I was on my own, you know rinsing of the dirt from my body. Swimming in the river, when I was done I went to put my clothes back on. I got dressed and out of nowhere this bear comes running towards me. I screamed and started running in the opposite direction; my heart beat in my chest so hard it hurt.
"Riley," I yelled hoping he'd hear me. The bear was close behind me and I was running as fast as my legs would allow. "Riley!" I yelled again. The bear had caught up to me and swiped at my arm making it bleed. I had stopped to climb a tree hoping that this bear wouldn't be able to follow me, but I lost my footing and I fell, knocking the wind out of me.
Riley showed up in the nick of time. The tiger came out with a fierce growl going up on his back legs, pushing the bear down.
As soon as I got breath in my lungs, I inhaled a mouthful. Getting up I started to climb the tree again, quickly. Once I sat secure on a branch, I looked at my arm. The cut was deep and really, really, red. I couldn't see what was going on down below through the leaves and branches, but I could hear the growls and screeches. And then, all of the sudden, I could hear nothing at all.
I climbed down the tree as best as I could only using one arm. Riley was there to greet me and by this time I felt like crying.
"Thank you," I said patting the cat on the head. Riley noticed my arm and started whining. "I'll be okay, boy." To tell the truth I didn't know if that was true or not. I know what I need to do is get to the water. I ripped the bottom of my shirt and used it as a tourniquet. The cat started to lick my injury; I started to cry, but not because it hurt, but because that was the scariest thing that has happened to me. I fell to my knees, instantly wrapping my arms around Riley's neck burying my face in his fur.
"That was so scary," I told my tiger between sobs. My head came up and Riley licked my face. "Riley," I said irritated. I whipped the slobber off with my uninjured arm. I smiled at Riley when he nudged me with his head.
"Come on, lets go," I said walking away from the river.
Riley got us dinner that night, as usual; it was a snake this time. It took me a while to fall asleep, but when I did it was dreamless. When I woke up it was raining. I love the rain, because to me that means a lazy day. I lay there for a minute enjoying the rain falling on my face. Riley was nowhere to be seen, but he was probably getting breakfast. I noticed that I had grown a few inches, my clothes were not as long as they once were.
There were nights that I would wake up in a cold sweat from a nightmare, Riley would get drench in tears, if he didn't like it he didn't say anything, not that he could. My good little Riley. I kept telling myself that the nightmares would go away, and when they did I would let out a big breath, releasing it slowly. I should have known that would happen when I saw Michael choke Gabriella to death, but that faded too. All these thoughts kept running through my head until Riley dropped a dead turkey at my feet and chuffed.
Weeks went by and I saw no sigh of Michael. I convinced myself and told my brain to stop feeding me lies.
YOU ARE READING
The girl and her tiger
AdventureMercy's parents died when she was three, which lands her in an orphanage. One day, a few years later, when she's thirteen, her dreams come true, and she gets adopted, and she's finally happy. Little does she know that's all about to change.
