Cheetah

Wendy A. Lewis
Illustrated by Graham Ross

Text copyright © 2007 Wendy A. Lewis
Illustrations copyright © 2007 Graham Ross

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Lewis, Wendy A., 1966-
Cheetah / written by Wendy Lewis ; illustrated by Graham Ross.

(Orca echoes)
ISBN 978-1-55143-465-0

1. Animals--Juvenile fiction. I. Ross, Graham, 1962- II. Title. III. Series.

PS8573.E9913C44 2007           jC813'.6              C2006-906706-6

First published in the United States, 2007
Library of Congress Control Number
: 2006939247

Summary
: Despite Mia's longing to have a pet, she must learn that wild animals, even frogs, belong in the wild.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Typesetting by Christine Toller Cover artwork and interior illustrations by Graham Ross Author photo: Amelia Murray

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Printed and bound in Canada.
Printed on 100% PCW recycled paper.

10 09 08 07 • 4 3 2 1

For Amelia, Maddie and Rob,
who brought Cheetah home,

and for Julie Spillman,
teacher extraordinaire.
W.A.L.

For Pat McNeely—the cheetah,
a true friend and believer.
G.R.

Mia looked in the mirror. Her human face looked back at her. She sighed. If only she had been born an animal. They were so much more fun.

Mia got out her black marker. She drew spots on her face. She drew stripes under her eyes. She put on a furry-ear headband. She tucked a tail into her pants.

Now she was a cheetah, the fastest runner of all the animals! Mia the Cheetah zoomed around her room.

“Grrr!” her tummy growled. It was time to hunt. She slunk into the hallway. She peered through the open crack of her sister's door. Maggie was rocking her doll, Baby Uh-Oh.

“Uh-oh!” Baby Uh-Oh cried. “Uh-oh! Uh-oh!”

Mia knew that cry. It meant Baby Uh-Oh had wet her pants. She did that a lot.

Maggie took off her doll's wet clothes. Mia the Cheetah saw Baby Uh-Oh's chubby, bare legs. “Grrr!” her tummy growled. She licked her lips. She knew it wasn't nice to eat people. But she was hungry!

“Girls, breakfast is ready,” their mother called.

Maggie looked up. She saw Mia ready to pounce.

“Don't hunt my babies!” she yelled.

Mia had hunted Maggie's dolls before.

“Girls!” their mother called again. “Come for breakfast now or I'll feed it to Fang.”

Fang was the dog that lived next door. Mia's family didn't have any pets. Her parents said, “No pets until the house is finished.” They had been working on the house for Mia's whole life. She was afraid it would never be finished. And that meant no pets, ever.

Mom, Dad, and Maggie had bacon and eggs for breakfast. Mia the Cheetah sneered at the eggs. But she dove face-first into the meat.

“I guess leopards don't use forks,” said Dad.

“I'm a cheetah, Dad.” Mia rolled her eyes. “Cheetahs have eye-stripes. Leopards don't.”

“Of course,” said Dad. “I don't know what I was thinking.”

“I've heard that cheetahs are very smart,” said Mom. “Smart enough to use a fork.”

Mia the Cheetah growled softly. She ate the rest of her meal with a fork.

“I have to work at home today,” Mom said. “Daddy's going to take you out.”

“No, please, no!” Mia begged.

“That makes me feel good,” Dad sniffed. He wiped away pretend tears.

“Well, Dad, I love you,” Mia said. “But you always take us to the drop zone.”

The drop zone was a place for skydivers. They jumped out of airplanes and floated down under parachutes. Mia liked the drop zone at first. But now she was tired of it. And with parachutes all over the
place, she wouldn't be allowed to run around like a cheetah.

Mia rolled off her chair. She lay on her back on the floor. Her eyes were closed. Her four paws stuck up in the air.

“Are you dead?” asked Maggie.

Mia nodded.

“That's too bad,” said Dad. “I was going to show you the frog pond today.”

“Frog pond?” said Mia. She opened one eye.

“It's in the field behind the drop zone. Want to go see it?”

“Duh!” said Mia.

Mia jumped up. She was alive! But she wasn't a cheetah now. She was a frog, a big, spotted frog. She hopped to the front door.

“Come on, guys!” she croaked. “What are you waiting for?”

It took a long time to drive to the drop zone. Then Dad took a long time talking to his friends. Mia tugged on his hand.

“Remember the frog pond?” she said.

“Just a minute,” Dad said. He watched the sky.

“There they are!” Maggie yelled. Maggie's eagle eyes always saw the skydivers first. Mia thought they looked like specks of pepper in the sky. Specks of pepper were not as fun as frogs. The specks grew bigger. The skydivers opened their parachutes.

“I like the blue one,” said Maggie.

“I like the black one,” said Dad. “Which one do you like, Mia?”

“I like the frog pond! Can we please go now?”

The last skydiver swooped down.

“Okay,” Dad said at last. “Let's find those frogs.”

They walked along a path through some trees. Then they walked through a field of long, tickly grass.

“I think the frog pond is at the end of this field,” Dad said.

Mia ran ahead. She heard the pond before she saw it. The grunts and snores made her giggle. The sounds stopped when Mia reached the water's edge. Mia looked in the water. She looked on shore. She couldn't see a single frog.

“I see one!” said Maggie. She pointed to a log that rose out of the pond. It looked like the head of a sea serpent.

Mia squinted her eyes. The frog was hard to see against the wood.

“Come here, frog!” Mia patted her legs as if she were calling a dog. “Come here!”

The frog didn't come. Mia found more frogs, though.

She surprised a big one hiding in some grass. He pushed off with his strong legs and dove into the water. Then she found another frog. He went hop-hop-
SPLASH
too.

“They won't stay still,” she moaned. Then she spied a perfect princess of a frog. Mia tiptoed forward...

“GOTCHA!”

Mia felt the frog's feet move inside her hands. She laughed at the tickly feeling. She peeked in between her thumbs. The frog had pretty spots and gold stripes behind her eyes.