Understanding
Jenny was out walking her dog, Badger, in her local park. It was a cloudy and windy afternoon, so there weren’t many other people around. Badger had just finished his business so they were turning back for home. As they walked, Jenny happened to glance up at the sky and saw a small ball of light emerging from behind a cloud. She had no idea what it could be so she kept looking. The light sped closer and closer to her, but by the time Jenny realised it was headed straight for her, it was too late to move or even turn away. The ball of light enveloped her completely, so now all she could see around her was pure white light – which made her feel like she was inside the world’s brightest (and scariest) stand up sunbed. Except there was no heat at all. Jenny really tried to look through the light, but it stung her eyes. So she shut them tightly and prayed that whatever this was would stop soon.
A moment later she opened her eyes again and found that the light was gone but now she was lying on her back, on the grassy ground. Badger was licking her face. “Ruff! Ruff!” Badger barked, which Jenny knew meant “Are you okay? I am concerned for you.” Jenny sat up. “Ruff! Ruff!” barked Badger, which meant “oh, you’re up. Is this a game?” But wait, Jenny suddenly thought, how did she know that? Sure, most people think that they know what their dogs are saying when they bark, but this didn’t feel like a guess. She knew what his barks meant, exactly. But how?
She got to her feet and picked up Badger’s leash. Not really knowing what to think – or do – she decided to just head home. Badger continued to woof at her from time to time, complaining about being thirsty or telling her when he wanted to stop to sniff something. He didn’t seem to notice that she could understand him better than usual. Jenny was feeling quite frazzled, but also a little excited. Could she really understand dog language now? Could she understand any dog, or just hers? And why, because some strange light had touched her?
She walked in her front door and let Badger off his leash. Her mother was in the kitchen, watching a movie on her laptop while she cooked. “Your eyes are more enchanting than all the stars in the night sky”, she heard a man in the movie say. Except, he’d said it in French – her mum was watching a French movie. But Jenny had understood him perfectly.
“Oh, hi honey,” her mum said as she noticed her, “did you… oh, what’s wrong dear? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Jenny didn’t even take a second to respond. Her mind racing, she ran into the living room and grabbed a Korean movie off the DVD shelf. She put it in the DVD player. Her mum was trying to talk to her, but Jenny ignored her. The movie started. Jenny understood every word of the first conversation two characters had with one another. There was no doubt about it now. Whatever that light had been, it hadn’t just given her the ability to understand dog language; it had given her the ability to understand all languages.
What will Jenny do next? Will she tell her mum what she can do?
What language will Jenny be most interested in understanding?
What is the best way in which Jenny could use her new ability?