Cheetah (3 page)

“Don't be afraid,” Mia whispered. “You just relax while I show you around.”

Mia held the box carefully. She showed Cheetah the garden, the mailboxes, the lamppost and the stop sign.

“What do you think, Cheetah?” Mia asked through the breathing holes. “Do you like it here? Blink once for ‘yes' and twice for ‘no.'”

Cheetah blinked once.

“I knew you'd like it! It's better than that old pond, right?”

Cheetah stared ahead.

“Want to have a staring contest?” Mia asked. “I bet you'd win!”

Cheetah turned in the grass so her back was to Mia.

“I guess you're tired,” said Mia. “You have a little nap.”

In her bath that night, Mia pretended she was Cheetah. She floated like a bath toy. She stretched her
legs out behind her. She blinked. She stared. She tried to think like a frog. She asked herself a question. If I was Cheetah, what would make me happy?

But “herself” didn't answer. “Herself” was as silent as Cheetah.

Mia waited outside the school. She held Cheetah's box carefully. She had put a cloth over the box so no one could see inside. Kids crowded around her. They tried to peek under the cloth.

“What's in there?!” they demanded.

“Is it alive?”

“Is it a snake?” someone asked.

“Snake!” The kids squealed and backed away. Mia was glad. She wanted to keep Cheetah a secret until News time.

The bell rang. Mia waited while the other kids rushed inside. She didn't want Cheetah's box to get bumped. Mr. Ko, the principal, held the door open for her.

“What's in the box?” he asked.

“Well...it doesn't bite or hurt people.”

“That's good. Is it a surprise then?”

Mia nodded. “It's my News.”

“Well, better hurry or you'll be late.”

Mia got to the classroom just as the announcements started. She set Cheetah's box on her desk.

“What's in there, Mia?” Hailee whispered.

“Shhh,” said Mrs. Rose.

The announcements were long and boring. Who cared about soccer games and bake sales? The best news was sitting right here on Mia's desk!

Finally, Mrs. Rose said, “Who has News today?” Mia's hand shot in the air. Tom and Lisa raised their hands too.

“Mia, why don't you start?” said Mrs. Rose.

Mia took Cheetah's box to the front of the class. She set it on a table.

“Girls, boys and Mrs. Rose,” she began, “today I brought a creature from the wild. It will amaze you! It will astound you! It's a
real, live
leopard frog!”

She took the cloth off the box. She lifted Cheetah out. Some kids squealed. Some said, “Cool!” One said, “Yuck!” (That was Suzy. Suzy only liked one kind of animal: toy poodles with bows on their heads.)

“Some people don't like frogs,” said Mia. “But frogs are lots of fun.”

She showed the class how fun Cheetah was. They had a staring contest. They played hop tag. She put Cheetah on her shoulder. She even put Cheetah on her head!

“Mia,” said Mrs. Rose, “shouldn't you keep your hands on Cheetah?”

Mrs. Rose was right. Mia knew her head wasn't the best place for Cheetah. Cheetah could jump off and hurt herself. She took Cheetah down. She held Cheetah gently with both hands. Only Cheetah's head peeked out.

“Are there any questions?” Mia asked the class.

Twenty hands went up.

“Yes, Seth?”

“Does it poop?” Seth asked.

“I don't know,” said Mia. “Yes, Lin?”

“Does it pee on your hand?”

“She did once.” Mia grinned.

“I have a question,” said Mrs. Rose. “Where did you find Cheetah?”

“At the pond at my dad's drop zone,” said Mia. “But she likes it better at my house.”

“You made her a nice habitat,” said Mrs. Rose. She explained that a habitat was an animal's home.

There were lots of other questions. Mia answered them as well as she could. Mrs. Rose lined the class up so they could pat Cheetah. (Everyone wanted to except Suzy.) Then Mia put Cheetah in her box. Cheetah hid in the grass.

“You have a rest now,” Mia whispered.

She was tingling all over. Cheetah was the best News Mia ever had. Tom's News was next. He showed a picture from the newspaper. Boring! Lisa's News was about the circus. That was better. But nothing was as good as a real, live leopard frog!

Mia stayed inside at recess. She wanted to give Cheetah a cuddle.

Mrs. Rose sat down beside them. “Mia, you are taking good care of Cheetah. This is a lovely habitat.”

“Thank you,” said Mia. “Cheetah loves her habitat. Don't you, Cheetah?”

“Mia, what are your plans for Cheetah?” Mrs. Rose asked. “Are you going to let her go?”

Mia didn't want to talk about that.

“Mia?” Mrs. Rose's voice was quiet. “Are you going to let her go?”

Mia nodded. “I only get to keep her till Saturday. Then I have to take her back to the pond.”

“I'm sorry if that makes you sad, Mia,” said Mrs. Rose. “But it is best for Cheetah. She's a wild animal.”

“I know.”

“Why don't you run along now for recess?”

Mia put Cheetah back. She left the classroom. But she didn't run. She didn't hop. She slumped along like a sad, mad human girl.

Mom took Mia and Maggie to the library on Thursday. Mia chose three books about frogs. Maggie chose some books for teaching her dolls.

“Baby Uh-Oh needs this one about potty training,” she said.

Mom used the computer to find out more about leopard frogs.

“Oh, no,” she said suddenly.

“What is it?” Mia asked.

“It says here that there used to be lots of leopard frogs,” Mom said. “But now they are disappearing.”

“Disappearing?” A bad feeling crept over Mia. She had made Cheetah disappear from her pond.

Mom read some more. “Oh, dear!” she said. “It says that leopard frogs are ‘at risk.' That's almost like being endangered.”

Mia knew about endangered animals. Tigers were endangered. So were pandas. Endangered animals lived in zoos or special parks in the wild. They didn't live in fields behind a drop zone.

Mia knew something else that gave her chills. It was against the law to capture endangered animals. Was she going to be put in jail?

“It didn't say we couldn't catch them! There wasn't a sign or anything!”

“It's not your fault, Mia. Don't be upset. But it does mean we need to get Cheetah back to her pond.”

“Before Saturday?”

“No, Saturday will be fine. But next time, leave the wild animals in the wild, okay?”

Mia plunked herself down in a chair. The adults in her life kept saying the same thing: “Cheetah belongs in the wild.” Mia thought they were wrong.
If Cheetah was endangered, she needed Mia to protect her.

The more Mia thought about it, the madder she got. Nobody understood. Mia scowled through dinner. She glared at the TV . She frowned at the mirror while brushing her teeth.

“Sweet dreams,” said her parents at bedtime.

Mia growled in reply. She put her quilt on the floor. She curled up beside Cheetah's box. Then she cried herself to sleep.

Mia dreamed that she was very small. Her bedroom was filled with mud. It smelled bad. The door and window were gone. There were holes in the ceiling.

Mia stretched toward them to get some fresh air. A huge eye appeared at one of the holes. Mia hid in the grass. The monster took off the lid. It was a giant! A slimy green giant! It reached in. There was nowhere to run.

The monster grabbed Mia. It put her down. She ran! The monster picked her up. Then it put her down. She ran! It picked her up again. It played this mean game for a long time. Then it lifted Mia high and set her down on its cold clammy head.

Mia saw her chance to escape. It was a long way down. But she jumped!

And fell!

And woke up.

Mia trembled like a piece of grass in a cold wind. She turned on her light. She took the lid off Cheetah's box. She couldn't see Cheetah at first. Then she spied her hiding in the grass. Mia ran her finger gently down Cheetah's back. Cheetah trembled.

“Don't be scared, Cheetah,” Mia whispered.

She picked Cheetah up and held her close.

“Oh, Cheetah,” she said sadly, “am I your monster?”

Cheetah's habitat looked messy. The bowl of water had spilled. It was starting to smell bad.

“Mia, are you all right?” Dad was standing in the doorway.

Mia nodded. She tried not to cry. Dad sat on the floor beside her. He smiled at Cheetah.

“You've had fun with Cheetah this week, haven't you?”

Mia nodded.

“Are you ready to take her back on Saturday?”

Mia shook her head. Dad sighed. Mia put Cheetah back in her box. She snuggled into Dad's lap.

“You did a good job taking care of her,” said Dad.

“No, I didn't,” Mia sobbed. “I didn't make her love me. She always wants to get away.”

“She just needs to stretch. Hey—do you remember when I got my big saw? You made a fort out of the box.”

Mia nodded.

“It was fun for a while, right? But you couldn't stay curled up in there for long. It was too small. Maybe Cheetah feels like that.”

Mia started to feel mad again. Cheetah's habitat was better than a plain old box. It was lovely! Mrs. Rose said so! Cheetah loved it!

Didn't she?

Mia wanted to be alone to think.

“I'm going back to bed, Dad,” she said.

Dad tucked her in. He kissed her on the forehead.

“Don't feel bad, Mia. You kept Cheetah safe for a whole week. And you gave her a great adventure.”

An adventure... Mia liked that idea. She fell asleep thinking about it. This time she had a good dream. Cheetah was back at the pond. The other frogs sat all around her. Cheetah was telling them a story. It was the story of her great adventure at Mia's house.