"Shhhhhh.. we must be quiet." The father leaned in close to his son and whispered, "You must watch. You must remember."

His young son looked quizzically at his father and asked, "Why?"

Standing at the edge of cover, the father looked around for any other predators. The cities and streets had given away to the dense jungle overgrowth many years before. What once were massive structures of concrete and steel now laid toppled and re-purposed.

Down below in the meadow the pride of lions was circling and stalking their lone prey in a diorama of death and recycling of life. The father whispered, "Because you are seeing the last of its kind. The extinction of yet another species." Father and son watched as the circle tightened. There was nothing to be done.

"Why is there only one left? What happened to the rest?"

The father sighed as he remembered the world as it once was. Then he began slowly, "The inability to share the bounty of Gaia as intended. Dominance was sought. Wars were begun. All species suffered, not just us."

The son looked at his father and tearfully said, "I feel sorry but I don't know why."

They both watched as the pride was now mere feet from their prey. Scrambling to escape, it tried to climb a tree but fell back, then crawled into the foliage to no advantage.

"What will happen?" the son asked in his youthful innocence.

"The end will happen," said the father. "There are no more. No mates. No more will ever be." Then he continued, "They killed us. We killed them. Then they began killing each other to survive with minimal resources. Extinction of species was inevitable."

Suddenly there was a loud roar from the pride as they launched their attack below. The prey fought heroically but the end was never in doubt. A final howl signaled the death knell as the lions overcame its fight for life. The father said, "We must go," and nudged his son back into the cover.

The father and son zebras fled to safety as the last man on earth was killed.