Chimera Ryder

Chapter 5 - The Cat, the Snake and the Goat

Ryder stared at her own tail. Her snake tail swayed back and forth, back and forth, like it didn't have a care in the world. This annoyed the cat side of Ryder. She swapped her tail down with her paw. The snake then squirmed out of the cat's paw and shook off all the dirt and junk scraps on its body. Angry and confused, the snake scowled at the cat. The cat then glared back, demanding respect like it was the alpha. The snake hissed at the cat, disrespecting the cat once more. The cat leaped at the snake!

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!"

Ryder was chewing on her own tail! Jessa ran over and pulled Ryder's tail out of her mouth.

"Stop it!"

The cat was still not done fighting the snake! Jessa had to grab Ryder by the collar to pull the cat head away.

"Hey! Stop it! I'm warning you!"

Jessa knew Ryder would be at the junkyard. This was where they used to play hide and seek and find spare engine parts for her father. 

"Hey... What's wrong...?"

The cat yowled at Jessa, tattling on the snake. The snake then hid behind Jessa and spat its tongue at the cat. They started to fight again!

"Hey! I said no more fighting!"

Jessa's tried to stop the two from fighting. Her heart was pumping. She had never seen Ryder like this before.

Ryder was breathing hard, too. Her body was very out of sync. The cat and the snake were always kind to each other. They never fought and would always work together like partners in crime. And the goat? Well... the goat was always asleep. It had only woken up twice to Jessa's knowledge. And both times, it simply woke up and went back to sleep. It was not a surprise that the goat slept through the whole cat and snake battle.

"Come on."

Jessa nudged Ryder. Ryder seemed to be calming down a bit. Her breath was finally back to normal.

"Papa must be worried..."

Jessa didn't ride Ryder because she wanted to separate the cat from the snake. And by the time they got home, the sky was already dark.

Her father didn't scold them. He simply sat behind his desk, examining on the steam engines in front of him. This made Jessa even more nervous. She opened a fresh barrel of fish for Ryder and walked over to sit behind her own desk. She wanted to work on her dial glove but there was already a large pile of engine parts in front of her. She picked up her pliers and started to separate the junk from the gears. Her dinner was cold on the side.

"Ms. Penwright said you still haven't turned in your form," said her father.

Jessa didn't want to respond, especially after hearing Ms. Penwright's name. Her father and Ms. Penwright grew closer over the years. Jessa never told her father how she felt because she knew it was none of her business. She didn't want to think her father planned their romance. But the more she thought about it, it was harder for her to deny the possibility. Why did he send her to Stonewell Academy? Maybe it was because he wanted to get closer to Ms. Penwright.

"I still have a week before I need to make my decision."

"Everyone in your class turned in their forms," he replied.

Jessa stared at the engine parts on her desk. She pushed the scraps to the side and decided to work on her glove instead.

"What do you want me to choose?"

"It's your decision," said her father. "There are decisions in life you have to make by yourself. I can't make them for you."

"Then why did you send me to Stonewell? You have your shop here. I'm obviously good with fixing things. Why did I spend my last six years in Stonewell Academy preparing myself for an academic life?!"