The Night I Saw The Panther

• Liliana Gaggiano, Grade 5, St Raphael's School
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

I am like a monkey, swinging from vine to vine. I am searching for food; berries or mangoes would be nice. At last I see food!!! I am like a tiger stalking my prey and then I pounce!!! YUMMMM, that was delicious.
That night as I went to bed I heard the crack of a stick. No animal would be awake at this time except the panther, the most ferocious animal in the jungle. As I get up and out of bed, I can hear more sticks crack, the noise gets louder and louder.
Then I see it, I can't believe it, I am at least 3 metres away from the beast, I am behind a bunch of bushes, for the first time ever, I see the ferocious panther. As I try to get a closer look, I can see it has been fighting, from the scratches on its face and body, it has been fighting a lion.
It turns its head to face me, I duck down but it sees me and starts to come closer. As I back away, I can see in its eyes it is scared, I am scared too, and then it hears the roar of the lion that attacked it, it roars at me then runs off. I try to go to bed but start to think about the panther. I wonder why it didn't attack me, it had a clear shot of killing me. I fall asleep slowly but before I do, I hear the roar of the panther again, it is a roar of horror, a roar of help, then there is silence. It is dead!