Hunting
By Zayneb Moumkine
The penguin was at the peak of the mountain. The
roaring ocean with a swarm of fish. The snowy mountain was packed with hundreds
of young emperor penguin about to jump off. Charlie, one of the emperor penguins,
was going to hunt for his food for the first time. A very important step into
adulthood. Everyone was scared and nervous, pushing Charlie to the front to
jump off first. He was usually the courageous one, “the stunt devil” as the
other penguins called him.
“Stop pushing me guys.” Charlie states.
“Come on, you’ve got this” Teddy says. Charlie and
Teddy have been best friends since baby penguins.
“I do not want to jump off.”
“Well, someone has to be the first to jump.” As Teddy
gives Charlie one final shove off and he plummets down into the water. He
wobbles at the beginning but then straightness himself out so he is soaring
headfirst to the water. He dives in to the water and feels refreshed. Swimming
is second nature to Charlie, but not hunting. As all the other penguins are
following in pursuit and diving for fish, Charlie is having trouble following a
fish, let alone catch one.
After an hour of struggle, Charlie caught one of
measly fish which did not satisfy his hunger especially with an hour of
swimming. Luckily for him his parents knew something might happened, so they
left a couple of fish for him to eat. He walks slowly to his father and mother
in a sight of defeat. Trudging with every step as if his feet were made of
lead. When he arrives at his parents, they surprise him with fish so he could
eat. He immediately gets excited and eats the fish really quickly.
“Tomorrow” his mother stated, “you will try again. We
got you a tutor.”
“Who is the tutor?” Charlie asks
“Malana.”
Charlie is filled with joy when he heard his mother
say Malana’s name. He had a crush on her since baby penguin school.
“Get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day ahead for
you.” His father says.
Charlie walks back to his cave and falls asleep dreaming
about his time with Malana.
Charlie woke up early next day and went to the peak of
the mountain again to see Malana. Malana is the most beautiful, and talented,
penguin in his age group, which is a big thing because there are many penguins
in Antarctica. When she spots Charlie she nods her head at him, a sign of
hello, and beckons him over. When he reaches besides her she says “I am Malana.
You must be Charlie.”
“Hi, your my tutor right?” Charlie says while
thinking. Really that was the best I could
do.
She chuckles slightly before asking “What is your
problem?”
“I can’t catch the fish no matter how hard I try.”
“Oh, you just need help on your focusing skills. Come
jump in.”
She dives in with the same grace Charlie’s mother had.
He watches her go down before he jumps in himself. When he does she tells him
to focus on the feet of the fish and you will be able to catch them. Charlie focuses
on the fish’s feet and after a couple times, he was able to catch fish. When he
successfully catches the fishes Charlie makes a long GAW. That is the noise he
makes when he is happy. Malana beckons for him to get out of the water and back
on the ice. When they are both on ice, Malana congratulates him before saying "We should hang out sometime.”
“Yeah, that would be cool.” Charlie replies awkwardly.
When she turns around and heads back home, he does a
little happy dance before going heading back home himself. All together it was
a great day for Charlie.
