Pointy Panta and the Zompire Sharks

Prologue

Huddled in the semi-darkness, Pointy and Chima tried to catch their breaths as their hearts thumped hard enough to jump out of their ribcages.

Chima stood up and began to pace. Then he suddenly stopped and said to Pointy, “I’m sorry I spoke so harshly to you.”

“I understand why you spoke harshly,” Pointy replied, “I really don’t mind.”

Chima kept looking at Pointy with a sombre expression. Suddenly, it was as if Pointy could clearly read his mind. She walked up to him and said, “It’s alright, Chima. I know I can’t run very fast, certainly not as fast as lions and flying zompire sharks, but I will give it my best shot!”

“I’m not worried,” Chima replied, his voice gruff with repressed emotion.

“You can always leave me behind if there’s a way for you to escape…” Pointy began gently, unable to finish her statement before Chima interjected.

“Pointy, we are not having this conversation!” “Chima,  please  be  realistic,”  Pointy  said, moving closer to Chima. “If there’s a chance that one of us leaves here alive, isn’t that better than having both of us killed because you are trying to save me?”

“You are not dying, and I’m not dying. This expedition was my idea, and if anyone has to leave first, it has to be you!” Chima concluded, walking away.

Pointy watched the tense set of his shoulder as he walked away, head held high to signify that the conversation was over and that his word was final. She felt that familiar feeling of irritation that she got whenever Chima decided to play Lord Emperor.

“Pointy!”

“Yes!” Pointy answered peevishly, still feeling more than a little slighted by Chima’s earlier tone. “This is not a good spot to stop; it’s a dead

end,” Chima said, as if totally unaware of Pointy’s mood. “We would be sitting ducks if the zompire sharks come looking for us. Let’s go somewhere else, a place where we can fight or at least flee if they come calling.”

“Fight?” Pointy murmured to herself. As she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, she wondered whether she had swallowed her heart along with it. She did not think the images that flashed through her mind at the thought of fighting the zompires cast her in a good light.

“Okay, let’s go,” Pointy replied, walking dejectedly to Chima.

They had walked only for a few metres when Chima suddenly stopped. He stood very still, the hair on the back of his neck standing at attention. Pointy knew that whatever had made Chima stop would certainly not be pleasant.

“Can you see anything?” Pointy asked.

“No. Not yet”

Pointy didn’t like the fact that Chima’s reply had ended with ‘yet’. It meant that he was sure something was moving towards them. Sure