Taki The Dancing Tiger

• Kayla Bitetto, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2016

Taki strolled along a rooftop, pouncing from house to house. His claws dug into the shingles and his tail waved to the night air. Taki was not a cat; he was a tiger! No one even knew he was born in the suburbs and lived there all his life. Taki desperately wanted a home that wasn’t a zoo, but no one wanted a carnivorous big cat that could possibly eat the entire family. He leaped down from the roof as dawn came and slept in a nearby bush.
Taki woke up at dusk as usual snacked on a wild rabbit. He trotted silently down a path where he came to a stop. His ears turned towards an unfamiliar of music. It made his whiskers twitch and his feet tap. An audience saw the dancing cat and came to watch the show. Taki’s tail whipped as he stood on his hind legs and waved his arms. Everyone cheered for Taki and he was delighted! One little girl ran up and hugged the tiger and said “It’s me! Evie!” but she got pulled away by her mother and was yelled at for hugging a dangerous animal. After everyone left it was all over the news and all the headlines had “tiger found dancing to music on Wallaby Street”. The next night he saw a small rabbit hopping around and he decided to catch it. The poor thing didn’t even have time to blink before 200kg of stripes was on top of him. He heard a crack and he looked up to see a weighted net plunge onto him from above. He struggled in the rope when he saw two men drag him onto the back of a truck.
The ride was long and bumpy but finally the truck came to a halt. The men dragged him out and carried him inside with great difficulties. They put Taki in a small room and put on music but he refused to dance, they whacked him hard with a stick and yelled something. Taki danced unenthusiastically as the men filmed and put it online. After a month the men were famous and made thousands of dollars. Taki was forced to dance new routines every day for two months when he finally went crazy. That night when the men were asleep he tried again to break the glass. Nothing. He remembered how his mother escaped from the roadside zoo. He grabbed his water bowl, which was empty already and charged at the glass at full speed. His weight and strength destroyed the glass.
Taki roared a mighty roar and fought through the men without even trying. He ran down the road with the wind of freedom in his fur. Taki went to a particular house where somebody saw him every night looking through her window. He scratched at the door and a man answered. He gasped and yelled “you’re real!” and let Taki inside where a little girl named Evie hugged him. A home at last.