Key ideas: creative fiction 5

Tiny Troubles

1. THUMP! THUMP!
2. Rakesh jolted awake.
3. THUMP!
4. There it was again—and it was coming from the other side of the room.
5. Tiny! Rakesh thought.
6. Rakesh stumbled out of bed and flicked on the light. He couldn’t believe it! Tiny, his new desert tortoise, had grown—exponentially. Just a few hours ago, Tiny was 10 centimeters long—now he was as big as a couch cushion! Every time Tiny tried to move, his shell whacked against the glass terrarium.
7. This can’t be normal, Rakesh thought as he lifted the tortoise free. His neighbor Devora told him that desert tortoises don’t get very big.
8. Rakesh thought back to that afternoon. He had prepared Tiny’s new home by creating a lifelike desert habitat in the glass cage. He had made sure that Tiny had plenty of water and some greens to nibble. Because Rakesh wanted to make sure Tiny was getting the nourishment he needed, right before bed he had whipped up a smoothie with yogurt, milk, spinach, and kale. Rakesh had poured half of it into Tiny’s dish, and by the time Rakesh got back from brushing his teeth, Tiny had slurped it all up.
9. Rakesh’s gaze went to the half-filled glass still sitting on the desk. Could it be?
10. Rakesh guzzled the rest of the smoothie and waited. Nothing happened. He tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed the remainder of the smoothie he had put in the fridge. He downed that as well. After a minute or two, Rakesh sighed, trudged back to bed, and fell instantly asleep.
11. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!
12. “Why is the alarm so loud? It’s right in my ear!” Rakesh's body was kinked, and when he straightened it, his head hit the headboard. At the same time, Rakesh realized his feet were hanging off his bed. He squirmed in his pajamas—now uncomfortably tight—and peered over to his desk, or what was left of it. “Tiny!” Rakesh gasped, peering up at his giant pet tortoise.