Anthro: Chapter 1

First chapter of my novel in the works. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

CHAPTER ONE

(Eighteen years later)

The alarm buzzed like an annoyed insect on the bedside counter. Aroused from her sleep, the teenage girl pounded the surface of the radio lazily until she found the snooze button. She mumbled a short list of curses under her breath and then attempted to find sleep again, hiding under the snug covers of her bed.

Upon realizing sleeping any longer was out of the question, the girl sat up and rubbed the mass of bushy red hair on her head vigorously, yawned and stretched her arms out wide. As she did so, her sleek orange and black ringed tail danced about lazily behind her.

Her name was Terra Cheltari and she was a very remarkable young woman, at least that’s what her parents often told her. Although she physically resembled a normal human being, her other features said otherwise. With a full-body coat of colorful fur, pointed ears and of course the tail; she had all the features of a Bengal tigress. Since the age of six, Terra's parents had constantly reminded her of how she was born.

 She was an individual of an exceptional race that genetic scientist had been working on to help humans better understand the lives of animals. There had been an accident one night and with luck, she had survived, Eric and Sophia Cheltari had adopted her not long afterward. Although she had never seen anyone else of this special race of hers, except for that one time she was sure she had seen a boy who looked a lot like a frog at a carnival when she was eight, she was often assured that there were others like her.

     The alarm clock clicked back on and began to drone on constantly, bringing Terra back to reality. She shut the alarm off this time and leapt out of bed. Terra yanked a set of clothes off from the back of a nearby chair and dressed for the day. She looked herself over in the mirror as she straightened out her shirt, detangled her hair into her own style, brushed her teeth, and then left the room.

Terra meandered along the upstairs hallway, then, instead of taking the stairs she hopped over the banister and down to the first floor. She managed to drop on all fours, stood up and held a quick gymnastic pose.

     "She sticks the dismount…and the crowd goes wild." Terra said to herself casually then headed for the kitchen.

 

Terra quickly downed her breakfast, keeping her sight on the clock above the kitchen sink.

     "Careful hon, you’ll choke if you don’t slow it down." Terra's father warned scanning the pages of the newspaper and eating his own breakfast at a more leisurely pace.

     Terra attempted to speak through a mouthful of cereal unsuccessfully in response.

     "Chew and swallow before talking…" Her dad interrupted and waited as Terra finished the food in her mouth.

     "Sorry, I was just saying that I'm in a hurry because I made a bet-I mean, ah, I just don't want to be late for the bus."

     "Did you say you made…Oh no! Not again hon! Please tell me you didn't make another gamble with a school facility member!" Terra's mother pleaded with sincerity from across the table.

     "I've only made four! This semester that is…" Terra answered pretentiously, her tall ears falling back.

     "Yes, and you lost…every time! Remember your gamble with your Biology teacher?" Her father recalled pinching the bridge of his nose in contempt.

     "He cheated! I just know it!" Terra answered in her defense then shook her head in attempt to forget all those frog dissections she had had to clean up after school that day.

     "Who…is it with…this time." Terra's mother asked with an airy tone.

     "It's the bus driver, he charges too much!" Terra defended her choice with reason.

     "…And, what do you have to do?" her father questioned next.

     “Beat him and that clunker of a bus to the school…on foot." Terra answered and her parents scoffed in disbelief. “B-but if I win, all students don't have to pay any bus fare next year for three whole months! How great is that!?"

     "And if you lose?" Her father asked his head in his palms on the table.

     "Well…then they all have to pay twice as much for those three months."

Terra's parents sighed again with aggravation.

     "Umm, I'll just leave now and see you both later, kay?" Terra said getting up from the table, hefting up her bag and quietly heading out the door.

 

Terra walked down to the bus stop with a feeling of doubt hanging above her, her parents hated that she made all these bets with local and school faculty and most of the time if not always, lost, could she really pull it off today? All doubts were washed away when the bus pulled up to a stop in front of her. The driver, a portly middle-aged man, gave a cruel grin at Terra who responded with a sarcastic smile in turn. She knew then she had to beat this man!

"I thought of a better idea so you don't hafta embarrass yerself and doom yer fellow students!" The driver sneered leaning out the window a bit more.

     "Oh really? Your pea-sized brain actually thought of something? Bet that really hurt." Terra criticized as she falsely cleaned dirt from under her claws to show she was uninterested. A few students laughed at the driver.

     "Oh, har-de-har har! You think yer such a riot! As I was sayin', if you get on now, I'll deduct the cost ta only a half next year, all you have ta do is sign this here form admitting you lost, then allow me to hang it up high all next year, laminated, for all ta see, whaddya say?" The driver asked pulling out a typed confession and handing it to Terra along with a pen.

Terra pretended to read it over but then crumpled it up and tossed it over her shoulder into a trash basket.

     "Oh, I can't sign that because one, your grammar is so poor it actually hurts to read it and two, I’m…not…giving…up!" Terra shot back chucking the pen through the window. All the students aboard the bus cheered Terra on.

     "Too bad then, all yer friends will now watch you lose…pitifully!" The driver shrugged but then opened the door, "But, since I'm such a fair man, I'll give you one more chance to get on this bus…now!"

     "Hmmm, nah, but how about this? You just get out here yourself…or are you too lazy and out of shape to get off you fat bubbly butt!" Terra remarked and all students laughed in an uproar.

The driver's grin became an angry scowl, his face taking on a reddish hue.

     "You'll pay for yer mockery, animal!" The driver spat causing a slight sting inside Terra at being labeled, but she quickly regained her focus.

     "Won't have to next year, for three long, sweet months!" Terra replied with confidence, setting her sights on the red traffic light and going down into a sprint stance for quick take off.

The bus engine revved and both students and commuters gripped their seats or the leather throngs hanging above.

When the light turned yellow, the driver shifted gears and put his foot flat on the gas pedal, tires actually squealing, he pulled ahead leaving Terra behind.

     "Hey!" Terra cried out, she could hear the driver howling with laughter as he sped off.

Terra waited for the green light and raced off to catch up.

In moments Terra was beside the bus again as she sprang over mailboxes, benches and other hurtles gracefully. She glared at the driver, who attempted to gain more ground.

The students pulled down their windows and reached out to help Terra but she refused and just kept on running.

     "Oh give it up already! Ya already lost!" The driver yelled over the screaming bus engine.

     "That's what you think! I still got my second wind coming up!" Terra replied with a huff. With that she jumped from a bench, to a mailbox and then disappeared into the air. There was a loud thump on the roof of the bus, the driver growled as he began to swerve on the empty road to shake her loose. Terra gripped as hard as she could to the front as she slid from side to side across the top dodging low hanging branches.

Terra slid down onto the front hanging by the bike rack of the bus.

     "Get off! Leggo!" The driver snarled.

“If you insist!”

With a smug grin, Terra leapt off to the side over a row of bushes nearby.

Terra rolled upon impact and could hear the bus screech to a halt; hopefully the driver had been dumbfounded by her sudden action. As she raced across the yard and vaulted a tall wooden fence she could hear the bus start up again and start to give chase. Taking a sharp left and racing down a steep hill she could see the High School was in sight. Terra made an incredible leap and swung onto a stiff tree branch nearby then arched herself through the air flying over eight feet across. Terra landed and then veered to her right and put on her last boost of speed and skidded onto the gravel walkway and waited until the bus came up in front of the school.

     "NO! NO! NO! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! HOW COULD YOU BEAT ME!?” The driver bellowed angrily pounding the bus horn then clambering off the bus.

The students all scrambled off and gave their congratulations to Terra as they passed her on the walkway. Meanwhile the bus driver removed and chomped down on his cap, tears welling in his eyes realizing what his boss would do to him when he returned to the station with this news. Terra winked and sauntered off towards the school with a chest full of pride.

 

     The bell rang loudly throughout the school and echoed off the walls as students began to pile into the halls in a massive stampede. Terra carefully slid herself through the crowds in attempt to reach her locker.

When the bell rang again and the waves of students began to disperse, Terra finally came up to her locker and worked at the code.

She gave it three attempts, but failed each time. She could beat a bus to school on foot, yet couldn't open her stupid locker; Terra cursed her luck quietly to nobody in particular.

     "Damn junky locker!" Terra exclaimed kicking the door and stubbing her foot in response.

As she sat on the floor messaging her toes, a letter dropped down from the vent slots at the top of the locker and fluttered down into her lap.

Terra tipped her head to the side to read the up-side-down address but all it stated was her name and locker number in bold aqua blue ink. Terra flipped it over, the back had been sealed with a holographic sticker with the letters AU standing out in its center.

     Terra turned the letter over in her fingers a few more times as she slid back into a standing position. She began to pull open the seal but then thought better of it and decided to open it someplace more private.

As she walked down the halls she attempted to stuff it in her pants pocket but it bulged out easily. She stopped and unzipped her bag only to find it had been crammed full of books and papers from other classes. Terra sighed heavily then and idea came to her mind, she lifted up the back of her long hair and then slid it firmly under her bra strap.

It did make her look somewhat stiffer, but she would just have to deal with it until she found somewhere to hide, she had just the place in mind too.

Terra shoved open the doors leading out to the back of the school. There were rows of large oak trees surrounding the school limits symbolizing the school’s emblem. One of those huge trees would provide a perfect hiding place for her to open the letter in secrecy Terra thought to herself as she made a beeline for them across the many sporting fields.

On the football field, the varsity team was practicing their drills, some of the jocks stopped and began hooting and whistling at Terra as she passed by. Terra rolled her eyes at their immaturity and continued walking, ignoring them as they cried for her to come back. An amused grin grew on her lips when she heard the coach begin to chew out his players for not staying focused.

     When Terra found what she hoped was the tallest tree she leapt on and scrambled up to the first few sturdy branches. Terra pulled out the letter from behind her and leaned back allowing her leg to hang over the side. She studied it once more before finally ripping open the envelope. Inside she found three pale-colored papers and a smaller note from the administration of AU, whoever they were. Terra unfolded the note and put the others in her lap:

Terra was speechless at what she read and had to reread the note in case this was some kind of cruel joke someone was playing on her. The letter was absolutely official and Terra let go of the breath she had unknowingly been holding back.

“A University? I've been enrolled in an actual University!? Oh my god this is just…wow! Why haven't I heard of this PictBridge University before? Oh who cares! I'm going to college!”

Terra quickly switched pages and quickly filled out the brief entry form, skimmed over the last page and then folded everything back into the envelope and leapt down from the tree.

The school bell rang out across the field loudly and several students began heading back in. Terra thought about heading back to the school but knew that if there was ever a better time to skip class for an emergency, this was it. She hopped the fence and raced back home as quickly as she could. She couldn't wait to tell her parents the good news!

Meanwhile, a humanoid bat sat perched atop the school building watching Terra run off until she turned the corner at the end of the block. He put down his binoculars and placed a check mark next to Terra’s name, which was separated from the rest, on a heavy pad of paper. Getting to his feet, he pulled out a cell phone from his back pocket. The bat punched in a number then waited for the call to be answered.

     "Kormin speaking." A voice replied from the other end.

     "It's Burton; Terra Cheltari is in possession of the letter and is currently heading home as we speak." The bat said making sure nobody was able to see him.

     "Excellent work, remember to retrieve the letter from her parents before the semester begins, then report back here as soon as possible, remember, no one but the parents must see you or the letter at that time, is that absolutely clear?"

     "Crystal Professor" The bat replied then ended the call.

Author's Note

Corrections, advice, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome.

3/27/11 Update:
I'm pleased to see that I've received quite a few views on my story here but unfortunately still no reviews or criticisms. Again I would be most pleased to see someone even offer minor input of any kind! In hopes of getting this I will be adding another chapter to the list and see what comes of it. Please make an effort to review or say something so that I can further improve my work!