This book was created and published on StoryJumper™

©2014 StoryJumper, Inc.   All rights reserved.

Publish your own children's book: 

www.storyjumper.com

Contents

Ocelot Jungle

1.     A Kit is Born

2.     Leopardus’s Grudge

3.     Goodbye

   Ocelot Jungle 

   Once upon a time, a kit was born. In South America, deep in the 

heart of Bolivia, there was a place called Ocelot Jungle. This was one of the 

only places where many of the beautiful cats remained on Earth. Ocelot 

Jungle was a rainforest that looked small compared to South America, but 

was really an enormous habitat where ocelots could live in peace and 

privacy. 

   Ocelots are loners, but in the rainforest full of ocelots, the cats couldn’t 

help bumping into others of their kind. Most of the ocelots knew all the other 

ocelots in Ocelot Jungle, but every ocelot in the jungle knew Leopardus.

   Leopardus was the fiercest ocelot in the rainforest, and though he had 

been around a long time, he was still an amazing fighter. He had been 

around during the reign of the last ocelot leader, Pardalis. Unfortunately, 

Pardalis’s reign had ended 50 ocelot years ago, due to the ocelot’s 

mysterious death. After Pardalis died, there had not been another leader, 

since the ocelot never had a chance to tell anyone who it would be. 

   The only time all the ocelots in Ocelot Jungle would gather together was 

when the leader would call them for an announcement. 

   50 ocelot years ago, one of the cats remembered it was an announcement 

night. She dashed through the jungle, screeching, “Announcement Night!” to 

remind others. But when she reached the announcement clearing, 

hardly anyone was there. “Pardalis?” she asked.    The roar of 

Leopardus sounded through the night. “Our leader is dead!”     The 

ocelot watched in horror as Leopardus and another ocelot stepped into 

the moonlight, dragging Pardalis’s body behind them.   “Wh-what 

happened?” she asked, her face full of fear. “I don’t know,” said 

Leopardus. “When I was walking here, I heard a screech. Then 

everything was quiet.”

1: A Kit is Born 

  Once upon a time, a kit was born. In Ocelot Jungle, there were 

thousands of ocelots. But this story is focused on only one… a 

juvenile… who’s not even born yet.

  Ocelli was a female ocelot, 25 ocelot years old. She was nestled 

inside a large hollow tree. Ocelli needed privacy, as she was going to 

have kittens. She gnawed on a nearby plant, nervous about her 

kitting. She had never had babies before, and could only imagine what 

it would feel like.

  I hope I don’t have too many kits, she worried. Ocelli felt a tiny paw 

kicking at her belly.

  They’re ready to come out! Oh dear! Well, I might as well get it over 

with. No! I don’t even know if I’m ready. Oh, they’re going to come 

out soon! Thoughts raced through the mother-to-be’s mind.

  An elderly ocelot padded over to Ocelli. “It’s fine, Ocelli.” She 

meowed in a cracked voice. “Don’t fret.”

  Ocelli looked up. “Thank you, mother. Oh!”

  A tiny paw was struggling to come out. Another paw pushed it’s way

 into the real world. The tail, still stuck inside of Ocelli, was trying to 

squeeze out after the paws. The kitten was inside of a birth sac, which 

Ocelli would need to bite off once he came out entirely.

  “Oh…” moaned Ocelli. “It hurts…”

  “It’ll be over soon, daughter. Just stay calm.” The elderly ocelot laid a 

paw on Ocelli’s shoulder as the scrawny body of the kit inside the sac 

began to squeeze out. The tiny creature had a lot of energy, pushing 

itself back, out of his mother. With a final burst, he pulled back and 

tumbled out. Ocelli bit open the birth sac, then chewed off the birth 

cord and ate it.

  “Now another one…” mumbled Ocelli, as she curled her tail around 

the scrawny kit. But no other paw pushed it’s way out. No other body 

wriggled inside of Ocelli.

  “I think,” said her mother, indicating to the kit. “This little baby is an 

only child. Just like my father.” Her face darkened.

  “Mother!” said Ocelli. “Don’t be sad about my grandfather. You have a 

new grandchild!”

  A smile grew back on the elder’s face. “You are right, Ocelli. I should 

look on the bright side!” She turned to the kit.

 “Hello, grandson. I am your Grandmother Pardalia.”  

  The wet, blind newborn reached out an unsteady paw to her voice. 

The little fur he had was sticking to the skin on his tiny, trembling 

paw.

 Pardalia reached out her larger paw to put underneath the kit’s. He 

lifted his head, although he couldn’t see through his closed eyes.

 Ocelli purred to the newborn, “my first kitten. I will love you forever.” 

She began to lick him vigorously.

 The baby ocelot lay down and began to purr. The smells of the jungle 

wafted to his nose, and the calling of the birds sounded in his ears. It 

was his first day in this new world. The beginning. Now he could be 

free. The contented kit, purring loudly, soon drifted off to sleep. His 

first sleep. His first hour in the jungle. His first day. His first week. His 

first ocelot year. In his home. This very special kitten. He was meant 

to grow up in the jungle. He was meant to stay with his mother until 

he was 2 human years old. He was meant to become a fierce hunter. 

He was meant to live a normal ocelot life. 

  But this was a special kit, and he was meant to be something else, 

too. No one knew. Except for one cat. And if he could do anything 

about it, this kit would not be able to do anything he was meant to do. 

Not anything. Never.

2: Leopardus’s Grudge 

  When the baby was one ocelot year old, it was time for the naming. 

Ocelli, her sister; Ocella, and Pardalia gathered around the tiny kit, 

who had grown in more fur since he was first born.

 Ocelli rolled him over on his back, examined his belly, and then rolled 

him over on his side. She noticed a group of large, touching rosettes 

there. The first one looked almost like the jungle symbol for P. The set 

of dapples was a special feature she had never seen on any other 

ocelot-except for her grandfather.

  “From now on,” announced Ocelli, “this kitten will be known as 

Dapples.” She then reached out a paw and in the dirt and drew out the 

jungle symbol for Dapples around the newly named kit.

  “Hello, Dapples,” said Ocella to the kitten, who’s eyes were now open 

to see her.

  “Hello,” Dapples,” whispered Pardalia. “You look just like my father.”

Dapples looked around and mewed at every face he saw.

It had been nearly 1 ocelot years since the naming, and Dapples and 

his mother were taking a walk around the jungle. A breeze brew by, 

carrying with it two pairs of scarlet wings. There was a little black 

body beneath the wings, but quite unnoticeable to Dapples.

  “Mommy, what is it?” he mewed.

  “That is a wispwing,” replied Ocelli in a warm voice. Dapples 

stumbled after the wispwing, then crouched down.

  “No, Dapples!” called Ocelli. “We do not hunt wispwings. We hunt 

small furprey, featherprey, and scaleprey.” 

  The kitten stood up and watched the scarlet wispwing flutter away. 

He walked back to his mother, just as a large ocelot emerged from the 

bushes ahead. 

  The cat lumbered towards Ocelli, and Dapples, seeing his red eyes, 

hid behind his mother’s back. The tom approached the queen and 

glanced down at Dapples, the tiny kit peeking out from behind his 

mother with round, blue eyes.

  “Hello, Leopardus,” said Ocelli. 

  “Greetings,” growled the tom. “What are you doing next to my 

territory?”

  “I had to move for my kitting.”

  Leopardus looked down at the kit, and his face softened. “She’s a 

pretty young ocelot.”

  “Thank you,” purred Ocelli. “But he’s a male.”

  Suddenly, Leopardus stiffened. For a few moments he did not speak, 

then growled, “oh.” He must have noticed that Ocelli was about to ask 

what happened, because he turned around and lumbered off toward 

the rock tunnel.

  “Leopardus?” called Ocelli. “I thought you were going the other way. 

The rock tunnel leads to the Cave of Prophecy!” 

  But the tom was to far away to hear her. 

  Little Dapples crept out from behind his mother and mewed. He 

rubbed against Ocelli’s leg.

  “It’s okay, Dapples!” purred the queen. “Leopardus is not a mean 

cat!” She turned away and mumbled to herself, “but there is 

something up with him.”

 Half an ocelot year after Dapple’s first encounter with Leopardus, 

Ocelli and her kitten were living 50 miles away from their old territory 

in the peaceful grove. Their new territory was thick with overgrown 

plants, and several little pesky creatures were hiding in the foliage. 

The area was not a good place for kits, but Ocelli had sensed that 

Leopardus had a grudge against her son, and wanted to protect 

Dapples by hiding in the ‘Overgrown Wilderness’. The place was full of 

prey, and Ocelli was glad that Dapples was now almost old enough to 

be a hunter. He needed to learn soon, now that they were living here. 

She believed her son would be ready to be taught in half an ocelot 

year.

  One night, Ocelli decided to quickly go catch some prey. She knew 

Dapples was old enough to stay in the nest by himself for a while, but 

was always worrying about her son.

  “Now Dapples,” she told her son. “I’ll be back soon. You just stay 

here in the nest, okay?”

  “Okay,” mewed the kitten, who was gnawing on a stick in his nest.

  “And don’t get any bark stuck in your throat,” Ocelli growled softly. 

She then plodded away into the grass, looking for any small creatures. 

She didn’t wander away too far, as Dapples was still young. But she 

didn’t spot any sudden movement. Her eyes flashed through the 

darkness, looking around. As she continued to walk forward, her 

whiskers sensed something. Ocelli looked down. It was just a nut. 

Small, round. Of no interest to an ocelot. The queen raised her head to 

see a few more nuts scattered over the ahead.

  A rodent ahead scurried over to one of the nuts, and Ocelli saw her 

chance. She lay flat on her stomach and began to silently creep 

forward. The rodent didn’t notice as Ocelli stalked closer…and closer. 

The queen was now just a few meters away from him. She rushed 

forward. The rodent looked up, but it was too late-Ocelli had pounced. 

Big paws came thundering down, pinning him to the ground. The 

rodent was killed with a quick bite to the neck.

  Meanwhile, Dapples was tumbling around in the nest. He fell over 

backwards, out of the nest, and when he sat up, he saw a flash of 

movement near a thicket. Instinct told the ocelot to follow it. Dapples’ 

tail twitched. He ran forward, paws hitting the ground. The kitten

picked up speed, running so rapidly that he crashed right into the 

thicket.

  It was darker in there, but Dapples’ eyes easily adjusted. What he 

saw was…nothing. Just thicket. He turned around, looking for 

whatever he had chased. But there was no movement, nothing. 

Dapples decided to go back to the nest to wait for his mother. 

Suddenly, something grabbed him.

  Ocelli trotted through the foliage. The rodent she had caught had 

been her meal of the day - it had been delicious! In her jaws she held 

a scrabbling lizard for Dapples. A few weeks after the naming, she had 

started bringing him live prey to grab and eat. He was still young, but 

was getting good at it. Ocelli passed the claw-sharpening tree. She 

was near the nest. But when she pushed through the plants and 

reached the nest, she almost dropped the lizard. Dapples was 

unbelievably - yet conspicuously - gone! 

  The kitten squealed as rough claws snagged the scruff of his neck, 

pulling him through the thicket and into a large hollow tree. Dapples’ 

attacker let go of the kitten and he fell to the ground. 

Dapples scrambled back up to see who had attacked him. But when he 

saw, his eyes grew wide in fear. And then it was only him and the tom 

in the world. There was nobody else, nothing else. The tom’s head 

drew closer.

  Both of his torn ears were flattened back. His rosettes looked like 

fire, ready to burn the kitten. That’s what the tom was- fire. Wildfire. 

Bad fire. He was grinning to show every one of his sharp, yellow teeth. 

His eyes were blazing red, burning into Dapples’. The fur on the back 

of his neck looked as if someone had been pulling on it for days. His 

hackles were raised. And, the tom was big.

  There was an eerie feeling in that darkness, everlasting silence. 

Dapples then felt a small vibration. The large tom seemed not to 

notice it. But Dapples felt someone else in the room with him. He 

heard, “You killed me, Leopardus!” Then it was gone. Before Dapples 

had time to think about that, the tom began to speak. He was 

whispering. Whispering fiercely. No, not whispering, talking quietly. 

Yelling quietly.

  “Listen, kit,” hissed the tom. “I know what’s happening here, and I 

am not letting that happen. I have control over you. When you are 

sent away, you are never coming back!”

  “DAPPLES!” called Ocelli. “Where are you?”   She frantically looked 

around. Where was her precious kit? Had a vicious creature taken him 

away? Suddenly, her ears pricked up to the sound of a rustling in the 

thicket. Ocelli spun around and saw a small, tan head emerge.

  “Great Pardalis,” she cried, racing toward her son.

  The young cat walked stiffly toward her. His face was expressionless, 

and there seemed to be something eerie about him. He was not 

leaping out of the bushes with an open mouth and playful eyes. He 

was not slinking out, tail between his legs and ears trembling.

  “Dapples!” cried Ocelli. “Are you okay?”

  “Mm hm.” He muttered, walking toward the nest with no emotions.

  What happened to my son? Ocelli wondered. He just isn’t himself. 

She followed Dapples over to the nest.

  A few days later, Dapples was acting like himself again. At night, 

Ocelli was nervous to leave him alone to go hunting again, so she 

decided that maybe it was time to bring him along.

  “Dapples,” she called. “It’s time for you to practice hunting!” The kit 

immediately sat up in the nest, eyes gleaming, tail twitching.

  “Yay!” he mewed.

  “Come along, now, son. The best prey is this way,” Ocelli started 

walking off. Dapples leapt out of the nest and followed her. But before 

the two went very far, a large ocelot crossed their path. It was 

Leopardus.

  “Hello, Leopardus,” said Ocelli. But the big cat just continued 

walking, ignoring the two.

  “Humph,” muttered Ocelli. “What is up with him?”

  After a bit more walking, Ocelli told Dapples to stop. Ahead of them 

was a creature.

  “Is that furprey?” whispered Dapples. Ocelli nodded. “We have to 

sneak up on him. Do what I do.”

  Silently, the queen dropped into a crouch. Dapples crouched, too. 

Ocelli carefully put one paw forward. Then the other. Dapples began to 

slink forward as well. He lifted his back paw, then put it forward a 

little too hard. THUMP!

  Ocelli froze. Luckily, the furprey ahead hadn’t heard the thump. The 

two continued slinking forward. Soon they were very close their prey. 

Then, without warning, Ocelli started running toward it. Dapples, still 

in a crouch, jumped up and raced to keep up with her. The furprey’s 

ears twitched. It started to run away. Then the ocelots pounced. They 

both landed on the furprey.

  “Finish him off,” Ocelli told Dapples. The young ocelot gave the 

furprey a quick bite to the neck.

  “Can I eat it, mommy?” he asked. 

  “Go ahead,” said Ocelli.

  The next day, Dapples was napping in the nest, and Ocelli needed to 

urinate. She trotted off to find a thicket where she could go. Soon, she 

spied one. But when Ocelli got closer to the thicket, she heard 

something coming from behind it. Cautiously, the queen stepped 

forward and put her head against the thicket. The voice she heard 

made her gasp. It was Leopardus!

3: Goodbye

  Once upon a time, a kit was sent to sea. The fierce, yet quiet 

voice of Leopardus could hardly be hear from inside the thicket. Ocelli 

pressed her head closer, straining her ears. It wasn’t nice to 

eavesdrop, but what if Leopardus was up to no good? Suddenly, Ocelli 

heard a different voice. This one was rough and loud.

  “Ocelli.” The queen gasped as a new voice sounded behind her. She 

spun around, teeth bared, then stopped. It was her mother.

  “What are you doing?” growled Pardalia.

  “Mother, get over here!” hissed Ocelli. Pardalia, puzzled, stepped 

forward. She leaned her head against the thicket, but after a few 

moments recoiled in fear.

  “Mother!” mewed Ocelli quietly. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s disgraceful.”

  “What?”

  “I-I’m scared of Leopardus and Dente.”

  “What? Why? Who’s Dente?”

  “It happened over 50 ocelot years ago. They-they were the last ones 

with my father. I forgot. I should have been there.”   “What happened?”  

“Pardalis had an urgent message- he was going to announce the future 

leader. That morning, he told me and the other high-rank ocelots that 

announcement night would be that night. I, as his daughter and only 

living child, had to be there early. I waited all day to hear the urgent 

message. That night Leopardus and his friend Dente were holding his 

dead body. Today I’m still waiting for the message although it never 

will be heard. Unless magic happens. Magic will never happen now 

that we have no leader. Never.”   Ocelli saw her mother’s eyes well up 

with tears. “He never said goodbye to me! Spirits always say goodbye, 

unless they come back, which they never do.”   Ocelli suddenly realized 

something. Pardalia was crying. Ocelots couldn’t cry. Ocelots could 

only cry if they were a high-rank ocelot, such as a moonchanter or 

family of the leader. But there was no leader, and no magic. Ocelli put 

her paw out and caught one of the tears that had fallen from Pardalia’s 

eye.    “Mother,” she whispered. “Stop crying or it will all be gone!”  

Pardalia wiped her eyes. “What?”   Ocelli held out her paw. There was a 

drop of salty water still on the pad. “Magic!” she said.   Pardalia’s eyes 

grew wide. “Hold that,” she whispered, then carefully lifted a leaf from 

the 

ground and held it out. Ocelli tilted her paw and the water droplet fell 

onto the leaf.   “I’m taking this to Lux,” whispered Pardalia. Lux was a 

female ocelot who had once been a moonchanter, a high-ranking cat 

who could summon the moon.   Pardalia carefully stepped forward, 

holding the leaf in her mouth. Slowly she walked out of the thicket, 

balancing the one magical tear on the leaf.   “Be careful,” Ocelli 

whispered to her mother, then put her head against the thicket again.  

“I’m telling you again, Dente,” hissed Leopardus. “The Cave of 

Prophecy is always right! We have waited too long… It’s time to get rid 

of that kit!”   Ocelli gasped in fear. They were talking about Dapples! 

Unfortunatly, she had gasped a little too loud.   “Dente,” the pitch of 

Leopardus’s voice was rising. “What was that noise?”   Frantically, 

Ocelli looked around. Where was the way out? Then she saw an 

opening between two trees. The queen scrambled up and raced toward 

the opening. She could hear footsteps behind her, growing louder and 

louder. With a final burst, Ocelli made it through the opening. But 

when she tried to run back home, she felt a tug on her tail. Someone 

was biting it! Ocelli struggled to free herself of Dente’s grasp while 

Leopardus walked up beside her.   “Ocelli,” he growled. “Why were you 

in that thicket?”

  “To urinate,” spat Ocelli.    “Why did you run?”   “Because you were 

chasing me.”   Leopardus frowned. “Then why did you gasp?”   Ocelli’s 

relief at getting through the first 2 questions vanished. What could she 

say? The queen’s breathing quickened and her eyes darted around.  

“Well?” smiled Leopardus.   “Yeah,” Dente walked up to the other side 

of Ocelli. “Why were you spying on us?”   Ocelli pushed up her back 

legs and ran, kicking dust into the toms’ faces.    “Hey!” screeched 

Leopardus. “Get back here!” But Ocelli ran. It was the only thing to do. 

She couldn’t look back; she had to keep going forward. She had to run 

for the rest of her life.    “Mommy!” yowled Dapples. “What’s 

happening?” The queen lifted her son by the scruff of his neck, then 

turned and ran.   “What are you doing?” cried Dapples. “I can run by 

myself!”   “We need to get away,” Ocelli’s voice was muffled. 

“Leopardus has turned against you!”   Dapples wiggled in the air, plants 

brushing against his face. Below him was the dirt ground, covered in 

plants. He could see his mother’s paws stretch forward, then pull back. 

Forward, then back. He looked ahead and saw they were heading 

straight for a large tree. Just in time he was yanked out of the way, his 

limbs flailing. He swung to the side, then down again. As his mother 

thundered across the rocky ground he felt 

himself shaking and jolting, up and down. Dapples let his limbs go 

limp. Ocelli thundered down the path, heading out of the Overgrown 

Wilderness.

  As she raced along, Dapples began to feel different. This was no 

longer a bumpy ride, he had begun to feel steady. He was on an 

adventure now. The thumping of his mother’s paws upon the ground, 

the beating of the way that they always came down, had begun to 

sound rhythmic. He begun to feel the wind on his face. Blowing his fur 

back, giving him a brave look. So Dapples closed his eyes and snarled. 

Those moments. Those few moments when he was the leader. 

  Then, in those few moments, he felt it again. He felt the vibrations, 

the vibrations in the eerie air. Or maybe that air was not so eerie. 

Maybe it was just different. Maybe he needed to get used to it. Being 

alone, being grown up, feeling vibrations, the wind on his face. Then 

he heard, “I am Pardalis!” Before it could settle in, he felt a jolt and 

those few moments, the moments when he was great, when he was 

leader, ended.

During the reign of Pardalis, Lux had lived in a moonchanter hut down 

by Silver Streams. She still lived in one now. Moonchanter huts were 

amazing ocelot homes. The huts began as either a hollow tree, a rocky 

outcropping, or a large hole in the ground. They had to be near a 

stream, and surrounded by something such as a thicket or water. 

Moonchanters helped all ocelot citizens, and there was always an 

underground escape route attached to their den in case of emergency. 

Moonchanter huts always were built on the edge of Bolivia nearest to 

Chile. The escape route would last a long way, through the top of Chile 

and down to the coast there.

  Lux’s hut had begun as a rocky outcropping. Lux had made an 

outside wall using wood, mud and grass. The hut was surrounded by a 

pool of water. The water extended deep into the ground, so the escape 

route was the kind with rafts. At the end of the long route, once you 

climbed out of the ground, another rocky outcropping would be 

hanging over you. The inside of Lux’s moonchanter hut was filled with 

all sorts of things. There was a large pit covered with driftwood that 

contained food. Another pit contained herbs for the sick. On the 

muddy wall, there were many leaves. Lux had pressed moss into the 

dirt-covered ground to make it softer for visitors. Now the moss was 

being padded 

You've previewed 26 of 40 pages.

To read more: