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Chapter 7: The Puma
Tracker froze, unable to move with fright. He knew that they couldn't run away without leaving Everest alone to be eaten. None of them had any gear and everyone else was too far away to be of help. Chase was incapacitated, his head on the ground and paws on his nose, trying not to sneeze and attract any more attention to them. Everything was up to him. Tracker knew he had to do something and had to do it fast, so he decided to do the first thing he thought of before his fear could petrify him any longer than it already had. He set a paw on the firefighter helmet, grabbed the flashlight with his teeth, and pulled it off. Turning it on, he shined it to the south, into the puma's eyes.
"Ooh ant e? Ome an et e!" he shouted through the flashlight. The feline growled and recoiled as if it had been injured. Then Tracker started running. He ran to the northeast as fast as his paws could carry him, knowing his life and the lives of his companions depended on it. He listened behind him for the cougar, who started running after about five seconds. As soon as it did, the poor potcake realized he had made a mortal mistake; judging from the sound, it would reach him within seven seconds. Tracker's heart thudded in his chest as he hastily threw the flashlight as a distraction, but the puma didn't pay it any attention. It knew where its prey was. Tracker braced for the sharp claws he knew were coming. What he got instead, though, he could never have foreseen.
One second the canine was running for his life, half a second away from being a mountain lion's next meal. The next he was soaring through the treetops into the air. Yelling in shock and fear, Tracker was flung above the tree line by his paw, sorely wishing he had his cables. Tumbling in freefall, he looked down to see where he would land. Spying a branch, he realized he would be passing by it, and might be able to grab it. He kept his eyes locked to it, spotting it as he wheeled through the air. Then he reached out his paws and caught the limb. The limb bent as Tracker grabbed it, slowing his fall and altering his trajectory, landing him on a much thicker branch by the trunk of the tree. All this happened within the span of five seconds. Tracker lied there, panting from the exhilaration of the past half-minute. But he wasn't out of the clear yet.
The puma walked around, looking for the small animal that had suddenly vanished before its eyes. Sniffing the air, it caught the scent of its prey again. It lurked over to the tree Tracker was in, then jumped into the branches. Dazed and winded, Tracker watched helplessly as it slowly climbed towards him. Then Chase stepped in.
"Hey! You leave my friend alone!" he shouted, flipping the flashlight on and shining it on the feline.
The cat seemed confused, as if it didn't know quite what to do. It looked up at where it knew Tracker to be, then down at the light. Chase shouted again, "Come on! That's right! Come chase me!"
Tracker watched in horror, knowing that Chase would never be able to outrun the fully grown puma. Sure, German Shepherds might be able to run faster than Potcakes, but he knew Chase didn't stand a chance. The puma looked down at the ground again, seeming to consider its options. Then it did something highly unexpected. It took a step forward into midair and fell ten feet onto the ground, where it stayed motionless except for the gentle rise and fall of its chest.
Both of the pups stayed frozen in fear, not daring to move. But then Tracker realized something. "It's… asleep."
Faint with relief, Tracker carefully climbed down the tree, only to be tackled into a hug by Chase when he reached the ground. "Tracker, I'm so glad you're okay! I thought- I- I thought you were dead for sure!" he sobbed.
Tracker hugged him back tightly. "So did I. Estaba muy asustado," Tracker said, shaking with fear.
"What did you think you were doing?"
"What did you think you were doing?"
"Saving you!"
"That's what I was doing and I almost got eaten!"
"How did you fly like that?"
"I don't know! But I don't want to do it again." Tracker stayed silent for a few moments. "I'm so sorry! I should have listened to you and stopped wearing the helmet!" Tracker blinked out tears and closed his eyes, "If I had, I would have heard the puma coming and we could have avoided everything. ¡Lo siento mucho; fue mi culpa!"
"It's not your fault," Chase comforted him, even though he realized Tracker had a point. "It's okay."
They both stayed still for a few minutes, settling their nerves after the traumatizing events they had just been through. When they calmed down, they both stood up. "We should probably go back to Everest. The others are probably wondering what happened to us.
"Sí, I want to get as far away from that thing as possible," Tracker shuddered. He grabbed the flashlight and began running back.
Chase started to follow him, then something caught his eye. In the dancing light of the flashlight something on the side of the puma was reflecting the beam. Something nagged at Chase's curiosity, so despite his better judgment, he approached the wild cat while holding his nose. Every nerve in his body told him to turn around and run away as he slowly approached it, but he kept walking anyway. Looking closely, Chase found something round and metallic in the side of the predatory animal. "A tranquilizer dart," he realized, "That's what made it fall asleep." Chase grabbed the dart and pulled it out of the puma's side before heading back with Tracker.
This chapter was very fun to write. It's the first chapter that focuses around an event completely made up for this storybook adaption of the story; my brother has never heard this. It brings out the realism and distinct possibility of death in their dangerous situation, and will probably be the darkest chapter for a while. It also gives Tracker the spotlight and dives into his character a bit, which made me appreciate his character a lot more. That and it's also fun to include Spanish. As a side note, this chapter shows how much research I put into my writing. If you were to estimate the running speeds of the animals, approximate the geometry, and calculate the time of intersection of Tracker and the puma, it does indeed come out to about seven seconds with the given conditions.
