Mighty hunter

Entry in

15 for 15 Contest --- Closed  (18+) Do you have 15 minutes? Come in and join this contest! #994771 by Legerdemain

Prompt--a giraffe

"Grandpa, where did you get that lion?" Kathy asked, pointing to a stuffed lion head hanging over her grandfather's fireplace.

"Why, I shot that lion myself back in 1942," the old man answered. "Ferocious man eater it was. Killed three hunters before the Kenyan government begged me to help."

"What happened? How did you get him?"

"Well, it was a peaceful evening in the Serengeti. I was camped out at the only waterhole within miles because I knew the beast would have to get a drink sooner or later. I hid in the long grass and watched a mother giraffe and her baby lapping up water with their long pink tongues. Suddenly, the mother giraffe raised her head, sniffed the air, and snorted to her baby. The two of them bleated and ran off over the hill. I figured that whatever spooked the giraffes was hiding in the trees beside the water hole, so I took my rifle and crawled through the long grass toward the trees. Suddenly, I saw two eyes glowing in the grass in front of me and there he was, the King of Beasts. He was so close that I knew I would have only one shot. I raised my rifle and fired, just as he sprang. Those jaws were only a foot from my face when he went down."

"Grandpa," Kathy said, putting her hands on her hips. "You just made that whole story up, didn't you? Where did you really get the lion head?"

"Why of course I just made it up." The old man smiled and ruffled his granddaughter's hair. "In 1942, I was only ten years old. Do you think my parents would have let me go off to Africa hunting lions all by myself? I got the lion head at a flea market in New Jersey. But how did you know I made it up?"

Kathy smiled. "Well, because you always make up silly stories. And because we just finished studying African animals in Science class. You said the giraffes had pink tongues but my teacher told us giraffes' tongues are blue."