We laid back and enjoyed the sleepiness creeping up and
taking us into its warm, inviting arms.  There's nothing like
eating like crazy, then taking a long nap in the great
outdoors to get you relaxed all over.  I thought of how lucky
I was to have a friend like Naline and being able to see her
every once in a while and share great times like this.  I
think if everybody had a great friend they could look forward
to seeing, then the whole universe would be a better place.

  Naline stretched herself, took a cursory glance around, and
snuggled into a tight furry ball.  She let out a soft sigh an
fell promptly asleep by my side.

  Sometimes, in this crazy topsy-turvy, overworked, high-tech
universe of ours, you gotta take time out to smell the roses.
Or nap with the lions, whichever's your favorite.  I'd known
folks that had worked themselves to an early grave, and I had
decided long ago that such a fate was never going to happen
to me.  Not if I could help it.  I mean, you gotta work hard
and everything, but there's more to life than just that.  I
suppose that's what the gently purring feline beside me
reminded me of.

  Everybody oughta have a nap with a cat at least once a day.
It would make the universe better.  I can think of at least a
dozen wars that wouldn't have happened if some people had
just got themselves a cat and had taken the time to nap and
rest and not become power-hungry megalomaniacs bent on
universal domination.


  I watched Naline's little body as it rose and fell with
every purr.  Her leg twitched momentarily.  She was dreaming.
How cute!  A stray beam of sunlight glinted off her bracelet.
Made it look as if Naline was wearing a golden star.

  It occurred to me that, as time went by, Naline had gotten
to calling me more and more when there really weren't any
emergencies around.  Just to talk.  To be sociable and chat.
At first, she'd only called me when she had been stuck
between the proverbial rocks and hard places that abounded in
her neighborhood.  But her calls had gotten less and less
emergencical and more and more social.

  It appeared that I had become something of a confidante or
advisor to Naline.  Instead of being the emergency call guy,
it seemed she'd found in me an impartial third party on whom
she could dump and unload all of her troubles without worry
of it getting back to other members of her pride.

  Hey, you know as well as I do that sometimes it's easier
to talk with a total stranger about heavy-duty, sensitive,
compromising things than with those close to you.  Not that
I was a total stranger, mind you.  But, you know, sometimes
there's stuff you can't talk with your parents about.  Or
things that you can't tell anyone because they might tell
and it might fall in the ears of someone you didn't intend.

  So here was me, the non-involved third party, the impartial
objective observer, the guy on the sidelines, the bleacher
warmer, the perfect listener.  For my part, I was glad to
play the part of shoulder to cry on.  Anything for my little
Kitten.

  An bright orange bird lit upon a nearby branch and started
singing away like it was the star attraction.  I quickly
glanced at Naline to see if the sound disturbed her slumber.
I wanted in the worst way to shush the bird and get it to go
away, but I couldn't think of a way to do it that wouldn't
make more noise than it was making already.  I wished birds
had a remote control 'mute' button that I could press.  But
they didn't.  I guess nature wasn't built for my convenience.


  Naline didn't seem to be the least bit bothered by the
singing, so I quit straining my brain in search of ways of
getting the bird to be quiet.  Come to think of it, its
singing was quite pleasant.  Pretty, almost.

  Alright, I hear you fussing at me, telling me to quit
being an old curmudgeon and to lighten up a bit and quit
being irritated by innocent songbirds.  You're right.  I
really had no business being bothered.  Matter of fact, I
had every reason to be as happy as I'd ever been.

  I had just eaten a great big lunch, I was sitting in a
shady woods getting sleepy, and I had my best lioness friend
napping next to me.  What more could I ask for?  Nothing much
else, I don't think.  The thought immediately brightened me
up and I actually started to enjoy the trilling tones of the
orange songbird.  I wondered if it accepted tips.

  Yeah, come to think of it, I was pretty happy just sitting
here in the savanna grasslands with Naline.  I mean, I enjoy
my profession just fine and all.  I enjoy shooting at things
and blowing things up and fighting bad guys and flashing all
over creation and causing interglobal political incidents as
much as the next guy.  Who doesn't?  But this was different.
Sitting here, I mean.

  Right here there were no big political interests at stake,
no lives in danger, no riches or fortunes on the balance, no
crucial split-second decisions to be made, no nerve-racking
hostage situations, no imminent disasters, no just about
anything that makes the life of a freelance mercenary what
it is.

  There was just me and the trees and Naline.


  And I was happy.

  I was sure there was a lesson here to be learned somewhere.
I suppose if I'd been a more intelligent and observant
individual, I would have learned that lesson and figured out
how to use it in future situations, finding innumerable and
useful and profitable applications for it in the years to
come, making my life happier and more enjoyable, and
exponentially increasing my value as a person and worth as an
individual.

  But being the person that I actually was, I just fell
asleep, unlearned and unprofited.

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