[ IP ] Tigers

[ PM ] Through the window across the field they're congregating. I peep up and watch them. All three huge and worn. Giant carnival sawdust prizes. No longer wanted. Never needed. A giant Elmo, Big Bird, and Hello Kitty. They're eyes are huge and unmoving bowling balls. At least Elmo's are. They stick to the top of his bulbous head. Far above the open black cavernous mouth. A gaping smile of endless tickles. One pupil points strait up to the sky. The other pupil, the left one, seems to be facing forward, but at a precarious angle. Not quiet strait on, but not cross-eyed either. Big Bird's head is more reasonable. At least in respect to not being bigger than his body. His head teeters in all directions, held on by a too thin neck, as he hops from one orange plumber foot to the other. Flapping matted wings. Hello Kitty is more nondescript. A giant Hello Kitty head on a little white body in a worn pink dress top and denim skirt. Round it off with little worn pink high heeled shoes. The black eyes are pupil-less and chewed on. Together the three teeter about in a circle. The details are clear even from the distance because they are so huge. They're getting closer. 
 
 I crouch down back beneath the sill. I've stripped down to my green and turquoise MeUndies ( not a sponsor ) for stealth. I flex my paws. I'm a tiger. Huge and imposing. My body reverberates with untapped power. My coloring leans more towards the white and gray scale. My fur thick and soft. John has gone on ahead. John has the concoction. The message that must get through safely. Our duty. He is the leader. A fine Tiger. My sensei if you will. A large wide chest. Full of thick white fur fluffing out from his black V-neck. His y deep yellow yes kind but serious. 
 
 There's a racket on the stairs. I flatten my ears and back into the corner crouching. The half open door ruptures and there's Nate. Tail flicking a wild snake behind him. His eyes crazy. `` OH MAN OH BOY THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!'' I leap and press my paw against his muzzle. `` Quiet you fool.'' Outside the gargantuan head stop bobbing. They turn in the our direction, the lone dilapidated house, in one synchronized turn. 
 
 I scramble over Nate and leap in three bounds down the stairs. Down there it is dark. A jungle with flickering warehouse lights. There are the young adults. They are smiling and shouting and all around me. Engulfing me. `` There you are Honey! Play with us Honey!'' They pull my tail and ears and they sink their many hands into my fur. I smile. `` Good. Good.'' I've have to get out of here. They do n't know the mission. They draw too much attention. Above me in the jungle are the tubes. I pull back on my haunches and launch up with ease. Some of them try to follow. Some do. For a time. But I am quick and agile. Their awwws and complaints of disappointment roll across the air. I've got to find John. Pray the way ahead is clear. 
 
 The tubes are sterile and give off a aluminum odor. Everything inside comes through muffled. Even the intermittent light filtering through the breaks. 
 
 There is John. He is now beside me. We're in a connecting room. There are people around him. Reaching. Clinging. Talking. Petting him and adoring him. He never lowers his gaze to their level. He walks along beside me. `` There's an obstacle course up ahead.'' He guides me through a stairwell. Up and out onto another field of green. We enter through a crease in the layers of a huge tree. Out in the middle of the field are huge trampolines, trapezes and ropes. There are people crawling all over them. One man ripples with muscles. My heart sinks. Nate bounds out behind us; a wild banshee tiger ball'o'energy. `` AAAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!!!'' He's on the play set. The people yell and scream around him. The strong man does a 360 on the trapeze. I join Nate before I have time to blink. The ground and sky tumble and jumple around me. The smell of blood. People are n't meant to play with tigers. 
 
 John lopes by. We meet across air. A nod. Break. I continue on an upward downward roll. 
 
 The three giant heads emerging from the tree. Elmo first. Big Bird follows then Hello Kitty. They totter as quick as they can to the set. To me. Big Birds head at a crooked angle bobs to the left. 
 
 A giant hand of god intervenes. Pulls me out. The world goes black. Swallowed whole. 

