His paws held the ground.
The next moment waited.
The rabbit had found time to wash an ear. The leopard would have preferred it to continue eating.
With its head down, it had been moving slowly across the open ground. Now it sat upright beyond the old water channel, one foot passing over its face. From behind a fallen block of stone, the leopard watched the foot complete another journey.
He lowered his shoulders a little farther.
The Short Way
Afternoon light lay across the dry outskirts of Wadi Nara. Behind the channel, palms rose beside the old caravan buildings. A camel bell sounded somewhere beyond them, followed by a voice too distant to make out.
The leopard knew this stretch of ground. He had crossed it when water still darkened the channel’s bottom. Now dry leaves collected between its stone walls, and a broad slab formed a narrow bridge over the deepest part.
The rabbit sat on the other side, beyond the reach of a single leap. Farther behind it, a thorn bush spread low branches over a tangle of exposed roots.
The air came toward the leopard, carrying the rabbit’s scent. He moved along the fallen block, keeping his belly close to the warm sand. When the rabbit bent to eat again, he placed one forepaw on the slab.
At its edge, a few grains slipped into a crack.
He stopped. The rabbit tore another blade of grass free.
The leopard shifted his weight forward just enough to bring his other paw beside the first. Beneath him, the stone made a small, dry click.
One corner dipped.
He drew his weight back onto the bank. Sand continued trickling through the gap after his paws had left it.
Across the channel, the rabbit was still eating.
Around the End
The leopard turned uphill, following the channel toward the place where its walls disappeared beneath a shelf of rock. From there, he could go around its end and come down on the rabbit’s side.
Dry grass brushed his whiskers. He stepped over a broken clay pipe, passed behind a palm, and paused where the ground began to slope down again.
The rabbit had moved closer to the thorn bush.
He advanced between two stones. A breeze crossed his flank and stirred the grass ahead of him. The rabbit lifted its nose.
He held still.
Its ears turned toward him. Then its body tightened, the back feet settling beneath it.
The leopard sprang from firm ground.
For three bounds, the rabbit remained ahead of him. Dust rose beneath his paws; the camel bell vanished under the rush of his own movement. He reached the bush as a small white tail slipped between the roots.
His outstretched paw met thorn and packed earth.
He pulled it back.
Beneath the Roots
The opening was too narrow for his head. He looked along the bush, but its branches lay close to the ground, with roots crossing beneath them. Somewhere inside, a leaf moved.
The leopard sat beside a stone and lifted his forepaw. A little grit lodged between two toes. He worked it out with his tongue, set the paw down, and flexed it against the sand.
Behind him, his tracks curved around the channel. The slab lay tilted over its dark gap.
He stood and moved farther along the thicket, placing each foot on the firmer ground beside the roots. Through an opening, he caught sight of one brown eye. It disappeared when he turned toward it.
He lowered himself a few paces away.
A small nose emerged beneath the lowest branch. The rabbit reached for a blade of grass and drew it inside.
The leopard watched the empty space where the grass had been.
Then another blade vanished.
Dinner was having seconds.
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