Flash Fiction Challenge!

Challenge 1 - A Pet Panda

"Your parents have taken your pet panda to the farm upstate"

"Ma! Pa! Don't do this!" I begged as I stood in front of my panda, desperate to stop this from happening. "I'm sorry kiddo, but we have to," Dad said, looking at me sadly, "We just don't have the money this month for rent. You remember Peach Hill farm though, right? It's so nice! He'll be happy there." I didn't remember Peach Hill farm. I looked at my dad, daring him to come closer. "Sun, we're so sorry. It's got to be done" my Mum said, slowly moving towards me. "No! NO! Leave Joatt alone!" I screamed at them, turning to hug my panda. Joatt looked at me, not really sure what was going on. My mum picked me up and carried me off as my dad lead Joatt round to the gate. "No! Joatt! I'll find you!" I shouted over to him, as my dad pulled on the rope around him neck and nudged him into the bamboo grove.  

   Weeks passed. I stared listlessly out of the window and into the garden, thinking of the days when I used to play with Joatt, when we used to run around between the trees and eat the juicy apples that fell from the tree in Old man Zalzalaars yard. Sometimes he would yell at us, but we always managed to escape with a few. I sighed, living here had gotten a whole lot quieter without Joatt around. "Right, that's it! I can't sit around any longer! My parents aren't bringing him back...so it's my job to save him!" I jumped up from my seat at the window, and ran upstairs to find my backpack. "He must be so scared and lonely right now" I said to myself. I'd known Joatt since he was just a tiny cub. We had grown up together! Dad had found him crying while working in the nearby bamboo grove, and had carried Joatt home in his basket. From the moment we met we had been inseparable...a fat tear rolled down my cheek. "No, crying won't bring him back! I don't have time to waste." I shook my head and wiped the tears from my face. Grabbing my backpack, I shoved a few essentials inside. Water bottle, map, compass, and a snack for the road. "Oh and I can't forget..." I reached over into the box beside my bed and pulled out a handful of bamboo shoots. "I can't bring a snack for myself if I don't have one for him too!" I grinned at the shoots in my hand and gently placed them in the top of my backpack, and slung it onto my back. I knew I had to get out of the house without my parents spotting me. They'd already caught me trying to scale the back wall at least 4 times in the past month, so they're watching me now...I'll have to wait until they leave for work.

   Afternoon came, and I crept into the garden, looking around myself for signs of my parents. The birds were singing in the tree, Old man Zalzalaar was out in his backyard again, asleep in his rocking chair. Seemed like the coast was clear! I slowly moved over to the gate at the side of the wall, and gently pushed against it. A loud screech from the gate pierced the air and I froze, looking all around for my parents. "They must be busy if they didn't hear that..." I said to myself as I squeezed between the half open gate and the wall, and slipped out into the wilderness, hearing the old man grunt in his sleep and cry out a slurred "Hey!" after me.

   I'd been out here many times before, but always with a parent by my side. Wild things live in the bamboo grove, they'd said. Mountain lions, bears...all sorts. "They'll eat you in a gulp, kiddo! So stay away from there". They'd warned me. However today, I had to ignore their warnings. I had to save my friend. I approached the edge of the bamboo grove and looked at my map. It seemed like Peach Hill farm was on the far eastern edge of the bamboo grove, and I gulped. I want to save my friend so badly, but I can't get the fear of those warnings out of my head. I stood in front of the tall bamboo, staring up at them towering over me. Then I thought of Joatt lazing around in the sun by the river, of the time he ate too much bamboo and I had to stay up with him all night rubbing his back and singing gentle songs to help him sleep. "I can't give up here!" I cried, balling my hands up into fists. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and took my first step into the grove. The air around me felt quieter somehow. It was eerie, the bamboo towering all around me like silent giants. My every movement echoed in my ears, and I silently prayed that all the mountain lions were asleep somewhere else.

     I finally made it to the edge of the clearing, and I couldn't believe my eyes. There was Joatt, standing in the field ahead. Tears filled my eyes, and as I went to run down the hill to him, I stopped. I saw he was attached to something, there was a chain around his neck, and he was pulling a hoe along the ground, tilling the earth for crops. Joatt spotted me, and stopped working to turn and look at me. "Hey! Stupid panda, get back to work!" Shouted a man, who cracked a whip at Joatt. He cried out in pain, and stared at me some more. I quickly moved backwards into the grove so the angry man wouldn't see me, and as I did I heard another yelp of pain from Joatt as he was cracked with the whip. I slid down onto the ground behind the wall of bamboo, despair hitting my gut like a stone. I held my head in my hands and cried, not knowing what to do to save my dear friend.

   I thought about it long and hard, sitting there in the quiet of the grove. I sat there until dusk, when the skies darkened and the man (finally bored of whipping poor Joatt) had gone inside. I saw my chance and crept over to the field. As I got closer, I could see the whip marks that covered Joatts body, and I had to suppress the urge to scream. He looked at me with sad eyes, and growled as I approached. "Have you forgotten me?" I whispered over to him. I took another step and his shoulders stiffened. Okay, I thought to myself, perhaps this isn't going to be as easy as I had thought...I know! I gently placed my bag on the floor, and opened the flap. I took out a few bamboo shoots, and held them up for him to see. Immediately, his shoulders softened, and he sat down. I approached cautiously still, not being sure of what he'd been through while at this awful farm. "Wonderful, it is not...Father, you lied to me." I mumbled under my breath as I held out the shoots and as I went to place them on the floor, he pulled them out of my hands and ate them up whole! "Easy buddy, there's more where that came from!" I smiled at him and pulled out some more from my backpack. As Joatt sat on the grass, munching on his shoots, I tried to come up with a plan. Then I heard noises behind me. "Hey! What are you doing! Trespasser!" It was the man with the whip. He must have heard us! I turned to explain, and felt a sharp pain in my side.

   I looked down in shock, a crimson river flowing out of me. I couldn't speak, my mouth dried up. "I...I..." I choked and fell to the ground. The whip man was holding a gun, and he stopped to reload it and ready a second shot. As he reloaded, Joatt roared and ripped the chains out of the wall, my once docile panda now enraged. Throwing himself at the man, ripping into his face before he had a chance. The screams echoed in the air as my vision began to fade. I looked up, and the sky was clear above me, the stars shining so beautifully. Tears ran down my face as I felt my life force draining. Then I felt a pressure at my back, so wonderfully warm against the icy cold that was flooding my body. The warmth wrapped itself around me. With the last of my strength I reached out a hand and placed it on Joatts fur. "I'm glad I got to see you again, one last time. I'm sorry it took me so long." I coughed, and a metallic tang filled my mouth. "Please, just run now. You need to run now Joatt." I tried to nudge into him but it was no use, he refused to leave. I looked up at him as the last breath left my lungs...my parents were right, the bamboo grove was dangerous, but not for the the reason they said. They lied about so much. I smiled weakly at Joatt as my vision faded to black.