Post by Valencia Donahue on Dec 15, 2007 2:55:40 GMT 1
Waltz of the Owls
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Genre(s): Suspense, Adventure
Inspiration?: A dream I had several weeks ago.
Extras: This is written primarily for my Creative Writing class, but I felt like writing something like this before then because my friend and I talk about our dreams all the time. We're pretty good at remembering them. The dream itself was extremely long. I only shortened some segments and added two parts so that the dream would have an "end". Whoever can catch the "waltz of owls" reference gets a cookie. All critiques, comments, and corrections are welcomed.
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The tiger carefully prowled beneath the dappled light that filtered in from towering trees. The sun was a misty blue hue and the forest got darker and darker as the tiger crept onward. Its gait was silent against the leafy floor and the trunks of trees concealed the predator’s journey. The tiger found a willow near a stream and sat patiently beneath it, occasionally sipping water to quench its thirst. The trek was long, but the destination was worth it. From time to time, it would look up at whatever heavens it could find and find nothing up there worth looking at, at least, not for now. After some time, it rested its head upon its paws and began to sleep.
“You’re going to stay here for some time with your aunt and uncle while your father and I will be on a business trip. Be good and be sure to not cause trouble and get your homework done, okay?”
The three siblings nodded obediently to their mother as she exited their grandparents’ home and drove off with their father. They weren’t too fond of their aunt and uncle, but they put up with them and the days passed by without too much of a hitch. As the days became weeks and weeks became months, the eldest of the siblings, Ki, found it boring to keep doing her homework for days on end without being permitted to leave the house. Her younger siblings, the middle sister being Ta and the youngest brother being Va, had to agree that their stay was becoming black, white, and gray with each passing moment. The monotony was draining them and they could’ve sworn that their aunt and uncle had two children they could at least talk to.
The homework was done for a long time now and Ki was observant enough to realize that maybe, just maybe, she was doing the same work, over and over and over. At dusk, she slipped out of the house into the backyard and crawled as stealthily as she could. She remembered the days when she, her siblings, and her cousins played outside in this huge garden, but those memories vanished as she heard a commotion going on inside. Her aunt and uncle were asking Ta and Va where their eldest sister was and they didn’t know. Ki felt bad to make them worry, but she needed to figure out what was going on. She rationalized that what she was doing was for their sake. She snuck behind an old car in the yard and froze when she heard a door open. Her aunt and uncle spotted her. Ki looked around in search of escape and found a stack of papers, each and every sheet looking familiar. By the time she took in the situation, her aunt and uncle was right in front of her, smiling eerily as though Ki could do nothing about the matter.
“Yes, that’s all the homework you’ve done, but why don’t you come back inside with your brother and sister? I’m sure we can find you something else to do. Come along.”
They turned around and went on their way while Ki stayed put until they were a fair distance off. Ki made her way to the gate that led to the front of the house, on the side opposite where her aunt and uncle were headed, then escaped. She felt scared and lost to be on her own and not able to watch out for Ta and Va, but she just kept reasoning to herself that she’ll be back to save them… Once she figures out what’s going on. She ran out into the abandoned street and tried to run as fast as she could until she heard her aunt’s voice called from behind. If Ki looked back, she would’ve seen her aunt chasing her in her high heels and long dress, catching up with her. Frightened, Ki screamed and hollered for help, only to find no one around to hear her and no one around to help, even when she passed a lady watering the lawn. She just kept running and running until she discovered something astonishing…
Ki was gradually running on air.
She was flying.
But nonetheless, she kept running and running until she felt that her aunt wasn’t chasing her anymore. She turned around to see her aunt headed for the house, probably to get a car or her uncle involved. Ki couldn’t risk wasting her time to find out, she kept running until she could fly again and she kept going and going until she found herself along North Princeton Avenue, then journeying along until she was hidden on a hill behind the bushes and trees of Campus Park Drive. Ki looked down towards her grandparents’ house and a whole squad of police cars drove in to get the scoop, sirens blaring, lights flaring, and all. She was scared now and she had a feeling that she made things worse, but she kept reminding herself that she was doing this for a good reason and she’ll be back to save her siblings. She’ll find out why their parents were gone for so long.
Ki slipped under and through the bushes and trees as the sun fell below the horizon. The urgency led to her flying from tree to tree, fence to fence, and over crossing streets in the dark of the night, seemingly to the quiet song of owls. The journey was long and every so often, she heard a radio detailing her escape. They made lies and gave Ki all the more reason to press onward until she came upon a zoo high up on the hill, far away from the rest of the city. She flew over the fence and landed on the other side, waking up all the caged animals in spite of her silent entry. All their pale blue, glowing eyes were on her as they stirred and she searched for rest and refuge. Ki found a bunch of uniforms and donned her disguise before sleeping behind an empty tiger cage.
For the next couple days, Ki was initiated into the zoo and worked undercover, making anonymity the utmost priority, finding out where her parents were the next, then saving her siblings the third. It was a lot harder than it sounded because the radio blared out her “estimated location” each and every day, sometimes twice, once in the morning and the next on the 11 PM news. Ki befriended a few zookeepers and this made things less stressful for her. There were all sorts of tasks she couldn’t have performed alone anywise. She had to help orchestrate a flock of tropical birds to sing in concert and more times than she needed to, Ki had to go up and down a snake-infested hill, often to help the zookeepers who aren’t as wary of the venomous serpents that slithered out of their burrows often.
Days went by and news of her got less airtime. The lights and sounds of sirens in the distance still patrolled in the streets of the city, but Ki felt safe and tried to carry out the next two objectives on her mind. One night, she was packing up her belongings and a zookeeper asked her what she was doing. Ki looked at her friend sadly and responded as best she could to not hurt his feelings.
“I’m going home. I haven’t been there in a while and I miss my family.”
Her friend offered her a ride, but she declined, thinking about the risk. Ki finished up packing and kept thinking about how on earth she’d find her way home without getting caught. She knew she could fly, but risks were risks and she wouldn’t know how to save her brother and sister. She wasn’t even sure if they were still at her grandparents’ house. Ki sighed and told her friend the whole story from start to finish. Her friend was quiet and it was hard to tell if he thought she was joking or was thinking of ways to turn her in. Ki hoped with all her heart that she made the right move, but suddenly, a there was a loud crash behind them. Sirens screamed louder than ever and the zoo was flooded with blinding red and blue lights. Not wasting a second, Ki grabbed her belongings and darted towards the snake-infested hill, revealing after a long while that she could glide and fly. Her friend was startled, but followed after, running as fast as he could down the hill and after Ki. She glided up and over the fence where her friend was waiting. She panicked and almost flew to the trees until her friend called out to her.
“Don’t go that way! You won’t be able to save your siblings if you go on your own! I will try and help as much as I can. Get into the car, quickly!”
Ki nodded and didn’t care if it was a trap or anything. She wanted to get away from the police cars and her aunt and uncle, who’d probably spark up her whereabouts on the radio again. She hid out of sight and closed her eyes tightly, wondering if she’ll ever be able to stop and rest easy ever again.
When they stopped, Ki couldn’t recognize where they were. They were in a dense forest in the middle of nowhere and it was getting dark. The girl got out of the car and sat down against its side. She buried her face into her palms as her friend got out to comfort her. He told her to follow him for now and with nothing better to do, she did so. The more they wandered deeper into the woods, the more she thought about this place being a refuge and her friend as an ally. Her friend thought the same and told her to wait near a willow tree while he went back into town to try and save Ta and Va.
Ki waited there and waited there until she got thirsty. She meandered over to the nearby stream and to her surprise, a sleeping tiger awaited her. She froze where she stood. She was enchanted by the majestic tiger, yet extremely frightened at what it may do to her if it woke up. She backed away slowly and tried not to step on anything that could betray her presence. Eventually, the tiger woke up on its own after resting and spotted the girl as if the search itself already had a purpose. Ki found no reason to hide herself any longer and made a run for the car, hoping deep down that her friend either didn’t make it to the vehicle yet or got back from his trip… Any kind of possibility that offered her safety as an option. Ki was getting exhausted with each step she ran. It was hard for her to fly in the deep woods with all the trees hindering her maneuverability.
Eventually, Ki couldn’t run anymore and she couldn’t tell if the tiger was even still chasing her, or chasing her at all. She could’ve sworn that she was lost at this point and slowed her pace. Her gliding long strides became mere steps and the wind through her hair became a tiny zephyr. Ki finally came to a stop and gradually turned around. The tiger did indeed follow her and the magnificent beast also slowed down. The girl couldn’t believe it and the chance to keep running was irresistible, but she didn’t move an inch. The tiger took a bold step forward and eyed her intensely… As for Ki, she trembled slightly, but made a shaky step forward as well. It went against everything she learned about animals at the zoo: Don’t provoke them. However, the tiger stared at Ki, carefully examining the runaway and taking every last detail. Satisfied, the tiger bowed its head deeply at her, acknowledging the courage she had to face the challenges between she and the family she was trying to save.
