Young Tiger

Mother

Emily finds herself at a kitchen table with a cup of coffee, the bitter aroma of the coffee had an odd taste of satisfaction to it. She's only 17, yet she goes to a university for art. She had been taken out of high school to start college, but that was a good thing. People tend to make out high school as the most important part of their lives, but they leave with the realization of idiocy.  

She found it quite nice to be living on campus alone, no one had to bother her. Yes, she was a major shut-in with little friends, but she rather enjoyed the quiet life. Her classes ended hours ago, but she continues to rely on coffee. She let out a sigh and went to her laptop, browsing Netflix. She stumbled upon a kid's movie named; 'Kung Fu Panda'. She was curious about the movie, for some unexplained reason.

She sat down and watched the art of kung fu. 

🐅 

Emily rather enjoyed the movie. Despite it being a kid's film, she felt connected to the characters. Tigress quickly became her favorite, because Tigress reminded Emily of herself. Tigress was often stone cold or 'hardcore', having little to no expression. She pushed away her friends before Po came into the picture, causing Tigress to slightly change. 

The characters had a strong hatred for Po. Shifu had deemed him to be a failure dragon warrior, which made a disconnect between Po and the furious five. Po had finally shown them all, by defeating Tai Lung. 

Emily looked at the time, 10:30 pm. She needed to rest up for school, whether she liked it or not. She quickly got herself into her PJs and headed to her bed. Emily was done, the coffee she drank did nothing. No energy was left in her system, with that thought she had drifted into quick slumber. 

🐅

Emily had been woken by hasty knocks at her door, who could that be? She got up from her bed, her brown frizzy hair messed up, and walked over to the door. She opened to see no one, not even a ghost. Only a small tiger at her doorstep, sleeping soundly to the sounds of the night.  A 5-year-old Tigress was in Emily's reach, yet she did nothing. Emily bent down to see the note in the basket. 

"We hope you give this child a loving home. We could not handle her mannerisms, she had to be given to someone else. She is Tigress, the child of strength."

Emily's brain was trying to process the many questions caused by the simple note. Why did the caretakers go to a college dorm to give up their child? How is Tigress in this realm? What the hell was going on!? 

Emily calmed herself down and took Tigress inside. She couldn't believe it, but she was a mother now, whether she liked it or not. Emily had a hint of southerner inside of her, her father was a farmer and her mother was a rich New Yorker. She picked up habits of calling people 'sugarcube' or 'sweetpea', mainly from her father. 

Tigress began to wake up. Emily had taken her eyes off Tigress and went in the kitchen to make her a simple sandwich. No one could go wrong with a PBJ, maybe... She had put the blissful sandwich on a plate and took it to the (probably) hungry tiger.  Only to stop dead in her tracks by curious eyes, examining her very existence. 

"Hello, honeybun," Emily said, trying to be inviting to the small child.

"Are you my new guardian?" Tigress asked, having a look of innocence in her eyes. Emily nodded, which caused the young tiger to run towards her new parent. Emily put the PBJ on a nearby table and prepared herself to embrace the young Tigress. 

The embrace was long-lasting with Tigress crying tears of joy. Tigress was always feared at her orphanage, they called her a monster. She might be able to give up that sad life, which Emily was ready to give her happiness. Emily never predicted ever becoming a mother, but life always has a way to screw up things. 

Emily had given Tigress the sandwich, who happily enjoyed the food. Emily hopes that Tigress likes Mac and cheese because they're going to eat that a lot. Gotta love the college kid lifestyle...

 Tigress quickly became sleepy again. Emily had escorted her to the only bed, meaning Emily and Tigress would sleep with each other. Emily didn't mind, she only could provide so much. Tigress quickly got comfortable on the bed and so did Emily, but before she could embrace the sleepy prison, she emailed her professors that she wouldn't be able to make the class for a few days.

She blamed it on family issues.