a small voice, ‘Daddy, how could you give us away to someone else?’
Mr Lukra strode to his room, all energy now. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at them. ‘Well, the fact is, children, I find you boring.’