Chapter 3

Mei woke up from the floor (her bed would have crushed under her weight), feeling achy all over. The ground was cold and really hard, and she tossed over the huge blanket while sleeping. She stood up as quietly as she could, and checked her hands. Still red, still fuzzy, still a bit of a stink. It wasn't a dream. "Aw man!"

It was a good thing it was the summer, she thought as she walked down the hallway quietly. When she knocked over a glass on the counter while making a breakfast of heart-healthy cereal, she grabbed it with her tail, which seemed to have developed prehensibility in the early stages of the panda, and grabbed it with her paw to set it back on the counter. Then, she locked herself in her room for two hours.

Jokia Text Transcript, 9:00 AM

Tyler: Mei! You okay?

Mei: bno

Miriam: What's wrong?

Mei: ui dfoint weanmt tro trawlk Aboiuty kitf

Abby: I'm assuming that means you don't want to talk about it… you know, you can tell us anything!

read by Mei, 9:14 AM

"Mei-mei?" Ming crept into the room, revealing Mei, still in her panda form, laying on her side. "You should probably wake up now."

"I'm awake, mom" were her only words in response.

"Uh- well, okay. Maybe you should-"

"I've eaten breakfast."

"Have you-"

"Yes, I brushed my teeth. I mean, best I could."

"Mei-mei, I'm so sorry," Ming suddenly told her, starting to cry on Mei's shoulder, a bit uncharacteristic for her. "I understand what you're going through, and it sucks. I just hope we can resolve this quickly before your panda ends up like mine."

"It's okay, mom." Seizing the moment, Mei asked her mother another question. "Your panda. It's much bigger than the temple now, but you told me you could just see over it at your final ritual. You also said it slows when not active. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Ming looked down and sighed, surprising Mei with her not immediately telling Mei to be quiet. "Yes. Until Pandapocalypse, I thought that I could keep it a secret. I had friends just like yours, and they somehow found out about my panda. So… they broke my pendant after sneaking into my, now your, room, causing me to go full panda with no way out. It was lucky that I was taking a shortcut through an alleyway to get home faster. However, my panda received a couple bruises from the tight space. They healed, but I have the feeling that they caused my panda to grow even faster. I took a quick trip to Mr. Gao's house, and he saved me, but I was already half the size of Pandapocalypse me. Combine that with my anger ritual night and you have one giant panda on your hand-as." Ming chuckled at her play on words, but she was obviously upset telling this to her daughter.

"Mom, I'm sorry for-" Mei tried to apologize, but Ming cut her off.

"No, Mei-mei, it's fine. I… the truth is, I needed to get that off my chest. I feel a lot better telling this to you now that I've kept it in for all these years." She gave Mei one final squeeze and left the room, leaving Mei in shock.

Mei checked her messages on her Jokia.

Abby: Mei?

Miriam: Hey Mei, u alright? Left us on read, haha

Priya: We're worried about you, you know.

Tyler: Is it too late to apologize to you for rushing you to change back?

Miriam: TYLER

Tyler: Ok sorry, hehe

Sighing, Mei picked up a pencil to type.

Jokia Text Transcript, 10:00 AM

Mei: I'm fine

Abby: MEI! Did you turn back?

Mei: No, using pencil

Abby: oh

Miriam: what happened?

Mei: Long story, basically when this happens panda grows and the only way to get rid of it is to seal it so basically my panda was screwed either way

Priya: That sucks

Miriam: Was that the cause of PP2002?

Mei: Yea

Tyler: Any more info:

Mei: Apparently it grows pretty fast. Took my mother only about 5 days to become the height of the templargtrfyjrfejuwar

Abby: :O YOU OKAY MEI

Mei: Yeah, sorry, pencil broke into a bunch of pieces

Mei: Anyway I'll probably have to get off now so cya