Young Writers Society

Wind Panther

“Looook oooout,” whispered a slurred voice.

“Huh?” I muttered half-unconsciously and turned in my covers. Massively tangled brown hair teased my sleepy eyes as I blinked to glance at the alarm. To my surprise, it was two o’clock in the morning.

“Looook ooooout,” the strange voice repeated.

“Who’s there?” I asked stupidly to the open darkness.

No response.

Frustrated, I kicked off my blankets and switched on the lights. The icy night wind was buffeting so hard that my curtains started tap dancing. Yet…

No one was there.

Then, I heard a soft, papery rustle over the whistling wind. I looked around my small room and spotted my favorite navy blue jacket sailing across the paper volcano that had recently spewed out more paper on my desk.

My brows knotted in confusion. Was this a dream? I blinked again, just to clear my vision and to check if my eyes were playing a prank on me. Then, I stared at the hovering navy jacket. The more my eyes bored into the blue linen, the more it reminded me of a panther.

It had a face with beautiful whiskers and—eyes. The yellow eyes had actually glowed through the navy blue. The hood of my jacket served as its head and the rest served as its long, slender body.

The wind stopped ever so abruptly and the jacket collapsed. The strange

phenomenon disappeared along with everything. My confusion and shunning snapped me up to more consciousness. Freakish as I was, I tossed the jacket out the window and slammed it shut. Not to mention locking it and moving my dresser to make sure that thing won’t come back again.

“What’s going on over there?” yelled a drowsy voice—Mom. She scared the wits out of me, so I screamed an earsplitting scream and promptly jumped in bed.

That was the craziest night I’ve ever lived to have.

---

At seventh period the next day at school, I was just thinking about my mom who had left me a few weeks ago. Then…I remembered that phenomenon I had seen last night. All of a sudden, Mrs. Fey interrupted my thoughts.

“Meg, don’t you dare start daydreaming while I’m in the middle of a lesson!”

My whole body tensed up in anger. I could feel my face steaming red as I stared into her wide eyes.

“Well, I know there has been a tragic loss in your family, but there is no reason why you should slack off in social studies and learning!” she continued on with her lecture.

Through the corner of my eyes, I saw Katie and her stupid friend, Nancy, giggle in anticipation. I glared at them.

“Meggie, are you listening to me? Do you want to see me after class?” Mrs. Fey snapped.

“No,” I answered obediently.

Finally, the bell rung and everyone rushed out the classroom. I gathered my

belongings and followed the crowd to my locker. Meanwhile I was stuffing my binder into my backpack, the two dimwitted pests came along to bother me. “Leave me alone,” I hissed softly at them when they still followed me out the exit door.

They started to burst out into a huge laughing fit as if I had spoken some kind of foreign language to them. I rolled my eyes.

It was still a windy day, like the previous night. I swept down the hill with the two pests carrying on their own conversations. I walked on the sidewalk’s pavement to eschew the grass and all. They gave me too much memories of the past. My mom had always brought me outside since I was a really small kid. Now those times are over. They ended forever. Another gust of wind blew into my face, and I shivered. Katie seemed to see me because she jumped up right next to me. “You cold, Meggie?” she said with a hint of fake concern.

“Not at all,” I muttered and tried to duck away. At the end of the street, they’d have to turn to go home.

“Here, let me help you,” Katie said sarcastically and snatched my precious white scarf that I had carelessly wrapped around my neck.

“Hey!” I yelled. “That’s mine!”

“Oh—whoops. I didn’t mean to do that, loser,” she snickered as she fingered the silky cloth.

“Give it back,” I said calmly, “or else.”

“Or else what?” Nancy joined in and laughed shrilly. Then she turned to Katie. “Pass it to me!”

They began to toss my innocent scarf around in a ball, as if it were just a plain old rag doll. I would’ve sworn I could trip those two, but then I decided they would hate me

even more later on. It wasn’t worth it to throw out all my anger right this moment. So, I chased them down the street, trying to retrieve the scarf before they’d turn and go home. Right went they were at the end of the street, turning; the wind was blowing the hardest.

Nancy was just passing it to Katie when the scarf flew high into the air and uncurled itself from the ball position. The pure whiteness seemed like wind chimes singing muted musical laughter. My scarf flickered and danced like how my curtains did

on the windy night. It seemed to be daring for Katie and Nancy to try getting it. I felt my cheeks glow a radiant pink and my heart pound in excitement. As my scarf flew by near, I reached out to grasp it. Yet, despite my efforts to get it, it whirled away from my fingers. All that was left in my hands was an invisible scarf that resembled lost possession.

My hands balled up to fists. Sure, that scarf was just something plain to those two pests, but to me, it was like gold. I watched it get entangled with the branches of a tree towering over me. I looked over my shoulder at Katie and Nancy. They were running away on their way home, laughing their heads off at my sudden anger. I ignored them and focused on the scarf.

Yet, I was devastated at the fact that my scarf was securely twined with the rough, naked branches, so I slumped down on the sidewalk. No more nature. No more annoying pests. No more scarf business. I groaned. I didn’t want to climb any old stupid tree to get the scarf. Yet, leaving it would be too many memories. At the same moment when I was getting up to climb the tree to get it over with, the wind began to blow again. It was blowing the opposite way this time. I noticed that there was a somewhat silvery and wispy like wind weaving around through the branches. I dug and fumbled through my backpack to fetch out my glasses to see more properly.

There, through my very vivid vision, I discovered the wind panther right before my eyes. I felt shivers going up and down my spine. It was too mystical for me to believe my eyes. Wind that is visible to even look like a panther! I scoffed in disbelief. How silly did that sound!

I watched the wind anyway. The silvery creature was weaving through the branches, like how a fish swims in the water. It looked as if the panther was trying to mark its territory, for it was rubbing and shaking the limbs. My gaze shifted from the phenomenon to the scarf. It was untwining from the branch slowly as the silvery wind creature was stirring up the branches.

I watched the miracle happen. A gorgeous scarf skydiving in a dancing motion, all dashing white against the lush green was peaceful to watch. The silvery panther seemed to be dancing with it, diving here and there playfully. It all reminded me of the family…in whole. We were sitting on the back porch on that autumn evening. We joked and laughed on that day, watching the fall leaves skydive the same way my scarf was. Spiced pumpkin air penetrated more noses in my head to fill it with more and more happiness. Another year had passed, and it’s another autumn afternoon.

I raced to my scarf and grabbed it away. These memories were killing me. I bit back tears and ran on my way home. I don’t know if it was a hallucination or something, but I saw a wind panther at my side, running along with me. My tears blinded my vision and all that was in my head was a voice echoing, “Why did you leave, mom? Why? Why? Why…?” I reached my house, unlocked the door with the single, dangling key on my lanyard, and rushed to my room.

“Meggie?” said a familiar voice with question.

“Mom?” I asked. I turned around and saw her sitting on my bed with that familiar, warm smile. A merry face with dazzling white teeth. I walked to her slowly, mystified. When I took my first step toward her, she disappeared, gone from my sight. I looked around my room, but she completely vanished.

“Mom…” I whispered, recalling her cheerful face before the crash. It was a face with pretty brown hair that hung up a few inches below her shoulder and a perfect smile. I then crawled in the blankets and fell asleep.

Sunlight shone from my curtains the next day, waking me up in the morning. The weekends have saved me from another dreadful day at school. Instead of going outside as a normal routine I followed before Mom left, I stayed home on my computer. As soon as I sat down on the chair, I saw the wind panther there lounging on my desk top, chewing on the scarf it had rescued the other day.

“Hey!” I shouted.

It stopped chewing and its silvery head turned towards me. The panther cocked its head.

“That thing you’re holding—it’s really precious to me. So why won’t you put it down!” I said.

The wind panther refused to drop my scarf. I threatened it by taking a step forward. It immediately jumped into the air and landed delicately on the ground. The panther gracefully walked out of my room, with the scarf in its jaws. Infuriated, I followed it.

It was kind of obvious. The wind panther was leading me outside. Was this thing just a mental creature that wanted to play with me all day long? When we reached the front door, the panther used its paws to open it. It got out first, and then politely nosed it to open wider for me to walk through. I wanted to grab the scarf instead of thanking it.

I walked onto the porch and down the steps. I felt really stupid, following a strange phenomenon like I didn’t know what I was doing. We walked up the hill, which was next to our house. That’s when I saw the pond, its waters holding so much painful memories.

I wanted so badly to turn around and go back to my room, but who know what the panther will do to the scarf. I started to have a major struggling fight between my two feet. One foot-my right foot- was trying to convince the other too continue following the panther. The other foot was refusing to do so, and stayed there motionless as if it were paralyzed.

Sensing my hesitation to follow, the wind panther looked back at me with the white scarf dangling in its jaws, which looked like it was begging for help. I immediately decided to follow the panther, and my left foot obediently did so as well. The panther turned its head back to its normal position, and trotted down the hill happily. At the foot of the hill, the panther burst into a sudden run on the pavement that surrounded the pond.

I saw my white scarf’s ends buffeting on the sides of the wind panther and decided to run too. Fresh air filled my lungs as I panted in the crispy autumn air. My tense focus on the scarf and the wind panther was fading quickly as the wind batted it away. I realized I was laughing and enjoying this.

I looked over at the wind panther. It, again, had turned its head back to look at me. Unknowingly, I flashed it a huge grin. The panther increased its speed, and gradually, it went up high in the air. I could only stare at it in complete awe. A silvery, wispy thing held a scarf in its mouth, and it was flying. I watched its paws work artistically through the air faster and faster until… the wind panther disappeared and joined the wind in its invisibility. The scarf came down and I grabbed it. Now it’s all safe in my hands. Wrapping it tightly around my neck, I walked towards the hill. Fun’s over.

I walked up the front porch steps and into the house.

“Meggie? Is that you?”

“Err…yeah,” I said and looked around for the person who said that. I found Dad looking at me.

“Where have you been? I was looking all over for you when I found out that you weren’t in the house,” he said in a way all parents do when their children are being naughty or when they’re in trouble. “The door was left open too!”

“Whoops,” I said to myself in a quiet voice.

“So?” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Where have you been and what have you been doing?”

I sighed, unwilling to tell the truth.

“Meggie, are you keeping secrets from me?” I know that Mo—”

“Okay!” I yelled, not wanting to hear her name. I hung my head to look at my feet and avoid seeing Dad’s eyes. “I was doing this to get my scarf. This is what happened: I woke up this morning and saw this thing chewing on my scarf. You know how precious it is, right?”

“What is this thing, Meggie?”

“I don’t really know, to be honest. It was silvery and it looked like a panther. It has a layer of wind moving in it. Also, when it walks or moves, there are little wisps trailing behind it, like fur. I call it a wind panther.”

Dad looked a little troubled.

“Then, the wind panther carried my scarf away, and I had to follow it to get it back. Oh, and it opened the door by itself to go outside. It also opened it a little wider for me to get through, too. Then, we walked up the hill to the pond, but I forced myself to follow it since it had my scarf. After we got to the bottom of the hill, it started to run. I had no choice but to chase it. That was the best part! I really loved running and breathing fresh air, and in the midst of that, the panther started to fly up in the air. It slowly vanished as it accelerated in speed. I got the scarf when the panther disappeared and now I’m here!” I said.

Dad looked as if I were insane.

“Meggie, I believe you need a quick check up,” he said after a moment of silence.

“Hmm? A check up? What for?” I asked.

“Just come with me,” he said and put on a coat and took out his car keys.

I sat in the backseat, peering out the window of his Camry as Dad drove. I was pretty sure that we were going to the doctor’s office for a check up. But what for? There’s nothing wrong with me, except that I’m suffering over a loss. I sighed and looked out the window again. There, I saw the wind panther running along with the car. The silvery, wispy, and slim figure was moving faster than ever! I admired its graceful beauty, regretting how I had been so mean to it before. I could only stare at it and smile. Yet, I couldn’t help to open up the window and let it in. So, then I rolled down the window.

The wind was roaring, disturbing the silence in the car.

“Meggie, roll up your windows this instant!” my dad said in a stern voice. He probably thought I saw the wind panther again.

A little hesitantly, I rolled up my windows, mouthing a silent apology to the wind panther. Now, it was gone from my sight once more.

Outside the window, there appeared the building. Dad drove into parking and we got out of the car. When we opened the door to enter, a huge gust of hot air bombarded in my face. It felt like a hundred degrees in here! My dad walked up to the lady sitting at the front desk saying, “My daughter, Meggie is here to have an appointment with Dr. Gold.”

“Sure! Come along with me,” she said, standing up and leading us to Dr. Gold’s room. In a small room, painted with vanilla colored walls, sat Dr. Gold doing some paperwork. He looked up from his work and smiled. “Hello! How are you two doing today?”

“Fine,” my dad said, “but I have a problem to discuss with you.”

“Go ahead with it,” he said.

“Well, my daughter, Meggie seems to have a little hallucination, from what she’s telling me. Dr. Gold, she’s seeing a creature of the wind. We have a family history of hallucination, and I think her mother’s death made it even worse.”

“Well, that’s pretty reasonable, and I sort of think she’s having some sort of hallucination. Give me some details,” the doctor said.

“Today, she followed this creature out to the pond to retrieve her scarf. You see, the creature was holding it and running away with it. That scarf is a present from her mother. Also, in the past, she’s told me that she sees her mother and hears her sometimes.”

“I’m sure that’s hallucination. I’m going to talk to Meggie for a second,” Dr. Gold said and turned to me. “So what does this creature look like?”

“It’s a beautiful silvery panther. When it moves, there are wisps that trail behind it.”

“When do you see this panther?”

“When the wind is really blowing hard and when I’m sad.”

“What do you feel about this panther?”

“It’s like a friend to me, and it also makes me feel back to normal and happier because it brought me out to enjoy life at the pond.”

“Hmmm. For now, let’s see how it goes. Come back when you need to. It’s not as severe, since the panther isn’t actually scaring her.” Dr. Gold finally decided.

“Okay then. Thank you!” my dad said.

“No problem,” my doctor replied.

I hurried out the door and breathed in deeply. I was almost choking in there. Dad saw me and laughed. We got in the car and drove back home. As soon as we got home, I got into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up the next morning with complications all over my mind, and spasms of dizziness were attacking me now and then. I kept on thinking about Mom and my annoying hallucinations following me about. I stood and let my eyes wander off around in this little world, kept in a glass jar. Memories were almost brainwashing me, though I found a cure to keep it not as fiery as it was before. That cure was the wind panther. I turned around, in hopes to see that cure, possibly waiting at my desk to take me outside again. Yet, my hopes had found the panther.

I walked to the panther and stroked its wispy fur. I left my hand resting on its back and felt the panther breath slowly. Its lungs were filling air and exhaling it in a repetitive rhythm. “My hallucinations so dead, but so alive in many ways,” I whispered to myself. With that, I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked out the door with the wind panther at my side. I went down the stairs and out the door, and then remembered to close the door this time.

We raced up the hill, wind whipping my hair, and reached the pond. The crisp autumn air filled my lungs once more as I panted in the air. Silence took over, but then was broken by the triumphant honking of Canada Geese, organized to fly in a “V”. I smiled at them, admiring their grace. I felt as if my heart was a part of nature, and at the same time, I knew that it was true.

We stalked in the golden reeds, the wind panther and I, wandered around. We went around the pond and into the trees. I had always wondered what was in there. Walking and walking, we finally reached an open field. I took one long look at it, and absorbed all the beauty and happiness I got from the discovery. There, with my two eyes, I saw a golden field with leaves sprinkled everywhere. It looked like a painting, ever so perfect.

All I wanted to do was to run. I wanted to run my feet off until they, themselves, were worn out to death. Then, I would lie down in the fields with the wind panther and love life. And that was what I did. I ran until I fell face down on the grass, laughing along with the evening sun. I knew that my sadness was burned away. I knew that my mother was there next to me, laughing too. I realized that all that time of worrying could just vanish in all this time enjoying life, running in open fields as if there weren’t an end to it.

I sat upright, and so did Mom and the panther. Together, as a whole, we watched the last golden beams of sunlight flash through the trees. Together, we walked in the dappled ground to home, everyone’s heart full of joy.

---

It’s been a few weeks from the day I visited the doctor’s office. The other time I visited, Dr. Gold said that my hallucination has healed itself, and that it was a miracle. The wind panther brought me outside to enjoy life and forget my worries. Nowadays, I’m not as sensitive about mother. Nature has brought more peace and happiness to my mind. Finally, I realized that the wind panther has always tried to tell me one thing: Those memories will be alive in my heart.

I will forever remember that day when the wind panther left me. We were climbing trees and running around at the pond. It was a breezy spring afternoon when the wind panther was running around, and soaring in the air. Finally, running at the fastest I’ve ever seen it run, the panther gradually joined the invisibility of the normal air again.

I will forever love the wind.

I will forever love Mom.

I will forever love nature.

I will forever love life.

And they will always be alive in my heart, now and forever.