A Tiger's Dream: How A White Tiger Managed To Strive For Victory

~ 1 ~

When Soohorang was a tiger cub, he would like to go outside of his apartment during wintertime and play around with the snow, together with his friend, Bandabi the Asian black bear. Years have passed. It was April and the season changed, which does not impress Soohorang. It was only the Sun glaring at the pleasant fields and the dark forest. There was no snow falling, but drops of rain only fall when the clouds above get too dark. And he wasn't able to play with Bandabi until winter comes again.

"I wish that snow will fall so that we can play together again," he thought. He kept staring at the snow globe that his friend gave to him when they first met. Soohorang liked the winter and spring seasons. He thought of playing a winter sport at a competition. He also thought of smelling the nice scent of flowers of spring.

Soohorang held the snow globe carefully and shook it, which made the tiny balls inside that look like snowflakes float up in the air and fall slowly back to the ground. As he stared at the globe, he heard a knock on the door. "Hello?" A voice was heard behind the door. Soohorang could recognize that voice because he has heard of it. It was Bandabi. He then opened the door with a smile. "Come in. It's nice to meet you again." "It's nice to meet you too," Bandabi replied.

Bandabi always wears a Santa hat, embroidered in green, blue, and red from top to bottom, every time he goes outside. He would be very afraid if he loses it. His mother had sewn the hat for him as a remembrance of her hard work. Bandabi cannot meet them because they're very far apart. His parents decided to leave him in Seoul and live in Busan. And he always thinks about his mother when he wears it. Bandabi started to become concerned about Soohorang. "Well, I didn't see you go out of the building when I passed by. Is there something wrong?" "It's just that I don't like the season today," Soohorang answered in a gloomy feeling. "All I want is snow and flowers, but this season has changed everything a lot." "It's just nature itself," Bandabi giggled. "It is always natural that snow will fall and flowers will bloom in a specific time, but you can't control nature." Soohorang knew it. He learned that he cannot control winter and spring since seasons are a part of nature.

Bandabi grabbed a black bag containing his rollerblades that he left in Soohorang's apartment residence yesterday. "Oh, I just forgot to bring my rollerblades back! Sooho-ya, do you want to play with me?" "No," he denied. "I'm not into this quality and weather." "Come on, I thought that you were good at doing some awesome figure skating tricks, ain't you?" Bandabi pleaded. Soohorang's eyes were wide open in surprise. "Of course, I would love to! But I don't have my own rollerblades." "Oh, use my spare ones. Hold on, I'll just take it out of the bag."

He unzipped his bag and took out a pair of rollerblades that he considered them as spare, just in case his own rollerblades break or if he is fixing it. They went out of the apartment and wore them on as they have reached the pavement. The streets outside were very congested. Of course, it is almost sunset and people are going on their way home or to pick up their children in school. "It sure is a very busy day," thought Soohorang. "My dad is playing tennis in the stadium, wanna go there?" "Sure," Bandabi agreed, "why not? Let's go before it's too late!"

They started gliding through the pavement, and then Soohorang performed some of the tricks that he had learned from his figure skating session. He twirled, spun, and landed with grace and harmony, just as he imagined that he was doing figure skating. Bandabi went straight ahead. "Hey! What are you doing! I thought you wanna meet your father!" "I'm coming through! Wait for me, Dabi-ya!"

The white tiger accelerated as fast as he could to reach the Asian black bear, who was ahead of him. All of a sudden, Soohorang lost his balance and when he was about to fall, Bandabi grabbed his hand and pulled him over. "Oh thanks, Bandabi." "Not a problem at all. Next time, please stick to me so that there won't be any trouble."

Just as they arrived at the stadium, Soohorang pointed to the right, where the tennis court is located. "My dad's over there."

At the moment when they were on their way to the tennis court, Soohorang's father, Hodori, was playing in a tennis competition, with spectators sitting on their bleachers watching the ball hit to and fro as the rackets hit it with physical force. Bandabi was amused. "Your dad participated in a competition?! Soohorang gave him a smirk. "Yes, and probably he would be winning in the finals. He's competing in the semi-finals now."

Hodori had a big interest in sports ever since he was little, but he never gave up on it for 30 years. He has received many trophies and medals in different summer sports competitions that he partook in and has been appreciated by many Korean athletes. "I'm sure that you wish to be like your father, is it?" Bandabi asked. "Yes, of course. I want to persevere like my a'ppa so that I can win for the winter sports competition!" answered Soohorang.

Serve by serve, hit by hit, smash by smash. Soohorang and Bandabi watched as the amicable Amur tiger struggled to not miss the ball. And a shocking scene happened when Hodori didn't hit the ball on time, and landed down to the ground, giving the opponent a score. The opponent was qualified for the finals. "Nooo! My dad can't make it to the finals!" Soohorang groaned. "Yeah! That was so close! I'm surprised that he tried his best..." Bandabi said in awe.

Just as the match ended, Hodori packed up his tennis bag and left the court. He was surprised when he saw Soohorang and Bandabi waiting for him. "Hey, how did you two get here?" "We got here with our rollerblades, you know," said Soohorang.

"Oh, so you were like practicing for the figure skating session or something?"

"Probably."

"I borrowed my spare to him so that he can use it to, well, do some figure skating tricks along the pavement," Bandabi added.

Hodori sighed. "I'm so tired. Let's just sit over there and wait for time to pass."

They sat on a nearby bench and looked at the dusky sky, brightened in different shades of scarlet and gold. "Is it possible that success will come to happen?" asked Soohorang.

Hodori became compassionate about Soohorang, who is willing to be like him someday. "I'm sure they will happen. But sometimes, people fail when they don't keep their effort in doing their job. You see, I've been practicing for days, for weeks, for months, everything. I always persevere to get either a medal or a trophy in competitions but in this match, I failed to qualify for the finals, which is going to take place in Busan. Listen. Whenever you look at your own success tomorrow, you'll see the future of yourself."

"Someday, I would become more successful like you, dad. That is my dream. I have to fulfill it."

"You're right, my dear."

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[A/N]

Ugh, I did put all my efforts in writing the first chapter of the story. At first, I was asking Ha'neul (the illustrator of the cover) if she has any ideas for the next chapter but she wasn't able to think of any. But first, I'll put the plot of the whole story and try to figure it out.