"Tia?" I rolled my eyes. "What?" "Can you help me with my homework?" I turned around. My younger sister Lily looked at me with those puppy dog eyes. I smiled. She knew that this look would always work on me. "Alright." I sat next to her and looked at her maths homework. "So what's the problem?" She pointed at one exercise. "I don't understand what they want there." "Read again." She groaned and read. "And now?" "Girls! Dinner's ready!" mom shouted from the kitchen. Lily jumped from her chair and bolted out of the room. I sighed and stood from my chair. I looked one more time at her homework and shook my head. Lily loved school, but maths sure would never be her favourite subject. That was when a loud roar made me jump. I looked around. Where did that come from? "Tia? Come on!" "Be right there!" What was that? "Now!" I went to the door and looked back again. Then I closed the door and entered the kitchen. "Ah there you are." Mom gave me five plates. "Please set the table." I nodded and followed the instructions. My older brother Dean sat at the table and had his stuff outspread over the table. "Hey! Would you please put that away?" He lifted his head. "Why?" "Oh, just for fun." I rolled my eyes. He stood up and put his papers and what ever in his bag. Then he walked to the stairs, when suddenly his cell rang. He dropped his bag and pulled it out. I placed the plates on the table. "What? Sure. I'll be right there." Dean picked his bag up and walked to the door. "Where are you going?", mom asked him, while I got the rest to set the table. "Frank just called. He asked, if I could help him with his science project." "Well then, go ahead." "What?", I asked. "If I would have asked to go to Danny, you would've said no." Mom smiled. "'Cause I know, you wouldn't do homework." Lily, who was sitting on the stairs, laughed. "Shut up!" I blushed. Danny was my boyfriend. "Come on, girls. George! Dinner!" Dad came down and we sat around the table. Like always.
Something was different. I sat up in my bed and looked out of my window. A full moon was shining in our small garden. Nothing special. But wait! I slowly stood up and tiptoed to the window. I saw a shadow down there. It was moving towards a tree. I blinked a few times. It was a lion. But how… I bit my lip. What was a lion doing in our garden, in the middle of the night? I opened the window and flicked with my tongue. The lion looked up. His eyes gave me a feeling of… safeness? Yeah. I felt save. And warm. I smiled and closed the window. I didn't know why, but I opened my room's door and crept to the stairs. I felt like I need to talk to that lion. A crazy idea, I know. Who would talk to a lion? Easy question: Me! I snatched my jacket and opened the back door, which led to the garden. The lion wasn't there. I stopped in my tracks. Now I was a little bit scared. Where did he go so fast? I ran to the tree, where he was just seconds ago. Nothing. I sat down, confused and disappointed, and leaned against the tree. "Tia?" Lily walked towards me. "What are you doing outside?" "I could ask you the same."she said and sat next to me. "Is everything alright?" "Sure. Why?" She roled her eyes. "Because you are sitting in the garden in the middle of the night? Just a guess." I smiled. Lily would believe me. Normally she's the one, that saw things, that couldn't be true. "I saw a lion down here." "What? A... a lion?" she stuttered. I nodded. "Wow. And?" "Nothing. when I got here, he wasn't there anymore." "But... Where could a lion go so fast?" "Maybe he just disappeared." I joked. "Maybe..." Lily looked at me. "Come on, let's look!" She got up and pulled me with her. "Lily..." "Maybe he is just hiding." She opened the backdoor from the garage. "Why would he hide in here?" I asked. Lily didn't listen. Sie walked over to the small board and opened it. "What the..." She stumbled backwards. "Lily?" "You should totally take a look at that!" "Shhhh." I came behind her. "Wow..." There were no longer Dads tools or the other stuff. No it was... I don't know. There were trees and grass and flowers. They were moving, whispering. Lily stepped closer. "Wait." I told her. "Why? They're only trees." She smiled and leaned in to take a closer look. She tripped and fell towards the board. "Lily!" She wasn't there. "Lily!" I paniced. Where did she go? "Awesome!" I heard her voice. "Lily?" I rushed to the board. In the middle of the flowers and the grass stood my little sister and laughed. "Lily!" "Come in Tia! It's wonderful!" I gulped. Then, step by step, I walked to the board. I stretched my arm and felt a warm wind tickle my hand. "Come on!" I heard Lily. I closed my eyes and followed her voice. "Tia! Isn't it beautiful?" I opened my eyes. "Cool..." I ran my hand through the gras. "Where are we?"
