Chapter 1 – Summer holidays
It’s that time again, when kids go running around outside and the temperature rising every minute of the day. When people eat Popsicles and spend their day sun bathing. Summer Holidays… School is over for the season and it’s time to take a break from all the exams and essays. I don’t normally go outside, especially when I’m in my cozy bedroom with all my books and my computer, but in summer holidays I feel like I could do anything.
The waves crashed down onto the sea as we walked down the Sandhills above. My friend, Cat, was settling down on the picnic blanket, helping her parents prepare the food and refreshments while Michael, her little brother, was building sand castles by the shoreline, picking up his plastic red shovel to scoop up wet sand. I looked out into the blissful sea and wondered how long this would last, no more school, no more stress. Just the peaceful landscape beyond the ocean. I breathed in the fresh air and smiled as I felt it entering my lungs and escaping through my mouth, as if draining all the sadness in the world away.
As I trekked forward, my toes felt something underneath all the glittering golden sand. It might just be a broken shell, but my curiosity took the best of me as I leaned down to pick it up. It was just a piece of paper. I should have known ! I continued walking down to the waters and left the piece of paper lay on the sand, folded slightly in half. I looked over to the picnic blanket and saw Cat already skidding down the Sandhills towards me.
“Ready to surf ?” She giggled with a little wink.
“You’re on !” I lunged myself forward and entered the water, waiting for the perfect moment to arrive, but Cat was a better surfer and kept going, only to catch a big wave of saltwater. I clapped my hands as she paddled back to me with pride.
“Cool ! How did you know that there was a huge wave coming ?”
She shrugged and gave me a thoughtful look. “I don’t know. The waves were just calling me.”
I laughed at her joke and we both scrambled up the Sandhills to the picnic area, where Mrs Webster was. She was applying sunscreen as we reached the blanket and we both flopped down beside her. She shot us a grateful smile, then handed us a piece of juicy red watermelons each. Juice dripped down from the piece I was holding and landed on my toe, but I really didn’t care. I nibbled on the piece of fruit, making the sensation last as long as possible, then tossed the core into the bin nearby. I never tasted a watermelon this juicy before.
“Mum, could we get some fish and chips after this ?” Cat enquired cheerfully as she trotted down into the shoreline. Mrs Webster nodded and scanned through her purse, pulling out a twenty dollar note. I strolled down the Sandhills after Cat and raced her to the ocean, tripping over the waves as we go. Cat stopped for a second and picked up a seashell from the shallow waters, then raced back to her mother. I could tell she loves seashells as much as she loves surfing, and so do I, but I am better off leaving them on the beach for the crabs to reuse than to keep on my bedroom shelf.
After many hours, the pale blue sky has already turned a dark golden colour as the sun began to tiptoe towards the horizon. Mr and Mrs Webster were packing their things as me and Cat continued blabbing about how we wanted summer holidays to go on forever, but we knew it’s not possible. We waved our goodbyes and gone our separate ways, turning back to check whether we have gone out of view.
I walked through the shoreline and let the water reach the end of my toes, breathing deeply, letting my worries leave my body. It felt nice to see that I could just calm myself down as moonrise approaches and to feel so free from the stress and anxiety of the city beyond. I just wished it was like this everyday, just me and Cat, playing together by the waters of the ocean.
I looked on and caught sight of a shadowing figure, leaning down and picking up sand. It looked like a young child, no older than six years old, who was taking a shovel and carefully digging into the sand. As I drew closer to the child, I realised two things. One, that little boy was Michael, Cat’s little brother. And two, I could hear a shark nearby. Oh no…
Chapter 2 – Letters and voices
“Megan !” I heard a voice calling out behind me. It was Cat, running down from the heap of sand and racing towards Michael, panting as she splashed into the water to grab her little brother. For a moment, I just stood there, then hauled myself onto Michael to keep him from wriggling around. His tiny hands slapped onto my arms and his foot kicked furiously, keeping us from holding him still. The shark is coming, I could sense it, I could hear it.
A triangular shape emerged from the deep ocean waters as we tried to get Michael out of the water, struggling to keep our heads up. Cat yanked on his arm and pulled him out of the water, brushing off the sand in his red sun-burnt face. He had his arm crossed with his shovel on one hand and plastic yellow beach themed bucket in the other, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.
“what were you thinking, going out so far into the ocean like that ?” Cat snapped angrily as she took his shovel out of his hands.
“You called me a wuss.”
I looked at Michael’s young eyes, then sighed deeply. I knew he wasn’t such a forgiving person when it comes to calling him names. Mrs Webster came down from the Sandhills and picked up the young boy, giving off warnings to him. I could see Cat was worried about him, especially when he’s out this late. I gave Cat another wave of goodbye and headed straight up the sand hills, halting by a small white car. By the driver’s seat, was Tom, who was texting on his phone while waiting for me. I could tell he was here for more than half an hour, but I don’t expect him to blame me.
“Megan. You’re late.” He hissed between his typing. I couldn’t help but giggle about what he was texting about and open the door of the back seat.
“I’m sorry,” I thrusted my bag on the car and stepped in, only to be stopped by a high-pitched voice from the forests around the corner.
“Megan… Help me !” I turned back to see nothing but darkness around the parking lot, and a magpie perched on a flag pole. “Please… Megan… HELP ME !”
I yanked myself back, then gazed out into the woods.
“Did you hear that, Tom ?”
“Are you crazy ? All I heard was you gasping.” I knew my brother was sharp tongued, but I didn’t know that he could be this rude. “Now get into the car, we’re going home.”
I sighed, then jumped back into the back seat of the car, gazing out of the window and into the forest, wondering what might be lurking in between all the pine trees. Who was calling me ?
Chapter 3 – Omen of truth
The breeze lightly brushed past my skin, calming me as I opened my eyes. I rose up and gazed out into the open, where the trees were as crisp as the first day of spring. It seemed peaceful, for a moment, then the sound of wailing rang in my ears violently, causing birds to flee from the area. I whirled around and looked desperately for the source of the noise, but the cries of help stopped me. I yanked myself back up and raced into the trees beyond, the world around me getting bigger each time I took one step forward.
In that moment, I caught sight of Eva, who was on the ground gasping for breath, then turned to find Cat entering a cave, her eyes narrowed. She didn’t seem to know what she was doing, but did it anyway. I lunged forward to stop her, but a roar of thunder kept me from getting to her. The wailing kept going forever, ringing in my ears for help. This can’t be happening…
“Megan, are you ok ?” . I blinked two times, glanced around, then turned to Eva, who was standing next to me. “You seem… Troubled.”
I shook my head, then smiled gratefully at her. “I just needed some fresh air.”
Eva looked at me encouragingly. “Then go get some. I’ll be waiting by your locker.”
With that, she dashed off to put her books away, leaving me behind. I wasn’t lying, but I wasn’t telling the truth either, so I decided to go outside and did what I was supposed to do. I stopped by the front yard, then breathed in the cool air, waiting for the sensation to linger throughout my body. It’s a nice feeling, maybe not as cool as the winter breeze, but I continued to enjoy the luxuriant wind passing through.
Suddenly, I heard that voice again, the voice that was calling out to me, the voice that has appeared in my dreams many times, the cry of help. I raced out of the school and into the woods, wondering what the source of the voice might be. This is reality. I can’t mess up on this. If I do, then I could put people in grave danger.
I continued running toward the voice, then halted when I saw a small rabbit-like creature on the ground, it’s neck and flank gushing out blood. I kneeled down at it, then picked it up, examining it’s body.
“Megan… Help me…” It squeaked in pain, then began to limp in my arms.
“Don’t touch that creature.” Another voice roared from behind the trees. “He’s none of your business.”
I glanced back at the voice, then edged backwards. It was a tiger.
Chapter 4 – Connection
“Megan. You know very well that you shouldn’t wear a hat in class.” Mrs Quinn shot me a suspicious stare. “Please take it off or I will.”
I shuddered. I couldn’t let the class see that rabbit creature on my head, or my cat like ears. After what the tiger had told me, cat ears have been popping up randomly on my head. A Halfblood… What’s that ? Is it some sort of person with two types of bloods ? I am completely hopeless. I kept thinking about it, only to be disturbed by my teacher.
“Hat off please.”
“But miss-“
“Now !” I hesitated for awhile, then touched the frilly sides off the hat. Carefully, I took the hat off and slip my left arm over my head, dropping the hat on the floor. The creature slept peacefully in the hat as I took out my pencil from my dark blue pencil case. Some of my classmates stared at me in confusion, some shrugged it off, and Eva, who was sitting on the other side of the room, gave me a worried look.
I kept my hands over my head to hide my cat ears, feeling the warm tufts of fur brushing through my skin as I continued writing my essay. It seemed normal for awhile, until Miss Kendal, my science teacher, told me to come up on the board and write an example of carnivores that live in harsh conditions. My arm was still over my ears, making every eye look directly on me. I picked up a pen from Miss Kendal’s table and struggled to open the lid.
“What’s the matter, Megan ? Do you need help opening the lid ?” Miss Kendal took a step forward and took the pen from my hand. She separated the pen and the lid, then gave me the pen to write on the board. I caught a glimpse of my desk and gasped silently when I saw the creature on my desk. I dashed forward and took the creature onto my chair.
“Stay there !” I muttered, then raced back to the whiteboard. Did anyone see that creature on my desk ? I could get in big trouble for bringing an animal to school ! More people were getting suspicious as I picked up the pen, ready to write. So far, they wrote Polar bears, Lions and Wild dogs, which are very obvious answers.
‘Can’t think of anything, huh ?’ I thought as ideas started popping up in my head. I turned to Miss Kendal and smiled.
“May I do more than one example ?” I enquired in a friendly voice. I expected her to say that the class could think of more themselves, but I’m the best at these kind of things as I take interest in them and she let me continue.
First, I wrote the Wolf, then the Iberian Lynx. Under that, I wrote Falcon and then I added Eagle. Soon after, I wrote Black footed cat and above that, Sand cat. Next to the Sand cat, I wrote Tiger and below that, was Snow leopard. I ran out of space and had to write Cheetah over Snow leopard. Strangely enough, I put them in a specific order.
All the animals that were listed were scattered everywhere, but some of the ones I listed were grouped together. The wolf is fairly close to some of the animals I listed, but blends in with the rest of the animals listed. I feel a connection between me and these animals, but I don’t know how. Then, another animal popped into my head. Something very familiar though very odd to write. Out of all the animals I listed, this was the one I had the strongest connection with. The Fennec Fox
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