| iinsanely Sane |
02-13-2012 10:11 PM |
The Discover of Sebastian's Inner Animal
This short story is something I wrote after a childhood fear my brother has, and is aimed at young kids to teenagers (and even adults), so please keep that in mind when commenting on the simple language. I hope you'll enjoy it. ^^
On a Saturday morning Sebastian was so lively talking to his Dad he didn’t let him get a word in at all. It was a cold day in London Zoo, but Sebastian took no notice as he waited for his turn on the chairlift that took you over the animals. He really wanted to see the lions and the polar bears, but little did Sebastian know this was no ordinary day. He was going to go on a big adventure.
His father began rummaging around in his pockets before saying,
“Sebastian, I forgot to take money out. Wait here while I go to the cash point, okay? I’ll be back very soon.” Sebastian nodded as his father walked away, quickly disappearing into the sea of bobbing heads. Children darted to and fro, giggling happily as their parents ran behind them trying to keep up. Animal shaped balloons hovered above the crowd making him feel overwhelmed by all the energy surrounding him.
So much time had gone by that no matter how long the queue was, it was almost Sebastian's turn. "Where are you...?" he thought to himself. No longer excited as he had been, the boy noticed the chilly air and how it managed to get between his clothes, making him shiver. Suddenly Sebastian got an idea, his Dad must have gone to the cash point, so all he had to do was follow the signs! After a while Sebastian decided to turn back as he’d already gone so far and he couldn’t remember which way he went.
Giving up, Sebastian sat slumped on a bench, drawing his knees up to his chest. He started feeling like his family was leaving him forever and that he could never get home because he was so far away. His shoulders shook as he started to cry.
“What’s wrong?” someone asked him. He looked up and saw a girl his age with long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. “Are you okay?”
“No,” Sebastian said, “I don’t know where my Dad is.”
“I’m Fleur, what’s your name?”
“Sebastian,” he mumbled.
“When did you last see your Dad?”
“I don’t know, I don’t have a watch on me… but it feels like two hours already.”
Fleur frowned as she thought hard about something. Eyes widening, she said,
“I know! I can turn into my animal and look for your Dad!” Sebastian had no idea what she was talking about and then suddenly it became clear. With her eyes closed Fleur’s fingernails grew into large sharp talons, her skin stretching into beautifully smooth feathers and her whole body shrunk into a beautiful white eagle. Parts of the eagle still resembled Fleur like the freckles on her face, her sapphire eyes and how her head crooked to the side in curiosity. Sebastian was shocked that Fleur was an eagle and yet no one seemed to notice.
“How did you do that?” he asked in wonder.
“Simple, I just think of my animal and I become it. What’s your animal?”
Sebastian closed his eyes and imagined a cheetah in his mind. With all his might he tried to make his body change into an animal but Fleur shook her head.
“That’s not how you do it. You don’t know what your animal is do you? You can’t choose or change your animal. You discover it. I’m an eagle, Francis is a green scaly crocodile and Ian is a blubbery brown walrus.”
At the mention of her friends she pointed at a boy with a mischievous glint in his eyes and larger boy with brawny ginger hair who was snacking on an ice cream. Calling her friends, she shouted,
“Hey guys, I want you to meet Sebastian!”
Bounding over they greeted him and Fleur explained Sebastian’s situation and how they were needed as judges for the Animal Test.
“C’mon, let’s take him to the Animal Arena!” Ian shouted with excitement.
As they made their way to the playground, Francis nastily spat,
“Why is Ian going to be a judge when he is as fat as an Elephant?” Ian went red, it looked like he was going to stomp off.
“I’m not that big. At least I’m not as… as…” Ian stuttered and gave up, returning to his ice cream and eating away at his feelings.
“At least Ian doesn’t cry like a baby when he falls like you did yesterday,” Fleur said defensively. Francis self-consciously covered the bruise on his head and turned away in protest when they came to a stop at the sandpit.
“The first test is to swim in the water,” Fleur said.
“Water?” Sebastian asked looking at the sand suspiciously.
“Yes, water. At the moment it looks like sand to you but that happens with everyone. As you begin to find your inner animal, your eyes will be able to see more than just the normal stuff,” Fleur explained patiently. “As Ian is a walrus he will show you how it’s meant to be done, but depending on your animal you probably won’t be able to swim as well as him.”
As if on cue, Ian stepped forward and dived into the sand, kicking his legs and pushing with his arms. Despite his size Ian was strong but graceful in his movements.
“Now it’s your turn,” Ian said with an encouraging nod.
Uncertainly Sebastian tried to copy what Ian had done. Although his body managed to glide in the sand quite smoothly his arms and legs splashed around throwing sand everywhere.
“Watch it!” Francis glowered with a wrinkle of his nose, brushing off his clothes. The three judges huddled together and once they’d reached a decision, they lead Sebastian to the ropes.
“Now see if you can climb the ropes and get to the top oh mighty one,” Francis sarcastically instructed. Sebastian ignored him and stepped forward. Warming his hands he grabbed the rope as high as it could go and jumped his two feet twisting around it to support him. The material burned against his fingers and he wasn’t very strong. By the time he reached the top he sat on the banister quite proudly, crawling across it and even managing to stand!
“Well done!” Fleur chirped with a smile. Francis rolled his eyes. The group huddled again and by now some other kids had formed around them curiously. The judges parted and Sebastian tried to read their faces, hoping he had passed.
“Alright, the final test is to enter this tunnel,” she explained walking over to a small underground opening that looked dark and damp. “You need to find the exit and you have a time limit of 3 minutes.” A series of gasps came from the children and whispers erupted like angry bees, “But don’t worry if you don’t manage,” she reassured him.
He squared his shoulders as he got down on all fours, took one last look at the crowd and went in. Part of the floor was wet, water dropping on his head from above but despite all this Sebastian was quite happy here. He had always been a shy kid, liked to work on his inventions in silence and solitude. Even though he tried to tell himself he’d be able to pass the test and find his Dad, Sebastian wouldn’t have minded to just sit here.
Crawling along the small space Sebastian found the exit easily and enjoyed the silence while it lasted. Then Sebastian arose to his feet the crowd erupting with cheers.
“Did I pass?” Sebastian asked.
“It’s not about passing,” Francis said with a smirk.
“What he means to say is it was never about winning, just about showing your skills,” Ian admitted cheekily.
“Huddle up!” Fleur shouted and all the kids watching gathered, whispers rising on occasion loud enough that he could hear them.
“He’s a RABBIT!”
“No no no, he’s a LIZARD!”
“What about a PANDA?”
Sebastian sincerely hoped he would be one of his favourite animals, a cheetah, a lion or even an orca whale.
“Sebastian!” he heard someone call him. He looked around, recognizing the voice. “Sebastian! Over here!” Sebastian turned with a large smile on his face and tears in his eyes. Running to him as fast as he could, Sebastian jumped into his Dad’s arms.
“What took you so long?” Sebastian asked as he hugged his father tighter. “I thought I wasn’t going to see you again.”
“I’m so sorry Sebastian. I’m really glad you’re okay, I was so worried,” his father replied. “Have you made some new friends?” He gestured to Fleur and the others who were patiently waiting for Sebastian.
“Oh yeah! Dad, this is Fleur, Francis and Ian.”
“Sebastian! We know what you are!” Ian blurted out in excitement.
“You’re a snake!” Fleur cried out.
“Really? I’m a snake?”
“Go on then, turn into one,” Francis sneered.
“But… How?”
Some things I do want you to answer are;
- Were the characters developed enough? Did you like them?
- Was the ending satisfactory or did it end suddenly to you?
- Any other comments on the contents?
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