Every movement in the grass

[keannu]

Source : A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue, Chapter 8, 40p

....He clung to Uncle like a baby of a little boy, hanging on to his hand or shirttail when he could, never letting Uncle get farther than an arm's length away.
He looked around constantly. Every movement in the grass was a lion stalking, every stillness a lion waiting to spring.

I can't understand the underlined two sentences. Could you explain them?

 

[emsr2d2]

Please edit post 1 to use appropriate capitalisation in the book title.

 

[5jj]

Source : A long walk to water by Linda Sue, Chapter 8, 40p

....He clung to Uncle like a baby [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] or a little boy,

'He' was terrified. Every time the grass moved in the wind, he thought the movement was that of a lion stalking them. If the grass didn't move, he thought the lion must be waiting to spring on them.

 

[teechar]

Every movement in the grass was a lion stalking, and every stillness was a lion waiting to spring.

That's the full form. The meaning is figurative, as explained by 5jj above.