"No, no, change it." I shouted, irritated, "that's the worst song of this century!"
Kevin laughed at my irritation and turned up the volume, making me slap the back of his head from behind his driving seat.
"Ouch!" He yelled.
"You should know better than to anger Amara, buddy. She is a baby tigress," Liam, my annoying elder brother said, chuckling at his friend.
I narrowed my eyes at him and punched his arm...hard.
"Fuck!...What did I do!?" He shouted.
"Don't call me 'baby'," I huffed, "I am a 21 year old adult!"
Liam rolled his eyes, "You didn't even pay attention to the compliment -'tigress',"
I grinned, "It is not a compliment, it's a fact."
Emily, an unofficial bitch tilted her head and scowled at me, "I bet she fucks like a tigress too, right Kevin?"
My fingers instantly curled up into a fist that I so wanted to ram in her face. I felt a hand over my fist and immediately I loosened my palm. I looked up at my brother who shook his head at me.
"Cut it out, Emily," Kevin glared at her.
Emily glared at me once more and then turned her attention on the passing trees as we were passing by a forested area.
Everyone in the vehicle were now silent, an awkwardness filling the air. The music seemed to only add to the tension.
As for me, I was fed up with Emily and her false accusations. She and Kevin broke up because she thought I was fucking him. Like, what the hell!
I never even thought of him that way and here she was accusing me of sleeping with her boyfriend... ex-boyfriend. I am a virgin for god's sake!
I rested my head on my brother's shoulder, who was near the window seat, and gazed outside. My brother curled his arm over my shoulders and squeezed it, giving me comfort.
I sighed. There was nothing better than a sibling bond.
The car suddenly jerked to a complete halt. The sudden movement caused me to bump my head into the back of the front seat.
"...ouch!" I groaned.
It was nearing sunset and the road seemed to be deserted. What could have caused Kevin to stop driving I wondered.
"What happened, man?" Liam asked Kevin who was busy turning the engine off and on. Or atleast trying to. The engine didn't seem to turn on.
"The engine suddenly got blocked... bloody hell!" He groaned out in frustration.
"I'll just take a look at it, don't worry, things like this always happen. It's normal," Liam calmly said and unlocked the door to get outside.
Julia, another of my friends turned her head from the passenger seat towards me and said, "Your brother is like the father figure in our group," she looked adoringly at him through the front glass, "Always taking care and taking up responsibilities."
I smiled mischievously at her, "So now he is a father figure, huh? Who crushes on a 'father figure' Jules?"
Her eyes suddenly glinted naughtily, "A girl who says 'Oh yes! Daddy!"
"Ewww! Jules he's my brother!" I made a face, "I don't want to know about your sex life."
Julie burst out laughing. Her eyes then darted towards Liam again, longingly.
"Your brother has never even touched my finger, Amara, so forget about anything else," she said, a little sadness coated her beautiful pale face and shone in her big brown eyes.
I did not know what to say to her on this. It was true my brother had never even shook hands with her but then again he had never touched any girl as far as I knew. For the longest time my parents thought he was gay and were just waiting for him to come out. But all those suspicions went down the drain when Dad discovered Liam's 'dirty videos' collection.
I still remember my Dad coming down the hallway one fine day and telling my mom:
"We were wrong, honey. He likes them with a vagina and a good rack"
Liam's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
He had called Kevin out for help who quickly went outside. After a few minutes he proceeded towards the back of the car, most likely looking for the toolkit.
An ear splitting roar suddenly rang through the surroundings. It was so loud and unexpected that my hand immediately clutched my heart hard. It refused to calm down.
"No no no no," I heard Julie's scared voice whisper. The urgency in her voice sent a chill down my spine.
I was about to ask her if she was okay when my gaze fell on my brother. It was like someone ripped open my chest and squeezed my heart with iron fist. I couldn't form any words, I couldn't take my eyes away, I couldn't believe this was happening.
Kevin was leaning on the car bonnet, his back towards us. But even then I could see it.
Big and muscular body, lithe with dark black stripes spread over a generous coating of tan orange light fur. Those lethal green eyes sparkled in the setting sun's rays, focused on it's prey. And that prey was my brother.
My heart lurched forward and suddenly my mind was filled with only one mantra.
I have to save him. I have to save him.
The adrenaline rush filled my veins, giving me enough courage to open the car door and slip outside despite Julie and Emily's horrified warnings.
As soon as I stepped outside a hand roughly grabbed my elbow and I was jerked backwards. I let out a low angry hiss at Kevin.
"He's my brother, dammit!"
He was strong but my will to save my brother was stronger. I pushed him back with all my strength and stepped forward towards Liam.
The air seemed to shift and I could feel in my very veins that something had changed. Something was going to happen.
Liam's eyes met mine and I saw the anger, disbelief and fear he had in them. I turned my gaze away from him and towards the beast.
Tiger. It looked like tiger but it wasn't. It was far more enormous than a normal tiger. My eyes travelled it's majestic body and fear filled my thunderously beating heart. We would never have a chance to escape this beast. It had the strength to kill a dozen men and we were merely two.
As I kept on looking at it's green eyes, a strange feeling crept up inside me. I shook my head lightly, thinking that the anxiety of dying any minute now was getting to me.
"Run and get into the car, Amara. Run!" Liam whisper yelled.
But I did not move. My eyes were fixated on the majestic creature's eyes. It seemed like they wanted to converse with me. I shook my head again to get rid of such ridiculous thoughts.
Liam must have interpreted my head-shaking as an answer to his earlier command. So he grabbed my hand, as an attempt to push me towards the door.
No sooner did he grab my hand, a deep husky roar rang through the air.
I gasped and Liam's hand left mine out of shock. This roar was different than the previous one. Very different. It somehow conveyed a warning, though I don't know how I interpreted it.
It all happened in just a second.
Almost immediately the beast lunged at Liam and dread filled my heart. Without thinking I pushed my brother out of the way, pinching my eyes close and waited for the impact. I waited for the sting of a beast's fangs, I waited for the tear of my skin and the gushing of blood, I waited for the last moments of my life.
But it never came.
Bewildered, I opened my eyes. The beast was a mere feet away from me but it felt like my whole life changed there itself as I looked into it's eyes, surrounded my it's aura.
It didn't attack me, it stopped. This unbelievable truth poked my brain and I snapped out of the tiger's hypnotic eyes.
I wanted to look at my brother who was right behind me but I couldn't. I knew I had lost my sanity when instead of running inside the car at this opportunity, I bent myself and sat down on the road.
I was mesmerized with this beautiful beast. It's soft fur looked so inviting, I could barely contain myself. I raised my hand a little bit hesitantly and lightly touched it's ears. The action seemed to please him and to my utter astonishment, it leaned slightly towards me.
The next thing it did left me breathless and in utter disbelief. It bent down and carefully, as if hesitant, placed it's head on my lap. I was shell-shocked, my heart raced no other, goosebumps prickled my skin. But what was even more surprising was that I did not feel an ounce of fear.
The moment I felt it's soft fur and body heat through my flimsy cloth of jeans, I felt a sense of care I never felt before. I had this sudden urge to snuggle beside this majestic creature, to cuddle in it's warmth and forget about everything else.
I didn't know for how long I sat there with a giant tiger resting on my lap. The time seemed to go by without giving me a hint of it's existence.
I was deeply divulging into the safety bubble a beast had created in my heart when suddenly I felt it jerk it's head up. It's ears were perked up and it's eyes were not focused on me but the surroundings. My heartbeat increased due to the features of alarm in it's rigid posture.
It's focus came on me and it growled at me. My eyes went wide as a spark of fear ignited in my heart.
Surely he wouldn't hurt me, I thought unsure.
It growled again, this time louder and I stood up, shaking all over.
I could faintly hear crying from behind me, from the car.
It growled even louder and pushed me back with it's head. I stumbled back.
"Amara, the door!" I heard a familiar was shout, urgently. My brother.
I was still not sure what was happening. It growled lowly towards me and took a step forward. I took a step backward.
It kept getting nearer and I kept stepping backwards until my back hit the open door of the car.
The beast looked towards the jungle and then growled at me again, this time an urgency filling it's angry roar.
"Get in!" Emily shouted.
Shaking vigorously, I stepped inside the car and shut the door.
The moment I shut the door, the beast seemed to relax, as if relieved to see me safe.
With that, it turned and leaped into the jungle, running. Just like that.
Leaving me.
...to be continued.
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QUESTION 1 - What is the best thing about your country?