Duma

Dad, back there. We hit it.

No, we didn't hit it. Come on.

- Where is he?

- Listen. Over there.

- See it?

- Come on. Come on.

- Over there, look.

- Yeah.

Go around behind.

- Got it!

- Xan! Xan! Here!

Here! Here!

Slow down, you!

All right, what's that?

How the devil did

you get out here, fella?

- He's shaking like a leaf. See that?

- Yep.

- You think he's lost, what?

- Yeah.

- Yeah?

- See his mom?

No.

Well...

I think you're right, yeah.

Come here, you.

Here, take him. Take him.

Hey, you.

How's he doing? He's hungry, huh?

What on earth are you doing?

Watch and learn, my friend.

Ice cream goes in here.

Flower goes on top.

Baby bottle.

Enjoy.

Cheers.

- He's a feisty guy.

- Yeah. And voil.

He's drinking.

- His face. Black streaks.

- Yeah.

- You know what that means.

- What?

A cheetah.

A cheetah. Yeah.

The world's fastest animal.

From zero to 60 in two seconds.

I bet it's faster than your Porsche.

Maybe.

You think we should hang on to him?

Yeah.

Why not?

Where else is he gonna go?

Xan?

We can't keep him forever.

Not any more than your mom

and I can keep you.

He's gonna go back to the world

he came from one day.

Mom! Mom!

- Get it off! Get it off!

- Mom, hurry! It's got Dad!

- It's a monster! Come on! Come on!

- Save yourselves!

- God, it's ripping me apart!

- Xan?

Stop tearing at me,

you terrible animal. It's...

Oh, hello.

Hello.

- Look what we found.

- And who's this?

That was a close one.

- Not nearly close enough.

- I was almost torn asunder.

- What is this?

- See what we found?

I'm glad I'm not his mum.

I'd be heartbroken to lose him.

Hey, sexy mama. Your place or mine?

What?

- Dad?

- Xan.

Did I tell you about teaching

that bird questionable phrases?

What did I tell you, huh?

Wait. Wait!

Wait.

Now go.

In Africa, they say that when

you give someone a name...

...they become your responsibility.

A proper name should capture

the most important qualities...

...and point them

towards a certain kind of life.

I tried different names for the cub...

...like Fuzzy, Spots or Speedy.

But nothing stuck.

As he became part of our daily lives...

...he got to know

everything around the farm.

And I think he started to feel

like it was his place too.

Then Mom thought of Duma,

the Swahili word for cheetah.

We all thought it sounded pretty good.

So then Duma became our responsibility.

- How fast does it go?

- Don't worry about how fast now.

Don't worry about how fast.

Just worry about how to start, all right?

- Yeah.

- A little petrol, just a little.

- Press this down.

- And what is that gear?

One down...

Yeah, one down, four up. All right?

Put your hand on it.

Let it go. Let it go.

Go ahead.

That's it. Feel that?

- Yep.

- You like that, right?

All right, hold on.

You want to go fast now? That's it.

Try one more time.

If you let it out too fast, look.

Here, you're popping it like that.

You don't want to do that.

- Tight.

- Pull it to that side.

Tight. Tight.

Pull on it. There you go.

Beauty. One more.

There you are.

One more, one more. Tight, tight.

All right.

Now, wait. Watch it, watch it.

Don't ever underestimate what you

can do with a bit of baling wire.

It's good, eh?

Come on. Hang on! You got it!

There he goes!

Dad!

Dad!

It seemed impossible that anything bad

could have happened to my dad.

Before he got sick...

...he never let anything stop him.

He was always looking

at the bright side.

Mom and I took care of the farm

while Dad was in hospital.

The doctor said

he recovered really well...

...and that everything

was going to be okay.

Come on, Duma! Let's give it some stick!

That's 50 K!

Come on, Duma!

Look! There it is!

Look at that stride, now.

- Come on, Duma!

- Come on, boy!

Hey, we're at 60!

Now he's overtaking us!

Seventy, man!

Hang on!

I lost my hat!

Eighty!

Ninety!

- Beauty! You, beauty, you!

- Go, Duma!

- Beauty!

- A hundred, now!

From too much love of living

From hope and fear set free

We thank with brief thanksgiving

Whatever gods may be

Pause...

...after each line.

Read it like you're singing a song.

The sound of the words are the melody.

That no life lives forever

That dead men rise up never

That even the weariest river

Winds somewhere safe to sea

Mom?

I'm sorry.

- Yeah.

- Got any room for me?

Sure, Dad.

So...

We gotta talk about our friend here.

He's almost grown.

- But Duma's...

- Hang on.

He's nearly too old to survive out there.

Duma's got to live

the life he was born to.

So we gotta take him back. Now.

He doesn't want to go.

He doesn't want to be wild.

No, you can't decide that for him, Xan.

He's a wild animal. Remember?

His wildness is something...

...he knows without even knowing it.

It's in his bones. It's in his blood.

Like a memory, yeah?

Like how I know I belong here...

...on Grandpa's farm.

But there's hardly any cheetahs left.

Where else would he go

besides our farm?

We're here, yeah?

And then all the way...

...up there.

We found him here.

And just north and west...

...mountains, yeah?

Little valley.

The river.

Lots of springbok and gazelle.

Big-cat heaven.

Chase, trip, bite. How hard could it be?

Chase, trip, bite.

So you and I will take him up next week.

Okay? We'll camp out...

...do a bit of fishing.

It'll be lekker, man, send him off.

What happened?

Where's Dad?

- Hey, Xan.

- What?

Honey, we're making some changes.

Like what?

I have to lease the farm.

We'll still live in the house, won't we?

No, we're going to the city...

...to live with Aunt Gwen for a while.

I need to get a job.

What about Duma?

Duma will get a new home as well.

A big preserve where he'll have

lots of room to run around.

Xan, I have to take care of us.

- And the only way I can do that is if we...

- That's not what Dad wanted.

Xan!

Xan, your father and I talked about this.

It's the only thing we can do.

It's the only thing that makes sense.

I know this is scary.

I know it won't be easy.

We can do this if we stick together, Xan.

Thanks for having us, Gwen.

No worries.

The man from the reserve

will be here in a day or two.

Xan, wait.

All you have to do today is look

around and get the lay of the land.

Those kids don't know

anything you don't know.

You want to be a winner?

You gotta have passion, passion, fire!

Gentlemen, our day is made.

So, what have we got here? Have we

got winners, or have we got losers?

- Winners!

- Let me hear it again. Winners or losers?

Winners!

Right.

Bombardment.

One hit, and you're out.

Hello!

I'm going to go pick up Xan.

No worries. He's lovely.

Bye-bye.

- This incredible offer!

Look how lovely and creamy...

I tought I taw a puttytat.

Oh, boy.

Hello, breakfast.

Doggy!

"There are many theories about how

the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.

Some people think they used slaves

or unknown machines.

I think they used water.

They could have dug canals...

...then loaded the huge,

heavy stone blocks using ropes."

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