As I started to sharpen my pencil, the world faded. My surroundings blurred. Then I saw a teenager with red and purple hair that stuck up in spikes. She had on tight black sweater that showed her belly button, really baggy black jeans, and black combat boots with thick soles.
"Hi, I'm Jenna," she said. "Welcome to Tigeria." She shook my hand as a jungle started to materialize behind her. Then a small tiger pounced on her!
"Karl! Get off me!" cried Jenna.
"I was just trying to have some fun," said the tiger, changing into human boy.
"Karl? How did you get here?" I asked.
"I was learning to sharpen my pencil," Karl explained. "Mom was showing me with the pencil sharpener upstairs in her study that we're never allowed to use." I was even more confuserd now. Karl is my four year old little brother who has blonde hair and hazel eyes with a birthmark in his right eye. I have long blonde hair a couple inches below my shoulders, blue eyes, and purple glasses. I love to read, so I guess that makes me a bookworm. My name is Marian.
"I guess you're wondering how Karl can turn into a tiger. You are in Tigeria now, so change. Just think of a tiger," Jenna instructed. I pictured a tiger in my head. All of a sudden, everything was a little taller than usual. I tried to say "what?", but all that came out was a huge roar. Then I concentrated harder.
"Hi Jenna."
"Wow! You've mastered talking already! It usually takes people longer than that."
"I just have to concentrate," I said with little difficulty.
"It will become easier later on," Jenna sympathized.
"How long will I be here?" I questioned her.
"Forever. Why don't I show you to your cave?" she said quickly.
"Okay," I answered, dazed. I kept thinking of what she said. Forever? Maybe I heard her wrong. I can't stay here forever.
"Jenna, I con't stay here forever," I said uneasily. She acted as if she hadn't heard me. She started to shrink and grow orange and black fur. After about three seconds, she was a tiger. We frolicked through the large, thick jungle until we came to my cave in a small clearing. There was a boulder blocking the entrance. We had a gigantic amount of space. After your cave and yard, there would be another boulder in another clearing. Between the caves there was more forest. She pressed the middle of the boulder in front of my cave with her huge paw and it rapidly moved aside.
"Are all the caves like this?" I inquired.
"Yes; this is Boulder City," Jenna responded. There was a pretty orange door behind the boulder.
"I understand orange is your favorite color," she said.
"Yup," I answered. I walked through the door. "Bye, Jenna!" I called and tried to wave as I shut the door. All there was inside was a small platform, big enough for six tigers. Then, it slowly sunk down about fifteen feet. I got off it into a large, but incredibly dark room. I had to jump to turnn on the light. Inside were a few regular sized rooms. The first room had crimson red carpeting and dark green walls. There was a pale green couch and dark wooden coffee table. There were also red and white roses in a clear vase on the table with a dark green, thick ribbon tied around it in a bow.
Next, I walked in to the ktchen. There was a white fridge and the floor was dark mahogany. The walls were white too, and on the spotless white counter in the middle of the room was a dark wooden bowl filled with bright, colorful fruit. There was a white sink and dark wooden cabinets above the sink, below the sink, and above the fridge. There was a white stove with burners on the top and a white dishwasher on the other side of the room.
After that, I walked into the second to last room. It was a dining room. It had a large oval shaped table of dark wood in the center of the room. It had six chairs around it; two on each long side and one at each end. Above me was a chandelier with about a thousand tiny diamonds on it. Below me was a royal purple carpet. On the table, there was another vase but this time it was filled with yellow carnations. The walls were also a deep, rich purple.
"Wow," I whispered in awe as I walked into my bedroom. It was strange because it was in a triangular shape. However, despite its shape, it was easily the largest room in the house. It had an orange carpet and wallpaper that was white with delicate blue flowers. A dark wooden bookcase bordered one wall and my bed had it's side pressed up against another. My bedspread matched the wallpaper and had tons of pillows in shades of blue and orange and in all shapes and sizes. Under the bed were a few drawers containing the clothes that I had never had the money to buy and that were all my style and in my favorite colors. The third wall had the wooden door I had walked into to enter my room.
"Cool," I said as I turned into a human again. On my bed was a blue journal with a picture of a white rose on it and a pencil. I'll write in it later, I decided. On my bookcase was a black pencil sharpener. I walked out the door and turned into a tiger. I ran out of the house to have some fun
I ran for a bit, and then heard the sound of running water. I galloped toward it and came to a beautiful clear pool of water with a waterfall feeding it. There was a cute boy my age swimming in it with his clothes on. I changed back into a human and asked him,
"How do you get out of here?"
"What?" asked the brown-haired boy, turning around to face me.
"This is my first time here and I've met Jenna, but she says I have to stay here forever." I thought I saw a flicker of understanding on his face but it was gone when I looked more closely. The boy smiled. He had a lovely smile.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"I'm Marian. What's yours?"
"Raul," answered the brown haired boy. I told him how I got here, and soon we were swapping stories and laughing. After a while, he said he had to go and we told each other where we lived, so that we could maybe look each other up later. It was only after he was gone that I remembered my question. I set off to find Jenna.
When I finally did find her, she was talking to one of her friends.
"Jenna, am I really stuck here forever?" I asked, interrupting her and her friend.
"Yes. Do you think I would lie to you?" she answered crossly.
"No, bu-"
"Well, now you know. Now if you'll excuse me I was talking to my friend here," she said with an attitude. She turned back to her friend and commenced speaking once again as if I wasn't there. My heart fell as I changed back into a tiger and ran back to my cave.
Once in my room, I resumed my human form and began to write about my day in my journal. I wrote:
I met this really great guy named Raul today in Tigeria. This is completely crazy though! Jenna says I have to stay here indefinately. I can't stay here forev-
My pencil broke. I walked to the pencil sharpener, stuck my pencil in, and turned the handle.
ZAP! I was back at school!
When the day was over (I barely managed to stumble through it) I rode my bike home. I told my mom about what happened. A funny smile came over her face when I talked about Raul, and she frowned when I told her how Jenna made me think I would have to stay there forever.
"It's finally happened! I went there for the first time when I was your age too. I showed Karl it today, but it's usually best to wait until you're as old as you are. That's why I never showed you. I told Jenna that she should start thinking about bringing you there about a week ago," she explained.
I took a minute to mull this over and then I said, "Mom?"
"What?"
"I'm going to Tigeria!"
Back to Stories
Back to Main Page
