kelsey

The Trial

I rubbed my eyes to see if I was dreaming but when I dropped my hands, the truck was still missing. I looked down the street and saw no dust cloud, no people, just nothing.

Maybe the driver forgot something and he went back to get it? Maybe he forgot about me? The truck might have been stolen and the driver might be around here, wounded? Who am I kidding? The driver just left because he saw the opportunity to dump me in the middle of nowhere.

I walked around the gas pump and found my bag in the dust. I quickly check it to make sure everything was where I left it and I find everything there. I hear a sound behind me and see that Ren has been set loose. He looked like an abandoned puppy, waiting to be taken home. His tail was wagging and he was closely watching me.

"Well this is just great! 'Nothing will go wrong, Miss Kelsey.' Mr. Kadam said. Ha! What am I supposed to do now? I can't teleport and I can't reverse time so this won't happen! My powers are gone. Maybe I can do try to do something." I try to make time stop but my powers are still gone and I feel dizzy. "STUPID DANEL! I'm never going to trust him again! The medicine he gave me must have taken my powers! I'm such an idiot! I should've got rid of him when I had the chance. Ugh!"

I yell and curse some more, kicking some rocks and trees. I stub my toes on the tree and I fall to the ground in pain. Ren comes close and tries to grab my attention. I ignore him and push myself of the ground. I wipe at my face and see dirt and blood on my hand. I start panicking some more and try to remember what my parents have always told me.

"Now's not the time to panic, sweetheart. Bad things sometimes happen to good people." Her soothing voice calms me down and I try to make light of the situation.

I have my bag with all my traveling papers and money. I still had my clothes. The only thing was that there was a tiger on the loose. I decided to secure Ren before he runs off or is injured. I go back to the store and buy a yellow rope and some jerky snacks.

I walked outside and found that the tiger had walked off a bit. I try to give him some jerky snacks so I could tie him to the rope. I should have borrowed a phone and called Mr. Kadam to send some professionals to catch him. I was beyond thinking and ran after my tiger instead.

"Ren! Come back! This isn't your new home. I'll give you a nice treat." I begged. He continued on into the jungle. I could barely keep up with him but with the extra weight of Mr. Kadam's backpack along with mine, I couldn't keep up.

He would always stay just out of my reach and just when I thought I had him, he would go off again. After only fifteen minutes of pursuit, sweat dripped down my face. My clothes were sticking to me and my feet hurt.

As I slowed down, I begged again, "Ren, please come back. It's almost night, we need to get back to town."

He, of course, ignored me and continued through the trees. He would stop often and make sure I was still following him. Over and over again, I tried to control the winds so it could cool me down, but time and time again, I failed to make even a whistle of wind to blow around me. Eventually, I was so tired and dizzy from chasing Ren that I stopped and sat on a log. I took a few breathes of my inhaler, thanking the universe that I had thought of keeping all my meds in a small bag with me. 

Ren realized that I wasn't following him anymore so he strutted back to where I was. We were far from town and I was lost.

"Figures, the moment I stop, you come back. I hope you're having fun making me chase after you in this heat." I tie the rope around his collar and try to get a sense of my location.

We had traveled for quite some time and we were walking in circles and I had no idea where we were or which way town was. Icy fingers went down my spine and goosebumps spread over my arms. I was starting to panic again and I didn't know what I was doing and for a second, I forgot who I was. I twisted a yellow rope around my fingers and stared at a white tiger. I had no idea what I was doing so close to a tiger.