Your journey to school in the style of Durrell - BRILLIANT work by Rasyidah

Journey To School With My Ani-car

When I walk out my front door, my cheetah rises up from its previous Spinx-like pose, a deadpan expression on his face as if to say ‘Took you long enough’ mockingly at me, all geared up and ready for the day. He greets me with a soft growl, as though he is warning me that I better not have left anything behind. It is how we always start our mornings, my easily-exasperated cheetah and I.

We immediately take off as soon as I have climbed aboard, with me clamping my legs against him and hugging my things tightly in a desperate effort to not be thrown overboard. We sprint swiftly along the hissing road, which seems more than a little eager to be rid of us. Occasionally, we have to stop at the red-lighted teasings of the irritating traffic lights, waiting impatiently to just dash away when the infuriating annoyances would finally give up their tasteless jokes. Apart from the law-abiding pauses we are required to make, we mostly just weave through the jungle of morning traffic, with an assortment of other animals racing with us against the clock to school.

Horses gallop near the front of the crowd, birds glide on air-currents above our heads, snakes slither between the feet of their competitors and each other, getting themselves hopelessly entangled. Elephants thump their way through the bestial mass of the traffic, shaking the roads and thus making it harder for us to move on the earthquaked roads. There are also ants in the traffic, each of them carrying a cluster of about five children. Rabbits hop along with all of us, sometimes managing to jump onto and from the heads of the other animals. Cats prowl silently alongside the horde, making use of any nooks, crannies and whatever space available to move ahead of their contenders. My trusty and road-worthy cheetah easily manages to pass all of them, taking the lead.

Though that cheetah of mine always complains about my tardiness of causing our need to rush, I can tell that he secretly enjoys our impromptu morning races and that beating those animals stroke his pride in his speed. I, on the other hand, am just grateful that his extraordinary speed gets me to school on time though I do wish he could be a bit less cocky about it.

-Rasyidah Abdullah, A4, Block 1.