Farrah and Ollie

Written by Santhosh VelagaIllustrations by Chelsea Velaga

here once was a lady name Farrah. Farrah was kind and always had a smile. Her hair was yellow and her eyes were blue. Farrah loved children and she loved animals too. She worked at a pet store in a small little town. She had birds, fish, and dogs for sale. She sold them all to boys and girls who wanted new friends.

1

“Mommy can we keep him?”, boys and girls would say as they stroked warm puppy fur.

“Only if you promise to take care of him” sighed the parents.

“We promise! We promise!” yelled the kids as they bounced up and down in the store. Farrah would smile as she saw the kids cheer. Providing pets with new homes was her favorite career.

2

Farrah had no husband and she had no kids waiting for her at home. She did, however, have one furry friend. He was or-ange with black stripes and had a long tail. His name was Ollie.

Ollie, the tiger.

3

At dinner time, Farrah would eat salad and fruit. Ollie would eat big juicy steaks.

Sometimes, Farrah tried to feed Ollie vegetables, but he would spit them out after realizing Farrah’s joke. “Oh Ollie? Why do you eat so much meat?” Farrah asked Ollie as she pressed her nose against his. Ollie’s response was to lick Farrah’s face.

4

Before bedtime Farrah would brush Ollie’s big white teeth. Ollie didn’t like the taste of the toothpaste, but he liked when Farrah took care of him. Farrah would sleep on her side of the bed and Ollie would sleep on his. Farrah would dream of one day starting a family and Ollie would dream of big juicy steaks.

5

When the sun came up Farrah would open her eyes and see Ollie on his pillow covered in a pool of big tiger drool. “I love you Ollie”, she whispered to him as she bounced out of bed.

As Farrah was combing her hair in the mirror she heard a knock at the door. She put on her slippers and went to see who was there...

6

Three women from the neighborhood had gathered with glares. One of the women was the mayor’s wife. She sharply said,

“Hello Farrah. May we come in?”.

“Certainly” said Farrah as she led the women to the kitchen. The mayor’s wife spoke,

“We know that you have a dangerous animal in this house. We don’t want that thing anywhere near our kids. I mean what happens if it gets loose and attacks some-one!”

7

Ollie heard the woman shout and got scared. He ran to the bathroom and hid in the tub. “That thing is going to kill someone and I want it out of here!” yelled the mayor’s wife. Farrah gently responded, “But Ollie is friendly. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. He’s my best friend!” The mayor’s wife threatened, “Get rid of that beast or we’ll get rid of him for you!”. The mayor’s wife and her two friends stormed out the house and slammed the door.

8

Farrah ran to the bedroom to comfort Ollie. She heard a whimper coming from the bathroom. She ran to the bathroom and found Ollie in the tub. He was whimpering and sad. “Oh Ollie. I love you. You know I do. How I could I ever get rid of you.” She wiped the big tears from the fur under his eyes.

For the next week Farrah kept Ollie inside the house and only let him leave to go pee on the grass. Ollie was bored. He loved Far-rah, but he wanted to be outdoors where tigers belong. He wanted to feel the sun on his back and breathe fresh air through his lungs.

9

Realizing Ollie desperately wanted to be in the sun, Farrah let Ollie run outside in his fence. Farrah gave him three steaks to eat before walking to work.

Farrah had a wonderful day at the pet store. Several kids came in with their parents to buy some fish. Farrah sold them goldfish, guppies, and Siamese fighting fish.

“Wow! I am going to name him Chris!” said one boy as he stared at the goldfish swim-ming in his bag.

“Be sure to feed him several times a day” said Farrah to the boy as she smiled brightly.

10

At the end of the day Farrah swept the floor and flicked off the lights. “Bye Bye my little friends. See you tomorrow.” She said. “Bye Bye Farrah! Bye Bye Farrah!” chirped the birds.

As Farrah returned home she went to the fence to check on Ollie. He was laying on his back. Ollie had eaten two of his steaks but left one uneaten. “Ollie. Wake up you sleepy-head. Farrah’s home”. Ollie did not respond. “Ollie?”. Farrah put her hand on Ollie’s chest. His heart was barely beating. His lungs strug-gled to expand. “Ollie? Are you okay?”

11

Farrah frantically called her friend Sarah over to help.

Sarah was a veterinarian. She helped sick animals get better. Sarah looked at Ollie’s tongue, which was turning blue, and she knew that Ollie had been poisoned.

Sarah reached into her safety kit and gave Ollie a shot. Sarah said to Farrah, “Ollie has been poisoned with a chemical that slows down the heart. I gave him some medicine so he should be fine. Give him plenty of wa-ter and stay by his side”. “Thank you Sarah! Thank you! You saved Ollie’s life”. “Oh no problem Farrah. Just doing my job.”

12

Farrah sat beside Ollie until the sun went down. She stayed with him until the moon shined bright. She stayed by his side until she could no longer stay awake. She fell asleep on the cold itchy grass. When the morning came she felt a wetness on her face.

She opened her eyes and saw that Ollie was licking her nose. “Ollie!”. Farrah gave Ollie a big embrace. Farrah was relieved that her best friend was alive.

Farrah knew that her neighbors wanted Ollie gone for good. Someone had even tried to poison her best friend!

“Ollie. I love you. You know I do. But you can’t stay with me forever. I have to find you a new home where you will be happy”.

It was a tough decision but it had to be done. Ollie needed some place where he could run in the sun. Farrah decided to give Ollie to her friends at the zoo. There Ollie could eat big juicy steaks and other meats too.

15

At first Ollie was sad to leave Farrah, but when he saw the other tigers roaming in the grass he smiled wide. Farrah put her nose to Ollie’s and said goodbye. Ollie looked at Farrah with his large tiger eyes and licked her face. Farrah watched Ollie run in the grass with his new friends. Farrah finally found Ollie a new home even if it meant she would have to return home alone.