To Fight a Tiger

The story follows you on your journey through an uncharted forest brought face to face with a jungle wildcat.

You stand at the edge of the forest, unable to decide which direction to take. To your right is a dirt road that will take you to the mountains. You don’t see any signs of human life down that path. To your left is a river. You know it will drop you off the edge of a cliff should you choose to follow it. You also know there is a town sitting on the other side of the woods.

You make your decision, and take your first steps into the forest. You think you will walk in a straight line so as not to get lost. The trees are tall and thick with leaves, making it impossible to see the sky above. There is no way to tell your position from the inside, not that you were particularly great at using astronomy for directions anyway.

You press on, listening to the rushing creek and the chatter of rodents as they scurry past your feet, unafraid for they have never encountered a creature such as yourself. This place is untouched by man. Too many of your kind fear it. That is why they choose to take the plane over the top. You tried taking the plane, but the engine failed and the aircraft crashed. You barely escaped with your life. The others were not so lucky.

You shake your head to clear out these gruesome thoughts. The smell of flesh burning. The putt-putt of the stalling engine. The screams of your companions mixing with the screaming winds as you all plummeted. You want to forget.

A growl comes from your left. You ignore it. You don’t want to lose your path. The sound comes again, this time louder. You wonder why people are so afraid of this place as you continue, continuing to ignore the menacing snarls. It seems no different from any other forest, yet no one will step foot in here. You half expected it to be full of bones and barren of life. Boy, were you wrong. Everything is thriving here. The flowers are in bloom, the rabbits scamper playfully about the bushes, and everything seems to be perfect.

Your thoughts of the perfection end when a terrifying beast emerges from the foliage, blocking your way. It snarls, its lips curled back to bare long, sharp fangs. Its whiskers twitch as it paces, musing on its plans for you. Orange and black fur stand on end upon the creature’s back, and it extends its razor sharp claws. Piercing golden eyes close in on you, but it does not attack… yet.

You stare at it, unsure of what to do. If you run, it will chase you and most likely catch you. If you remain here, it will surely pounce and eat you. Either way you know that your life is at its end. You pick up the closest item you can find to defend yourself. In your hand you hold a small tree branch covered in golden leaves.

The creature sits down when you raise your weapon to it. Its face bares an expression of confusion.

You lunge a step forward, swinging the branch.

It jumps back, startled by your attack. A low growl emanates from deep within its throat, but still it does not pounce.

You swing again.

It swipes its paw at the twig, knocking a few leaves to the ground.

You decide that if you’re destined to die anyway, you at least intend to put up a good fight. You hit the beast on its head, pounding the soft spot between its ears. You thrust forward, poking its forehead between the eyes.

It lies down.

Not the response you had expected.

While it lies there, you figure it’s a good time to leave. You drop your weapon and take a wide step over the motionless creature.

Its eyes remain glued to the weapon that had struck it. It pays no attention to you.

You feel a strong sense of triumph. Just wait until everyone back home hears of your amazing tale. You will most likely add a bit of exaggeration to make the story more enthralling. Yes. You think you will tell everyone that rather than missing the flight, the plane crashed outside a deadly wood, and you had no choice but to trek through it. You will tell them that you encountered a cat bigger than any seen before with razor sharp claws and piercing golden eyes. You will tell them how you conquered the monstrous beast with the mere wave of a stick, leaving it to lie confused and motionless on the ground while you moved forward bravely through the forest. In your mind, you defeated the bloodthirsty tiger.

As you move forward, behind you, the tiny tabby kitten gets to its feet and pads off into the forest to chase mice.

Author's Note

A short story told in second-person perspective. This was a project for one of my creative writing classes in 2012.