Day 16
/Get your WIP or grab a story you want to start or an idea you've been mulling over.
Write
Write like the wind!
Write with a heart and mind that is open to whatever ideas may float into you.
And when you're finished say thank you to yourself, and that you appreciate what you're doing for yourself.
There is a tiger that lives on the roof of our house. In the daytime it lies quietly, sometimes peeping through the window but usually calm and quiet. But at night the tiger likes to play.
At night, the tiger creeps down down down the wall and onto the windowsill. One paw, two paw, three paws, four; all balanced on my tiny window sill. The tiger pushes and pushes against the window until - pop! - she is in my room. I put my head under my covers but the rumbling voice of the tiger weaves its way all around me and I can feel it nuzzling against my neck, making the hairs stand up. I can feel it turning round and round on my tummy, settling itself there and getting sleepy as its weight lies heavier and heavier upon me. My muscles get tighter and tighter as I carry the weight of the tiger.
I don’t like the day and night tiger.
Sometimes, on very bad days, the day and night tiger will follow me to school. I can see it sitting at the edge of the field, looking at me when I look out the window when I should be working. The tiger shows up when my work is hard or my friends are unfriendly. I know the tiger is near when I feel it squeezing my chest, or I can feel it lying on my back and I have to make my body tense up to carry its weight. When I see the tiger in the day my breathing goes funny and I feel tense and angry. I get cross with my friends because I want to keep the tiger away from them.
I know people who can help me beat the tiger.
One night, my mum ran the tiger over on the motorway - squish! We had a long long talk and I told her all about the tiger in the night and how it made me feel and now it was beginning to creep around in the day. We talked and we talked and the tiger got so bored it slipped off the roof of the car and right underneath. But this is a very tricky tiger and it found its way back to my roof in a little while. I know I can beat the tiger for a bit but it always comes creeping back. So I am building up barricades to stop the tiger sneaking in.
I have friends I can talk to and play with and when we laugh we make so much noise we can scare the tiger away.
My dad is brilliant at beating the tiger. He bashes it on the head with logic and evidence that such a tiger can’t exist and then, for good measure, he picks up his tiger bashing tennis racket and whizzes it about outside my window scaring the tiger away. The tiger doesn’t like tennis rackets.
My mum will hold my hands and help me do special breathing that can blow the tiger away. Slow breaths in through the mouth and then I pucker up my lips and blow that tiger right out of the window. I do at least ten big breaths to make sure it doesn’t come back in.
My big sister will come and lie with me on my bed so there isn’t any space for the tiger to fit in at all. I think the tiger is scared of my big sister.
I am learning to fight the tiger on my own. It is hard and take practice but I am finding the things that I can do to shoo that tiger away. There are songs I can sing that will make the tiger quiet; I like songs that make me feel big and brave. If I really really need to I can turn on the light and - poof - just like that the tiger is gone and sometimes he doesn’t come back.
If I read a book in bed the characters can come and use their tricks to help me beat the tiger. I can tell myself stories where I can be the hero and the tiger is afraid of me. Sometimes I stretch out on my bed, like a star, so the tiger can’t fit around me. Then I make all my muscles tight and strong so the tiger can see how strong I am and it knows not to mess with these muscles!
The day and night tiger likes to lie on the roof of my house. I am learning the tricks it take to keep him there. I don’t think I will be friends with the tiger but I am learning to live with him.