I am Pandacorn :)

Ajda Mozetic

Science 8A                                                                                                                             

Mr. Goredetsky

1/21/2012

I am Pandacorn

“When we are born, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in our bodies contains the blueprints for who we are and instructions for who we will become.” I wish Dr. Blue was here now. His words of wisdom, his words about me made me feel calmer but now that I’ve proved him correct what happens? Being one of a kind is challenging enough but learning about myself? Who thought I was up to that. Being a Pandacorn has played me my entire existence. Yes I have super speed of unicorns and super poop from panda’s but is that enough to make me shine? To make me special? Ever since that night I’ve never known if I should be happy about my transformation or if I should be miserable. Whenever I go back to that day it makes me wish I’d never ran away from my mum. I wish that I’d been like my brother, who always obeyed the ruled and played it safe. But we can’t change who we are can we? So this is my story of how I came to be.

(FLASHBACK)

“Just around the corner! I’ll just take a quick peek!”

I ran towards the edge. I leaned my head down and gazed upon the beautiful scenery in front of me. Ice cold water spread all around me. It sparkled in the morning soon. The trees at the bottom where full of bright green leaves. The grass gently swayed in the soft wind. Birds softly murmured their melodies as they danced above us and welcomed us into a brand new day. The air was filled with the smell of lovely nature. It was breathtaking. My gaze stopped at the very left side of the beautiful land. There stood the biggest and greenest pile of bamboo I’ve ever seen. My mouth watered as I gazed upon the tasty stalks of heaven. I smiled to myself as I laid eyes on a short steep path that led down to the platform filled with mouth watering bamboo.  I turned around abruptly and jogged towards the trial. Mother had stopped calling me by then so I decided I could use my luck a little longer. My sparkly silver horn sparkled in the sun as I made my way down the path. I galloped slowly watching not to trip over anything. I reached the bottom in no time and adjusted my eyes. The bamboo stood tall and hard and made my eyes go all the way around. I stepped closer and inhaled that beautiful smell.

“Mhhmmm…”

I murmured to myself as I let my head down, opened my mouth and took the first bite. It melted in my mouth. The taste flooded my tongue and slid down my throat without hesitation. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the rich taste. I opened my mouth again and grazed on the bamboo again. Slowly I let my bottom touch the floor and rest. My eyes were closed, body exposed to the warm sun and my mouth full of the magnificent bamboo. Nothing could ruin this magical moment. Slowly I dozed off into the world of dreams…Bamboo captured my mind and my eye lids shattered before closing completely.

(END OF FLASHBACK)

Why in the world did I need to fall asleep? I knew that we unicorns shared very similar DNA. I learned in school that 99.9% of my DNA sequence is the same as any other unicorns. The other 0.1% of our DNA difference has to do with the number of nucleotides in our DNA. All this Mr. Blue said was why all unicorns have trouble staying awake once hypnotized by something they love. I was clearly hypnotized by the bamboo. Dr. Blue also stated that 50% of our genes are shared between us, our siblings and our parents. Which meant that my brother should have the same affect when eating bamboo right? But he was always in such control and never broke rules. How come we were so different?

(FLASHBACK)

My dreams were suddenly interrupted when something stung my neck. I could feel it getting deeper and deeper into my flesh. I was paralyzed. I felt droll roll down my furry neck. Pain spread through me and I was unable to move. It paralyzed me. I knew something had bit me but I didn’t know what. Warmth spread through me. I felt like I was burning. As if the sun had become more hot. That moment Andrew’s words replayed in my head; “An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.” Did that mean that know that the poison in the creature that was biting me would duplicate inside of me?! Will that completely change my orgasms? My eyes were beginning to close again and the pain duplicated. I felt as if I was changing. Growing. Suddenly the grip loosened and my body collapsed on the ground. My eye lids shattered again and right before they closed I coughed a glimpse of a baby panda running towards the woods. My eyes collapsed.

(END OF FLASHBACK)

I still remember waking up and feeling different. I felt fatter and for some reason warmer. I glanced down at my body and froze. I was covered in black and white hair. Quickly I got onto my four feet and galloped towards the water. When I saw my reflection I froze. I was half panda and half unicorn. Many unicorns in our village have mistakenly believed that the DNA with which we are born is the sole determinant for who we are and will become. So did that mean that they always knew I would change into a Pandacorn? Did that mean I was meant to be like this? No. Blueprints can predict things like how tall we will be or the color of our eyes but it cannot tell whether we will transform into something that hasn’t been shown to the world yet. Well now, it’s my time. Pandacorns are about to get exposed.