Schoogle Issue 1 Winter 2016 | Page 13

1 3 2   A Snowy Surprise One lurky night in Russia a group of cold-hearted poachers murdered lots of innocent snow leopards. Only one snow leopard survived the brutal attack. This fortunate beast is a youthful cub called Snowflake. Now traumatised, Snowflake has been captured by an anonymous criminal and people are fearful that that beloved Snowflake is dead. Alice, an outgoing 12year-old girl with hair like coal and emerald green eyes lives in a colossal village called Abaza in Russia. She adores animals so she was devastated to hear about the heart breaking attack. Softly her generous mother blinked away tears as she tightly hugged her sorrowful daughter. “Mum, can I please go outside to explore?” coaxed Alice. “If you’re careful, but don’t be back any later than 4 o’clock”, responded her mother. Curiously, Alice swiftly scurried towards the infamous forest. Suddenly, she hesitated when she saw a microscopic enclosure abandoned underneath a lanky tree. Astonished, she glimpsed inside the cage to see a severely injured snow leopard helplessly yelping to be released. Immediately, she heaved the weightless enclosure deep into the mystical forest. Contently, Alice opened the cage to release the beast into his natural habitat, but he was too weak to survive in the forest. Affectionately, Snowflake staggered towards the young girl then sat down   in front of her. Smiling, Alice looked at the rusty gate that guarded the mind-blowing forest. Suddenly, she realised she had been locked in the forest!!! Trembling, she crouched down next to the adorable leopard that glared at her with fearful eyes. Meanwhile, back at home it was 6 o’clock and Alice’s mother was frantically searching the village for Alice. The police commenced an investigation but found no evidence. By now it was getting dark in the forest and Alice couldn’t see anything apart from darkness. Afraid, she yelled for help, not knowing that the police officers could hear her screams of terror. Shocked, the strong police leapt over the rusty gate and dashed deep into the forest where they discovered the terrorised child near Snowflake and the missing leopard. “Are you alright?” asked a concerned police officer. “Yes, just a bit shaken, I found Snowflake underneath a tree. I came here to release him but I got locked in”, calmly explained Alice. Immediately the police contacted Alice’s mother who rushed to the scene. “I can’t believe this Alice, you risked your life to rescue an endangered animal” she proudly shrieked! At that moment, the ancient gate suddenly flew opening to a deafening bang. Startled, everyone looked back to see an anonymous man clenching a bloody weapon scarcely coming towards them. “Stop and put that weapon down now”, insisted a frustrated police officer while the rest of the police officers surrounded the man. Shaking, Alice grabbed on to her mother’s hand whilst the mysterious criminal pounced like a furious dog towards the police. “Run quickly”, demanded a police officer to the reunited family. “But what about Snowflake? We can’t leave him here to get murdered like the other innocent beasts”, commented Alice comforting the animal. “Take him with you, but quick because we can’t keep this suspect here forever”, boomed the police officer trying to guard the powerful man. Instantly they swiftly sprinted towards the village with Alice hugging the frightened leopard. Exhausted, they reached the atmospheric village with a large crowd mournfully waiting to see if Alice and her mother returned. Excitedly, the villagers welcomed them back from the forest with beloved Snowflake. Aware that a criminal was running free, everybody frantically rushed inside for their safety. Then the police arrived back in the village with the mysterious criminal puffing like an old man in front of them. So they took this advantage to arrest him and take the man to prison. To this day everybody is fearing his releas