Llama Out Loud!. Annabelle Sami

You nasty little girl!’

      He fought and fought but Yasmin held on tightly. Ammi’s footsteps were getting ever closer. She silently hoped that Levi’s teeth would be made of wool, just in case he decided to bite her.

      With one hand tightly holding Levi, Yasmin opened her window.

      ‘HEY! Don’t you dare throw me out! There’s pigeons out there and they look angry!’

      Yasmin held him out of the open window. And just as the bedroom door creaked open, she let go.

      ‘WHATONEARTHAREYOUDOING?’ Ammi’s thick eyebrows were raised so high, they could have touched the ceiling. ‘WHATSGOINGON WITHYOUCHILD?’

      Motioning to the open window, Yasmin fanned her face to pretend that she was hot and puffed out her cheeks. Her bright red face made it all the more convincing.

      ‘ITSAMESSINHERE!’ Ammi yelled, picking through the chaos of Yasmin’s usually spotless room. ‘YOUHAVEBEENTHROWING ATANTRUM!’

      Yasmin wanted to defend herself, but that would mean revealing that there had been a magic toy llama in her room. Or that she had gone totally bananas. She could feel her face flushing with frustration.

      Ammi saw Yasmin’s red cheeks as a sign of anger.

      ‘HOWDAREYOU GETAN GR YWITHME! INMYDAYCHILDRENRESPECTEDTHEIR PARENTS . . .’

      Yasmin thought the best she could do to ease the situation was to start tidying her room and nodding from time to time to show she was listening.

      ‘ANDAFTERYOURUINEDTHECAKE! WHATDID I DOTODESERVETHISNAUGHTYCHILD?’

      Usually, if you let Ammi rant for long enough she began to run out of steam at around the eighteen-minute mark. But this time, Yasmin was saved by the bell. The telephone rang and immediately Papa was yelling up the stairs:

      ‘Darling, answer the phone! I’m doing my evening sudoku!’

      Ammi narrowed her eyes. ‘WEWILLFINISHTHIS LATER.’ Then she turned and stomped back downstairs.

      The anger started to creep back into Yasmin’s chest, making her face hot and her tummy tight. She turned around, trying to stay calm, before it all bubbled up and she launched herself on to the bed, pummelling the mattress with her fists.

      A voice came from outside the window. ‘Wow, you can pack a punch.’

      In all the ruckus, Yasmin had forgotten about Levi. She’d hoped she’d imagined him. Scrabbling up from the bed, she peeped out of the window.

      ‘Down ’ere!’

      Yasmin lowered her gaze. She saw Levi hanging by his front two feet from the window ledge.

      Fun fact: llamas don’t have hooves. I know, I thought they did too, but actually, they are ‘bump-footed’. They’ve got two toes with a bumpy pad underneath which is just all kinds of wrong.

      With a huge groan Levi heaved himself up and on to the window ledge. ‘Lucky I’ve been doing all them pull-ups at the gym.’

      Yasmin made a grab for him but he dodged her, leaping through the air and landing on the bed.

      ‘Whoa, don’t worry, I ain’t going downstairs.’ Levi padded about in a circle and then curled up on the duvet. ‘I only said that earlier to wind you up.’

      Yasmin faceplanted on to the bed.

      ‘Besides, you’re the only one who can hear me talk or see me move. So, I think we should be mates,’ he said, settling down.

      What did he mean she was the only one? Surely such a loudmouth llama could be heard by everyone?

      ‘Nope, just you,’ Levi confirmed. ‘Now, be a doll and tidy up. It’s a mess in here.’

      Yasmin reached out and whacked him off the bed.

      Yep. This was no ordinary day.