The Stuff of Dreams

To Catch a Tiger

"And then?"

"Then he said that I could stay... basically," Po said. 

"That's wonderful!" Mei squealed. "I'm so proud of you, Po." 

"Thanks. It's strange. It's... almost like he was testing me." 

"Well, maybe he was. Anyway, there's some food in the fridge if you want it."

"Okay, thanks," Po smiled. The compact apartment they shared had their beds on opposite walls; Po's bedroom was on the right hall only three steps from the kitchen. The dusty wooden dining table was pressed against the window opposite of the front door. The kitchen on the left sat with a small hickory island while the couch on the right was navy blue with no coffee table in front of the TV. The kitchen's island had three stools, which Po sat down on, and a big bowl of treats for snacking. "So, how is the cooking journalist? I haven't heard you complain about staring at a screen for a while." 

"I'm not a journalist. I just cook for a newspaper's culinary section," Mei huffed. Po smiled as he chomped on a fresh apple. "Also, you said that you wanted to talk to me about a dream?"

"Huh? Oh! That dream," Po said with a full mouth. "I don't know. It's not important."

"It seemed important when you were trying to get out of the place. What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I think I just have to let the story behind that dream... ruminate."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, the word means to think about something or-"

"Not that, Po. I mean why? It seemed important."

"It is. But I don't know the answer to the question yet," Po said. Mei looked over her shoulder as the sizzling vegetables, thyme, cinnamon, and salt filled the air. "I don't know. It's... complicated."

"Uh-huh," Mei rolled her eyes, "Just say you had one of those dreams then."

"Mei! I didn't have that kind of dream," Po shouted. 

"Sure you didn't," Mei smirked. Po grumbled under his breath. 

A few days after that, Po was putting things up for stock. Boqin hadn't done his normal daily shouting at him. In fact, he hadn't heard Boqin today and it was already mid-day. Where was he? Then Monkey radioed Po over to the produce area. "I'm coming over." When he got there, Po saw Monkey looking from the corner of a shelf. "Monkey, what are you-"

"SHHH! Be quiet and look." Po looked from the corner. There near the other end of the produce area was Boqin trying his best attempt to flirt with a female; she was about half a head taller. "Oh, this is gonna be good," Monkey sniggered. While the snow leopard talked, the female shifted her lean from one foot to the next on her flats. She gave forced smiles, grins with a little too many teeth, nods, and laughs like she was an introvert at a party. The female wore a crimson blazer and dress pants in a white blouse. "This is so funny, Po. Po?"

"It can't be," Po whispered. The female was a tiger. The tiger's wondering eyes looked around the store and then darted to where Po was. The panda ducked behind the shelf. "Darn it, what do I do?"

"Po, what's going on?" 

"Uh... nothing, just... just tell me what happens when she's gone." Po practically ran to the back. He rested his body against the wall, panting heavily, but he didn't run that fast. Why was his heart racing? The heartbeat in his ears slowly died down when- 

"Po!" Shouted Boqin. 

"Huh?" 

"What are you doing here? Get back to work!"