[ WP ] A young boy tries to help his sister , who has had an accident . He does n't know first aid , and nobody is around to help .

He pulled her out of the creek. He was n't sure how he did it, but he managed to pull her onto the pebbly shore. 
 
 She was so heavy. Her lips were slightly blue in the afternoon sunlight. His chubby little hands tried to pat her face, but she was n't moving. Her chest did n't seem to be moving up and down, but he was n't really sure what he was supposed to look for anyhow. He started to sob. 
 
 `` Shhh, it's all right,'' The voice took him by surprise. 
 
 `` Wh... who is it?'' he said through blurry eyes. 
 
 `` Do n't worry, I'm a friend.'' A fuzzy paw touched his cheek. 
 
 It was a tiger. He stood on two legs, lean and fluffy, with a human-like quality to his feline face. 
 
 `` Who...?'' the boy trailed off as the tiger came over to him and touched his older sister's chest, leaning down so that one ear rested over where the boy imagined her heart was. 
 
 `` Let's help her together,'' the tiger said, sticking his tongue out sideways through his teeth and winking at the boy, `` It appears her heart is still beating, but we need to get the water out of her. Can you help me roll her to her side?'' 
 
 The boy sniffled and then helped the tiger roll his sister over a bit, propping her up against a small branch that had lodged itself into the sand. 
 
 `` Very good, hold her there,'' the tiger said, `` Now I need you to stand back.'' 
 
 The tiger stepped back twenty feet and crouched down in a way that made his spine look impossibly long, coiling like a spring. He wiggled back and forth for a few short moments before....CRASH! He barreled right into the back of the boy's sister and the force caused her to immediately cough and vomit up water to the side of her. 
 
 The young boy's eyes brimmed with new tears, and he tried desperately to wipe them away so she would n't see how scared he had been. He ran to her, held her hair back and sobbed her name loudly as she coughed and retched on the bank. 
 
 `` Sis!'' he cried, as her eyes opened and she began to move her arms and legs, feeling back to the side of her head where a large bump was beginning to swell. 
 
 `` Ugh,'' she moaned, but the color was coming back to her face, and she was able to get up, `` Hey bro. I know mom said that I had to look after you, but it looks like you looked after me instead.'' 
 
 That was when he realized something. The tiger! He whipped his head around, but he did n't see anything on the shore- just his sister and himself. It was totally deserted. 
 
 After a few minutes of resting, his sister pulled herself up, still slightly shivering and they walked over to the log where they had placed all their stuff before swimming that afternoon. They gathered their things, and she made a call with her cell phone to their mother to be picked up. 
 
 He poked along at the edge of the water, still within her sight, but still trying to process what had happened. 
 
'Maybe it was just my imagination,' he thought to himself, poking at some moss with a stick. 
 
 But then, as he walked around a waterlogged tree, he saw a tuft of orange sticking out. He pulled at it a bit and a soggy stuffed tiger came into view where it had been hidden in the hollow wet wood. 
 
 He pulled it out and brought it to his sister who was calling to him with a voice still hoarse and grated from being recently sick. Their mother's car had just arrived at the roadway and she was honking the horn impatiently. 
 
 `` Look, Sis!'' He called. 
 
 `` That thing is kind of.....gross,'' she replied, but she was n't strong enough to argue. He wrapped the toy in a towel and they clambered into their mother's Subaru. His sister sat in the front and endured her mother's frantic fussing. They had to go to the local urgent care to be checked out for a concussion, but luckily, there was n't any lasting damage. 
 
 But as he sat in the waiting room, he heard a little growl to his right. 
 
 `` Say, this towel sure is nice,'' The tiger looked down at him, lankier than before with his soggy fur coat, `` But do you possibly have some tuna available? A hero tiger such as myself needs proper nourishment.'' 
 
 The boy grinned shyly and nodded, `` And I'm sure a hero tiger such as yourself also enjoys defeating monsters under the bed and likes to sleep on a warm bed, right?'' 
 
 The tiger nodded, his eyes closing thoughtfully, `` Such is the proper way to care for a tiger, you know.'' 
 
 They shook hands. 
 
 `` I think this may just the beginning of a beautiful friendship,'' the boy replied, and the two of them looked through the comics section of the day old newspaper in the waiting room until his sister and mother came out and announced that tonight was impromptu pizza night. 
 
 `` I hope they have anchovies,'' he said from the back seat of the car. 
 
 `` Why? You do n't even like anchovies,'' his sister said, irritation seeping into her voice. 
 
 `` They're not for me,'' he said pointing at the stuffed tiger sticking out of the towel next to him, `` They're for him. After all, he's earned them.''
