Tiger War

Tiger War 

By Ayyub Mohamed Ismail

Chapter 1

 “What shall we play today, guys?” George Hill asked. George was not known as ‘George’ among his friends. They all had nicknames. George was called ‘Rally’ as he was good at finding shortcuts.

“I dunno, Rally.” Chris or ‘Hammer’ as he was known, answered. Hammer was a huge, muscular boy who was very fast at running.

Max or ‘X-Ray’ said “Well, we can’t wait around, waiting for school to start.”

“I can.” Hammer grunted.

“I know! I know!” Karl or ‘The Brain’ shouted. “We’ll play ‘Hunt the Cats’!”

“Great idea!” Hammer grinned. “Right, I’m counting. Go hide you lot!”

5 minutes later

Once they were inside the classroom, Rally noticed a boy. A new boy. He sat there at the front of the class in front of Mr Haylings.

“Mornin’ class!” Mr Haylings boomed in his Scottish accent. “Ta dae I wid like tae inrodees you to Alan. He is a new boy so I wid like ye to be a wee bit nice tae him. A’right, class?”

“Yes, Mr Haylings.” The class chorused.

Hammer, Rally, X-Ray and the Brain stared at the boy. He was very, very tall, probably taller than Hammer. His hair was a sleek blonde colour, his eyes very hazel. He looked fit enough to outrun Trap, and as you will find, out he does...

Chapter 2

A NEW MEMBER

 Outside, in the playground, Hammer approached the new boy, Alan.

“Hello.” He began “Um, my name’s Christopher but everyone calls me Chris.”

Alan smiled. “Hi, Chris. I’m Alan. Alan Davies.”

“Oh. Do you want to come and play with us?”

“Of course.”

So Hammer took Alan to his friends.

“Hello, I’m Rally.”

“Wotcha, I’m X-Ray.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m The Brain.”

Alan stared. “Funny names, you’ve got.” He said.

“Oh their not real names, just nicknames.” The Brain said. Alan looked at Trap. “What’s your nickname?”

“I’m Hammer.”

“If I were one of you I wonder what I would be called.” Alan said to no one in particular.

“I reckon you’ll be called G Giraffe.” The Brain said, “You’re legs are so long and thin.”

Alan looked down at his legs, as if seeing them for the first time.

“I s’pose they are.” He shrugged.

“Tell you what. Let’s have a race. Then I think we might find you a name.” Hammer winked at his friends. Alan looked as though Hammer were talking rubbish. But he skipped off to have a race with him. The three others watched. They were sure that Hammer was going to win. But if he lost, they would call Alan either, Flash or Speedo.

Rally put three fingers up. “3...2...1...GO!”

Alan shot of like a human missile and reached the end of the playground in six seconds. When he turned around he saw Hammer staring with his jaw hanging open.

Alan laughed. He jogged back to the others.

“Right then, I think we’ve found you a name, Cheetah Boy,” the Brain said. “We could call you Speedo.”

“Right then, Speedo it is.” Alan said.

The whistle blew and the gang and the new member Speedo ran back to class.

Chapter 3

COACH JOHN

“Mornin’ Alan. I dinna see you there. Class, have ye dun the essays I told ye tae do fae ‘ome work?”

There was a chorus of grumbling as the class took their essays out of their rucksacks.

“I will choose wun of ye tae read out ye essay about the lartnin’ fast cheetah.”

Mr Haylings scanned the class.

“Max, dinna put ye pencil up ye norse.” Mr Haylings said as the rest of the class giggled.

“Christine, come up ‘ere and read ye essay.”

Christine Fleckman came to stand next to Mr Haylings. Then she read out her essay. She kept repeating stuff like ‘the cheetah is the fastest land animal’ and ‘it can run faster than a sports car’.

When she finished everyone applauded. Mr Haylings looked at his watch.

“Time for gym, class. Pack up ye pencils and rubbers and go to the hall. Coach John will be waiting for you.”

Coach John was P.S 42’s gym teacher back in the day. He’s retired but they keep bringing him back as a sub.

“Hold it, Ray.” Rally called as he ran down to the hall. “Old ‘Aylin’ wants to speak to you.”

 “What’s he want now?” X-Ray grumbled as he walked to the classroom.

“Another detention for putting a pencil up ye norse.” The Brain said, mimicking Mr Haylings. The others howled with laughter.

10 minutes later...

“HEY, YOU! PORCUPINE!” Coach John yelled. “You’re late, fella! Lateness is for losers!”

X-Ray looked at him. ‘He’s insane,’ he thought. Actually, Coach John is insane. Have you watched those military movies where the drill sergeant is a total maniac and keeps shouting at everybody? Take away the uniform and you’ve got Coach John. That’s one explanation. #2 Coach John isn’t good with names. He names people by their looks or personality. E.g Porcupine, X-Ray’s got spiky brown hair. #3 He shows all the scars that he got at his knee surgeries. #4 He’s extremely rude.

“What you staring at then! Change, move it. Hup, hup, hup!”

Chapter 4

GYM WITH ALAN

“RUN, MAGGOTS, RUN!”

The whole sixth grade class was puffing around the hall. They weren’t running, though. They were almost fainting. Even Hammer was trailing around the room. Soon everybody was on the floor except for one person. Alan was sprinting around the hall at seventy miles an hour.

“GET UP, YOU FLEA RIDDEN MUTTS!” Coach John yelled.

They got up and starting chanting, “A-lan, A-lan, A-lan.”

Then a sudden change came over the boy. He bended his back over and put his hands on the floor. Then he started going in circles sprinting on all fours. A blue tide ripped out of his body and his skin began to change. Fur bristled on his back. Not just any old fur. Orangey brown fur with black stripes on it.

Then the blue tide wrapped around everybody in the room. Everybody except Hammer, Rally, X-Ray and the Brain.

“Come on, quick!” Alan hissed. “We don’t have time.

Alan’s voice had changed. Instead of a calm, steady voice, his voice had changed into, a low, gravelly kind of voice.

“No time for what?” asked a bewildered X-Ray.

“No time to answer your questions.” Alan growled. Now everyone realised the truth. Alan was no human boy. He was a wild, male tiger, huge and powerful.

“Err, Are you sure you won’t eat us up?” A terrified Rally asked.

“Of course I won’t.” Alan paused to lick his paws. “Without you boys, there is no way my people will survive this attack...”

These words were enough for the four boys. They swung their legs over the tiger’s stripy backside, and held on tight.

“Jungle Base, send in the portal,” Alan requested, to no one in particular.

Instantly, the air was filled with a bright red light. With a mighty roar, Alan leapt into it. There was a flash, and then blackness...

“Err, are you sure this is working, Alan?!” Hammer cried. “We’re falling!”

“Don’t worry,” Alan growled. “We’re nearly there.”

Chapter 5