Chapter One, Mother

Hi! I am Maya the panther and I will be telling you the story of my life. It all started one day, when I was born...................."Mama?" I said, licking my mother. "Mama!" My mother looked at me, hostile, like I was another panther's cub. She snarled. I backed away from my mother. Then, getting bolder, I tried to drink milk from her teat. She wouldn't give me any. "Mother, I'm hungry!" I growled. "Back off, cub." She snarled at me. Is this even my mother? I thought. I remembered the early beginning of me being born. I remembered the fresh smell of warm milk, and my mother licking me. But she wasn't very friendly now. I backed away. Suddenly, I heard humans. They put me in a box, and I screeched in protest. They either couldn't hear me or didn't care. I was put in one of their moving beasts, and was off, down the black path where all the other beasts are. Help!

Chapter Two, A New Beginning

I jolted awake as something picked up the box I was in. I screeched, unhappy. I saw the cage door open and stumbled forward, but I was weak because I was only a few days old. I felt one large human paw pick me up.I squirmed but it was no use. He looked at me through soft eyes. Suddenly, he reached for my tail and flipped it up. "HEY! Get your eyes off my....oh never mind." I protested. The human laughed, then but me in a large box made out of wood, but this time the roof was missing. The human started petting me, and I am a little embarrassed to say this, but I liked it. The human suddenly got up and left me. I cried loudly so he could hear. "WAIT! I'M HUNGRY!!!" I yelped. He chuckled again, and after a little while he came back with something that looked like milk. He put some of the milk on his finger and rubbed it on my jaws. I flinched at the taste and jerked back. He

sighed, exasperated. After a while he tried again. I refused. Finally, I was so hungry, when he tried to feed me, I let him. He looked happy. Maybe being here won't be so bad, even though the milk tastes weird. I thought. I was really tired, so after that I fell asleep. I wonder what happened to mother.... 

Chapter Three, New Problems

After a couple weeks living at the man's home, I met new people. There was a women and a young adult, by the looks of it. I liked them, and begun to think of them as my foster-family. However, I kept on running into things, and the man started to look worried. After a couple more days of running into things, the man put me in the box I came here in. He but me into the beast again, me protesting. "OH, COME ON!!! I WANNA STAY HOME AND CHEW MY TOYS AND YOUR TOYS!" I cried. The man ignored me, and I was getting annoyed with him. "Fine, if you don't respond to me, I won't respond to you!" I said, silence greeting my words. After hours of driving, the beast stopped and the man took me out. We saw a nice lady, but her fingers looked yummy so I bit them. She laughed and started to talk to the man. They walked inside the building and started to talk about me. I knew

they were talking about me, 'cause they mentioned my new name, Maya, a lot. Suddenly, the man set me down on a table and the lady stuck some weird things at me. She asked the man a question and he answered. I was getting annoyed, waiting like this. "I'M BORED!" I wailed. "I WANNA GO HOME AND PLAY!" The man laughed at me, then turned back to the lady. She nodded and took me on a rolling thing. We went into another room with other people in it. Suddenly, someone stabbed something in my shoulder! I felt a little woozy, then everything went black.

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I jolted awake from a heavy sleep to find some fur shaved off of my shoulder. I saw a little bandage there, too. The women cooed something to me, but she speaks human so....... I meowed angrily. "What did you do to my fur!?" I said. She didn't care. Ugh.....

Chapter Four, Swimming

So, It turned out I have a problem with my brain, and my back legs have something to do with it....I think. Today the man took me to a giant place full of water! I was a little confused, until the man dived in and told me to come. At first I thought, and then I leaped on his back. He made a small "Oof" sound, and then I put a paw cautiously in the water. I decided that it was worth a try, then jumped in the water. All of the people watching smiled. The man looked very happy! Yay! I pleased him! I thought. I saw some toys on the shallow end and swam over there to play with them. The man turned to talk with another woman that had let him in in the first place. They talked for a while, then the man scooped me out of the water and took me home. What a tiring day! When we got home I was very happy. The man fed me some meat later in the week, if I remember correctly. That

stuff is yummy! I collapsed the moment we got home, right onto a fluffy blanket. When I woke up, the man was staring at me, looking happy. I love him. I realized. And he loves me. 

Chapter Five, Friend or Foe?

Today the man took me outside and held onto me. "Lemme go! I wanna run around!" I protested. Suddenly, a big, brown, thing came out of the house. It wagged it's tail from side to side, and it's big tongue lolled out of it's mouth. I hissed at it, and the woman behind the beast laughed. The man and woman talked for a second, then the woman let the beast sniff me! I hissed at the thing and tried to bite it. The man tsked in disapproval. I kept on trying to bite it, but the thing dodged me. I hissed angrily at the thing. "Get away from the man!" I yelled at him. The thing barked a response, but I couldn't understand it. After a while, the man walked toward the thing and started petting it. "ARE YOU CRAZY!?" I yelped. "THAT THING IS GONNA EAT YOU!" Pretty uneventful day, huh? I stormed inside, annoyed. I bit some things, then rested my head on my paws, falling asleep.