The Hyena's Bargain

In the Ethiopian dusk, a child walks out past the cooking fire and holds a tooth toward the dark. "Hyena," she whispers, "take my weak tooth. Give me a strong one." Two amber eyes blink open. "Heheheh... another brave one," the Hyena says, stepping into the firelight. His jaws can crush bone, but he takes the tiny tooth as gently as picking up a moth. "Brave," he says again, softer now. "I like brave." He turns and vanishes into the dark, carrying her courage and her tooth to a place even his jaws cannot break.