Strange Night In Prague

Eliška Kosmáková

    It was evening. She was walking in the street with her dog on the way to the zoo to meet her friends. What a nice stroll in the autumn. She was wrapped up in a cotton shawl. A light wind was around her. She had to stop and wait. Her dog was sitting on the pavement and didn't want to move. But she was immersed in the music she was listening to. It was the Beatles' Michelle. "I love you I love you I looove you..." Why was it so nice? Why couldn't she forget him? He had done bad things but she still loved him. His charm was awesome. Suddenly she noticed that her dog had disappeared but for some reason she was not sad.

    She came to the gates of the zoo. "Why are there no people here?" she thought. No buses, no lights, but she heard the sounds of the animals. Where were her friends? They were not waiting for her. No- body was to be seen.

    She went inside and down the hill, where the penguins were stand- ing by the glass wall, watching her. One of her friends worked here and once she had a chance to spend time with them. "They must be hun- gry," she thought and suddenly the door opened and she saw a bucket full of fish. So she gave it to the penguins, who began to eat excitedly.

    "The other animals must be hungry too," she thought. She began to feed all of the animals; the gorillas, the tigers, the flamingoes, the turtles... Because she was in a hurry, she forgot to close the doors and the animals began to leave the cages. When she finished feed- ing the elephants, she looked around and realized that the zoo was empty. All the animals were running or flying or jumping or crawling towards the center of Prague.

    She jumped into a car and began to drive to the city center. She crossed the old Charles Bridge, many statues... and a light! What was this? In front of her there was a large shining ball of light. It lit up the whole bridge. But now it was rolling down to the city. She followed it in the car. She passed the National Theatre, the Museum at the Wenc- eslas Square. When she got to the Old Town Square she suddenly heard a loud scream. Under the Astronomical Clock there was a tiger attacking a man! She turned off the engine of her car and she realized whose arm was in the tiger's mouth. It was her boyfriend Peter! She got out of the car and ran toward them. Just when she was about to reach her boyfriend, something pushed her.

    "Hurry up, you'll be late for school," she heard her mother's voice as she turned over in bed. "You won't believe the dream I had," she said. "I must tell Peter."

    As she was leaving the flat to catch her bus, she saw the newspa- per on her father's chair.

    The headline read "Police Hunt for Tiger on Loose in Prague".

DISCUSSION: What is the craziest dream you have ever had? 

CREATIVITY: Why do we dream? 

ANALYSIS: What do you think about the end of this story? How would you end this?