Themes of Love and Hope

In some places, people believe that nature exists for exploitation – a resource to be used for financial gain with no inherent value to us. They argue that nature cannot be bought, eaten, or utilized in any meaningful way, so why bother preserving it? Such individuals, however, lack a true understanding of life. But not everyone shares this perspective. Take Mrs. Linguine, for example. She was a kind-hearted, middle-aged woman who loved animals. To her, the world was like her own child, a responsibility she would care for and nurture until her last breath. Unfortunately, her husband stood in stark contrast. He was a poacher with a sole focus on obtaining animal skins, indifferent to the consequences, despite receiving his wife’s love. However, this all changed one day.

RING! RING – “Hello?” said Mr. Linguine as he picked up the phone.

“Yes, this is Linguine. A ten-foot tigress? An adult female? Where did you last see the pugmarks? Worth a lot of money, you say. Alright, let’s plan for the hunt tonight. Don’t let anybody else know about it; the police have been very active lately.”

Mrs. Linguine, who was about to serve her husband breakfast, stopped in her tracks behind him. He was going to hunt a tiger? She couldn’t let that happen!

“Uh, dear?” She raced after him. “Dear, can you go do the groceries tonight? It’s very urgent.”

Her husband turned to face her. “No, Elaine, I am busy tonight, maybe tomorrow.”

“Please, Carlos? Like I said, very urgent; we are out of, um, peas!”

“No! I said I can’t tonight! I have a lot of critical work tonight! I will go tomorrow. No more talking!” With that, he grumbled off.

That night, when her husband hoisted his gun, strapped on his boots, and prepared to hunt, Mrs. Linguine pulled on her shawl, tied back her long black hair, and got ready to follow her dear husband and stop him from committing this atrocious act.

They journeyed into the woods, holding their breath and waiting!

Suddenly, Mr. Linguine heard a low growl. He immediately lifted his gun. There, in front of him, was the magnificent beast whose skin would make him the wealthiest man on the planet. The tigress walked slowly towards him, growling and glaring.

Mr. Linguine wasn’t afraid. All he could think of was how many bottles of whiskey he would buy with the money. When the tigress decided she couldn’t wait any longer, she pounced. Two hundred kilograms of pure homicide landed on Mr. Linguine, piercing his stomach and chest. He cried out in pain, and without thinking, he pulled the trigger. A bullet cut through the air, moving faster and faster towards the tigress. Then, BOOM! The tigress fell dead upon the solid, hard soil. Beside her, Mr. Linguine’s hand, still clutching the gun, fell limp by his side.

Just then, Mrs. Linguine ran into the woods. When she saw what had happened, blood rushed to her ears. She kneeled next to her deceased husband and sobbed miserably.

She felt bitter towards the woods that she had once loved so much. She felt like this loss had been embedded in her heart, and that she would never recover from it. In front of her eyes flew all the moments that they had spent together, making her cry even more. She buried her face in her grubby palms and wept. She couldn’t believe her precious, lovely nature had destroyed her life like this. She had lost all hope.

That’s when she heard a soft, restrained purr. She looked around but couldn’t spot where it might have come from. Then slowly, an adorable but frightened tiny tiger cub emerged from the bush. It tottered towards a surprised, lonely Mrs. Linguine. She quickly dried her tears.

“Well, aren’t you sweet? Was this your tigress mother then? She was trying to save you?”

The cub purred and licked his tigress mother’s paw. Then it leaped softly into Mrs. Linguine’s arms, symbolizing that it was no longer uneasy about being around a different person.

“I think I’ll name you, Simba, which means powerful king. Simba! Yes, that’ll do very well,” she smiled down at Simba.

Mrs. Linguine couldn’t help but feel joyful at the little cub. That’s when she knew she had a new duty now; the cub was now her child. She needed to take care of and nurture HIM. It wouldn’t dwell on the past because this little cub had lived and brought hope to her. She now had a whole new LIFE ahead of her, and she wasn’t going to throw it away.

This story of Mrs. Linguine and Simba shows how strong and caring women can be, even when things are tough. It teaches us that being kind to nature can make a big difference. No matter how sad things get, there’s a chance for happiness and a fresh start. Mrs. Linguine’s story reminds us that love and compassion can change the world around us.

-Srinika Mukherjee, an eighth-grade student, is a budding author with two published books and a fervent passion for music.