Panda Parlour

• Cate Chapman, Grade 2
• Short Story
• 2013

Once upon a time in the year 1513, there lived a graceful Panda named Tia. She lived in a forest called Elly Park. It was a wildlife park, and humans were able to view the parrots and pandas.
Her favourite tree was the 'Emma Kredinna' bamboo tree. It was the most un-popular and dirtiest, but the most comfortable! The tree was named after a little girl named Emma Kredinna who found the tree. Tia loved Emma. Emma visited the park every Tuesday at 11:00 am. She always visited Tia and her tree. It was a very relaxing place to be, and this was proven in 1522, when 20 new keepers joined the park, and 3,000 visitors arrived on the 12th of July.
One Wednesday, the park was closed and everything was quiet. Tia woke up, yawned, and hurried to her breakfast branch for her scraps usually brought by the panda keepers. Nothing came. Tia didn’t worry. She walked down her tree and sat on her swing. Tia swung and swung and swung until it was 9:15 am. Then she climbed back up her tree and fell asleep.
One hour later, she woke up. Below her, she saw Beth, one of the keepers with a tree axe. “Oh no!” cried Tia. She closed her eyes in fright. She feared her favourite tree was going to be CUT DOWN! “Don’t be scared, Tia.” said Beth, as she put the axe in the cupboard. “I was just putting this away.”
Tia sighed with relief. But there was more action to come! Beth picked up Tia and put her in a crate. Then she carried Tia all the way to 'Panda Parlour'. Then Beth went to the 'Cart Hires' store and hired a cart home.
Meanwhile at 'Panda Parlour', Tia was having a relaxing foot spa. She was just in the middle of getting her nails painted when her ‘Emma Kredinna’ tree appeared in her sleeping room at the parlour!
Back in the park, the bird family had 11 new chicks! But the bird family was lonely, so they moved next to the Panda Parlour into another salon called Bird Beauty!!!
Tia is still alive, she’s old though. She still lives at the Panda Parlour, and she only occasionally gets a foot spa, but she is HAPPY!!!