Tiger's Beginning

Chapter 1: Brewed Awakenings and Knife Wielding Old Men

I woke up slowly, with the annoyance of the marimba tune getting louder and louder each time I stayed glued to my pillow. I eventually groaned and reached out to grab my phone from the dock on my bedside table. Frowning as the light hit my eyes, I touched the button to shut off the alarm. I sighed and then shifted the warm comforter off of myself before swinging my feet over and hitting them on the cold wood floor. I rubbed my eyes and made my way to my bathroom. As I flicked on the light, I shook my hair out of its bun and eyed myself in the mirror.

Yea, this is not going to be a good hair day. I look more like a lion than a lioness. Braid day it is.

After I neatly plaited my hair into a braid, I put on my makeup. I got dressed in jeans and a sweater, and headed downstairs to where I already heard the clinking of pans. I rounded the corner and sat at the bar to see my dad looking very confused holding two pans in his hands. I giggled a little and he looked up with a smile saying,

"Honey, thank goodness you're here. Which of these pots would I use to make an egg?"

I sighed and slid off the chair before spending the next twenty minutes helping my dad learn the art of scrambled eggs. It was astonishing that he thought PAM was actually the SPAM meat but in a sprayable container.

I finished up my eggs just as my mom clicked her way down the hallway. She greeted me with a kiss on the cheek.

"Grace darling you know after school today you need to go by the dry cleaners and get that dress for the luncheon next week, and then stop by the salon to get a trim that we scheduled and-"

"Get the salmon from Sonny's, and stop by the café to pick up more coffee, I know."

She patted my arm absentmindedly while she quickly checked her iPad for emails and sipped her coffee.

"Thanks dear, you know this new promotion has really taken up so much of my time. I promise that things will slow down in the next month or so."

I knew she was stressing and felt bad, so I agreed. I gave my dad a kiss on the cheek and grabbed my book bag before going out the garage door. I slid into my car and pushed the key into the ignition. Music suddenly blasted from the speakers, causing me to wince and immediately turn it down. I put on an easy listening station, and pulled out of my driveway.

As Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" came on, I hummed along while enjoying my usual drive to school through the heavily wooded area surrounding my house. The undeveloped land surrounding my house is part of a new neighborhood. The first house is a large mansion at the top of a hill. Ours was the third house built, and is two doors down. Our next door neighbors were an elderly couple who enjoy baking all sorts of sweets together and outdoor zip lining; I really hope I have that much spunk at their age. The house one over seems to be empty. When we bought our house, the realtor said that the family who lived there were currently in India, and have been for the past ten years. As I turned the curve to continue down the long road that led to the main street, I pondered the little paradise I had.

 I could probably write book on my neighbors. I could call the book...hmmm let's see....Zip lining to India? No....Daring Desserts and Durga? No....Indian Magic with a Dash of Adventure? Ok I'm giving up I'm no good at coming up with book titles. Well at least I can rule that out of possible career options.

By the time I had finished butchering ideas, I arrived in the school parking lot. I parked near the gate so I could leave right after school to finish the errands my mom had given me.

The stone steps leading up to the school seemed a particularly dreary color of gray today, and I sighed knowing I would no longer be a high school student after the week was over. I was planning on attending Oregon State University, where my dad was a professor. As I made my way to through the wide hallways covered in forest green lockers, I reminisced.