The Shy Little Lion

Once upon a time there was a shy little lion cub that, because of his shyness, did not have any friends. He was very sad and very lonely. He wanted very much to play with the other lion cubs that lived nearby. He would sit and watch as they played tag and hide and seek and splashed each other as they swam in the watering hole, all the time wishing that he could play with them. But the little lion cub was just too shy. He was afraid that the other lion cubs wouldn’t like him and that they would laugh at him if he wasn’t good at the games they played. So the shy little lion cub just sat and watched day after day feeling very sad and very lonely.

One day, while the shy little lion looked on as the other lion cubs raced each other in the tall grass of the pride lands, his mother came to sit beside him. “Why are you sitting here all alone?” she asked her little cub, “wouldn’t you rather be running and playing with the other little lions?” The shy little lion looked up at his mother with sad eyes and replied, “Yes I would like very much to play with other cubs but I’m afraid that they won’t like me and laugh at me if I’m not good at the games they play.” The shy little lion’s mother kissed her little cubs head and said, “I know that making new friends can be scary sometimes but you shouldn’t let that stop you from trying. I bet if you went and introduced yourself to those cubs they would be happy to let you play with them, but if you don’t you might miss out on making some really great friends.” She added. The shy little lion thought about that and asked his mother, “Do you really think they’ll like me?” “Yes my little cub, I really do.” The shy little lion’s mother replied. The shy little lion smiled up at his mother as she nudged him playfully toward the other little cubs that were still racing in tall grass.

“Hello” said the shy little lion. “Would it be alright if I joined in the race?” The shy little lion held his breath anxiously, waiting for them to answer. “Of course you can.” said one of the cubs. “You can race with me next.” said another cub, pulling the shy little lion toward the starting line. For the rest of the day the shy little lion raced and swam and played hide and seek with the his new friends, and from then on he promised himself that even though it’s sometimes scary making new friends, he would always be brave enough to try. The End.