Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from Jane.
An Eventful Evening – Part 1
Jane was quite certain that she was going to either faint or wake up from what had to be the worst nightmare she had ever had.
The day had started out quite ordinarily: She had gone to work, sat through a boring press event, fended off the advances of her sleazy boss and got stuck with proof-reading duty just as she had intended to head out.
When she finally left the editorial offices, it was past nine and she was yearning for nothing more than a hot bath and her bed to ring in the weekend. She changed into a bathrobe and filled the tub with deliciously lavender-scented hot water, and went downstairs once more for a glass of wine.
That was when she saw the light come out of the living-room. At first she thought she had left on the TV, but the light was different. It was more white than blue, and it wasn't flickering so much as shimmering in soft movements, like sunlight reflecting off water. She stepped into the living-room, and what she saw made her stop short in the doorway. There was a light in the middle of her living-room, but its source was the strangest thing she had ever seen. Hundreds of shimmering prisms shaped like shards of glass were floating in the air, forming a sort of round object through which light was shining into the room and onto the prisms, creating the shifting, shimmering light. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Jane was about to step closer to it, to touch it, when she heard the noise. It was a low growling, a little bit like a cat, but deeper, more resounding and definitely more threatening. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, remnants of age old defense instincts kicking in. To her right, she found the fireplace, and quickly grabbed the thick iron poker from its stand before moving back towards the doorway. That was when the growling turned into a sort of roaring, and through the shimmering thing, a huge tiger jumped right into the middle of her living-room. It was much bigger than any tiger she had ever seen at the zoo, and it had long fangs that she was certain no living type of tiger should have. Had she not been so scared, Jane would have been amazed by how graceful it moved despite its size.
The tiger looked around confusedly for a second before it noticed her and looked straight into her eyes, and Jane realized that there was nothing but her couch standing between her and certain, painful death. She gripped the poker tighter even though she knew it wasn't going to help her at all, and then the tiger made a small movement towards her and she screamed, fully expecting to die.
She didn't, but things did get very confusing. When she opened her eyes again, the tiger was still prowling up and down, probably playing with its prey. There was a loud bang at the front door and someone ran in just as the tiger tightened its muscles to jump, and a weight hit her from behind and pushed her onto the floor, covering her from the tiger soaring above her. She could feel the gush of air the tiger's jump created, and a set of claws digging into her shoulder painfully, slashing through the silk of the bathrobe and into her skin. Then she hit the floor, and pain shot through her left leg that made stars dance before her eyes.
***
A/N: That was sort of an epilogue to my current story. It's nowhere near finished, and I only have a vague idea of where I'm going with it, but I thought I'd just start publishing it and see where it goes - therefore, reviews are highly appreciated.
The title is a line from Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man".
And don't worry - the real characters will start appearing soon.