Abominable Movie Novelization Read online

  “Bye, NaiNai!”

  Outside, she made a beeline for the pharmacy and bought some ointment and bandages. She hurried, because she wanted to get back before the creature woke up.

  On the way home, a commotion on the street made her pause. Behind yellow caution tape, a bunch of people in lab coats were inspecting a van. Yi ducked into the nearest alley and watched. A dent in the hood of the van looked like a giant pawprint.

  Just like the paws of the beast on the roof.

  A red-haired woman, who appeared to be in charge of the lab coats, was questioning the van driver. Yi noticed that the woman had a jerboa on her shoulder.

  Weird! Yi thought.

  “Bam! It came out of nowhere. Then it was gone,” the driver was saying.

  “Did you see where it went?” the woman asked.

  “Lady, I just told you,” the driver replied. “It was gone. What was that thing, anyway?”

  The woman didn’t answer his question directly. “Let me take care of the damage to your truck,” she said, and she waved one of the security guys over. He opened a briefcase filled with money!

  “It’s a bribe,” the security guard said.

  They’re looking for the beast on my roof! Yi realized, and she ran back into the apartment as fast as she could. Passing the kitchen, she saw a fresh batch of pork buns cooling on the counter. She stuffed a few into her backpack and then turned—to see NaiNai glaring at her, her arms folded.

  “So you’re hungry now?” NaiNai asked.

  “Um, yeah. Starving,” Yi said, which wasn’t a lie. She hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday, so she planned to share the buns with the beast.

  “Let them cool,” NaiNai said. “You’ll burn your mouth.”

  She picked up another tray of pork buns and placed them on the cooling rack. “I keep telling your mother you need to slow down. Spend more time here at home with your family.”

  Yi reached for another bun, and NaiNai slapped her hand away. “Mrs. Lui called me today, says you’re fixing her computer. And Mrs. Yuan in 4B said you’re going to trim her poodle’s toenails. I like that you’re ambitious. No one wants a lazy granddaughter. But . . . busy, busy, busy! What do you need to do all that for?”

  Yi backed away, toward her bedroom. “I guess I just like being busy!” she said. “Can we talk about this later, NaiNai? You don’t have to worry.”

  Yi ducked into her bedroom and shut the door, not waiting for an answer. Then she climbed back up onto the rooftop, relieved to hear the beast still snoring.

  She approached the hiding place. “Hey boy . . . or girl. Are you hungry?”

  She dumped a pile of pork buns by the opening of the metal lean-to and waited. The snoring stopped and Yi heard the sound of sniffing. A giant, furry paw reached out and grabbed the entire pile.

  Yi heard chewing sounds, and then a very loud burp.

  “Yeah, you’re definitely a boy,” she said, wrinkling her nose as the burp stench wafted past her.

  Next, Yi took the bandages and ointment from her backpack. Taking a deep breath, she slowly stepped behind the metal sheet.

  The creature stared at her, suspicion in his blue eyes. She held up the bandages and moved toward his arm. He pulled it away with a snarl. Undaunted, Yi reached out again.

  This time, the creature didn’t move. He kept his eyes locked on Yi as she put ointment on the wound, then wrapped a bandage around it. When she finished, he yawned. His eyes drooped, and he fell into a deep sleep again.

  Yi studied his face. This was no gorilla. She held her hand up against his huge, furry paw. Her hand looked tiny compared to it.

  “Whoa,” she said. “I don’t know where you came from, but you sure don’t belong here.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “You stay in here, okay? There are people looking for you.”

  She stepped outside the lean-to and examined it. It was a decent hiding spot, but it would have to be better. She began to fortify it with items from her fort: some old posters, pillows, two broken chairs, the canvas tarp, and some holiday lights that she plugged into an outlet in the wall. Finally, she placed the drooping orchid by the entrance. One of the last petals fell off, and she sighed.

  “Sorry, it’s all I’ve got,” she said.

  Inside the shelter, the beast was awake. He tried to stand up using his wounded arm and whimpered. She rushed to him.

  “No, no, no, it’s okay,” she said. “Please don’t cry . . . wait!”

  She retrieved her violin. “My dad used to play for me. It always made me feel better.”

  Yi began to play. To her amazement, after a few bars the creature began to hum along to the melody.

  It’s a duet! She smiled, and she closed her eyes, lost in the music. She didn’t see the blue light that glowed from the creature as he hummed. When the song ended, she looked at the beast. He had stopped crying.

  She smiled. “All better, right?”

  He had already fallen back to sleep. She stepped out of the shelter, past the orchid, and stopped. The upright green stem supported a beautiful new pink bloom. She looked back at the creature. Was there some connection?

  “Nah,” she told herself. She closed the canvas to the shelter entrance behind her.

  To her surprise, the creature pulled it back. He was staring out into the city. Yi followed his gaze . . . to the giant image of Mount Everest on the Jumbotron. “Wait, do you know that place?” Yi asked, excitement rising. “Is that . . . is that your home?”

  She put her fingertips together to make a triangle shape with her hands. “You know. Home.”

  The creature made the same shape with his hands, then made a cooing sound.

  Yi’s eyes widened. She pulled out her phone and began to type “Creature from Mount Everest . . .”

  She read the first entry out loud. “Considered to be no more than fairy tale and myth, enthusiasts still hold out hope that these creatures actually do exist.”

  She gasped. “There’s a yeti on my roof!”

  Chapter Four

  The Chase

  “Where’s my yeti?” Mr. Burnish thundered.

  The angry billionaire sat behind his desk in his penthouse office, shouting into his speakerphone. “Captain, I am holding you personally responsible for that abominable creature’s escape! Now you will get every car we have out of there, or I will send you back to your job at the shopping mall.”

  His loud voice blared from the cell phone of the security captain, who was riding shotgun in a company SUV, searching the city streets for the yeti. Dr. Zara sat in the back, and Duchess anxiously paced back and forth along the top of the seats.

  “Yes sir, understood,” the captain replied. Then he spoke into his headset. “Attention all units. We need every car out on the street!”

  A yeti. Yi’s mind was spinning. She had spent the day anxiously watching over him—it seemed all he wanted to do was sleep. Then she heard his stomach rumble, and Yi knew he needed more pork buns—lots of them. If she took more from NaiNai, her grandmother would get suspicious.

  “I’ll be right back,” she promised, and she climbed back down into the apartment, then headed out to buy some pork buns with her own money. There was a long wait at the shops, and she tapped her foot impatiently while she waited in line. It didn’t feel right, leaving the yeti alone for so long. Sure, he was a big, hairy beast, but there was something really vulnerable about him. He needed protecting.

  She finally got the buns and headed home. Peng spotted her coming back and followed her into the apartment building.

  “I was dribbling and the guy was like, ‘Oh no!’ and I was like, ‘Oh yeah!’ ” he bragged. “Want to play a game?”

  “I can’t,” Yi said. “NaiNai will, though.”

  Yi headed straight for her room and hurried back up to the roof. When she arrived, she found the yeti outside the shelter, cooling in front of a window-unit air conditioner—the air conditioner from her family’s living room!

  “Hey, wha
t are you doing out here?” she asked. “Someone’s going to see you!”

  Yi put her arms around the air conditioner, and so did the yeti. They played tug-of-war with the machine. “Do you hear me? Let go!”

  Suddenly Yi heard keys in the access door to the roof. There was no time to hide the yeti. The door opened—and Jin and Peng stepped out!

  “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Peng screamed.

  Jin picked up a broken chair.

  “Uh, guys, what are you doing up here?” Yi asked.

  Jin yelled at the yeti. “Get away from her!”

  “No, no, no!” Yi cried. “Wait!”

  Jin pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the police.”

  “Wait Jin, no!” Yi pleaded. “Hang up!”

  But Jin had already dialed. “Hello, hello? Yes, there’s a wild beast on our roof. Send help!”

  Jin’s voice crackled on every police scanner around the city. Everyone tuned in to a police scanner heard it—including Dr. Zara.

  “Jin, what have you done?” Yi shouted. “He’s not dangerous. Look at him. He’s a yeti.”

  Peng’s face lit up. “Cool!”

  Jin cried out. “What?! No! Yetis don’t exist!”

  At that moment, a helicopter emblazoned with a Burnish Industries logo rose up over the roof.

  “Oh no. They’re back!” Yi cried. She turned to the yeti. “You have to go.”

  Frightened, he just stared at her.

  “Go, run. Now! Go!” Yi pleaded.

  The wind caused by the whirring chopper blades sent the contents of the shelter scattering across the roof . . . pillows, maps, and postcards.

  “No, no, no, no!” Yi scrambled to catch the postcards before they blew away, grab her violin, and stow everything into her backpack.

  Then she felt a pair of furry arms around her waist as the yeti hoisted her onto his back. Before she could react, he leaped onto the next rooftop, taking her with him. Yi heard her friends as she was carried off.

  “He stole Yi!” Peng cried.

  “More like kidnapped!” Jin said. “Come on, Peng!”

  Yi clung to the yeti’s back, too terrified to look down, as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop across the city. The city lights were beginning to turn on as the sky grew darker. In the distance, she could see the river. A way out . . . a way for the yeti to get to Everest.

  “Hurry!” she urged. The sound of the helicopter was growing closer, and she turned to see a Burnish security guard leaning out of the passenger door, aiming a tranquilizer gun at them.

  Suddenly, Yi felt the yeti drop between two buildings. The guard took his shot, missing them. The yeti raced through the alleyways until they reached a construction site. He grabbed onto a giant crane as it swung across a huge glass building shaped like a globe. Then he let go and began to slide down the smooth, curved roof.

  “Whooooooaaa!” Yi cried.

  They stopped at the edge of the glass roof. The river stretched out in front of them, calm and inviting. Yi pointed to the docks.

  “Look, down there,” she said. “That boat’s leaving the city. You have to get on it!”

  As soon as she said the words, the helicopter swooped in front of them. Below, a small army of Burnish Industries vehicles surrounded the building. Then, to Yi’s surprise, Jin and Peng pulled up, riding on a pink scooter. A pink scooter? And was Peng wearing a helmet with a unicorn face on it? Yi had no idea how they’d gotten any of that stuff, but she was glad to see them. They were the only friendly faces in the crowd.

  Jin spotted Yi, too. “There she is!” he cried, pointing.

  Nearby, the security captain yelled, “Take the shot!”

  Dr. Zara focused on the yeti with her binoculars. “There’s a girl with him!”

  Jin overheard. How is she going to get away? he wondered. If they shot the yeti and he went limp, Yi would go tumbling down with him. . . . Then it hit him. “Wait, wait. What time is it?”

  Peng glanced at his watch. “Eight o’clock. Why?”

  Then Peng grinned, getting it. “Time for the light show!” he said, at the same time as his cousin. The timing was perfect! The building was one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions, and the light show started at the same time every night, every day of the year.

  Music began to blare from speakers set up around the building. Colorful lights burst forth from inside the glass globe, shooting rays across the sky.

  The light blinded the helicopter, and it jerked sideways. The guard holding the tranquilizer gun was thrown backward into the helicopter, missing his shot.

  Dr. Zara squinted up at the building, trying to see the yeti, but the light blinded her, too. Ten minutes later, when the music ended and the lights faded, there was no sign of the yeti on the roof.

  “Where are they?” Dr. Zara asked into her headset.

  “They’re gone!” the helicopter pilot reported.

  The security captain next to Dr. Zara called to the other guards. “Come on! Keep searching!”

  Jin looked around frantically—and caught a glimpse of Yi and the yeti running toward the docks. He and Peng jumped back onto the scooter and raced after them.

  The yeti reached the docks first. Yi gestured toward a cargo barge preparing to shove off.

  “Over there! That one!” she urged the yeti.

  They quickly reached the barge.

  “You have to get on that boat,” she told him.

  The yeti looked confused.

  “When that boat lands, don’t stop. Don’t stop until you reach your mountain. Don’t stop until you’re home, okay? Home.” She made a triangle with her hands, like she had before.

  Whooooooo! The barge’s horn sounded as it started to pull away from the dock. But the yeti didn’t move.

  “You have to go now,” she pleaded with him.

  His eyes full of worry, he obeyed Yi and leaped onto the barge. Then he looked around, unsure of what to do.

  “Hide!” Yi shouted.

  The yeti tried to squeeze between some boxes, but he didn’t fit. He pulled a tarp over his head, but it blew off and into the water.

  Yi felt a tug on her heartstrings. He looked so helpless!

  Jin and Peng pulled up on the scooter and hopped off. They both stared at Yi, concerned.

  “Yi, are you okay?” Jin asked.

  Yi saw Jin running toward her, then turned to see the barge pulling away. It was clear the yeti would never make it on his own.

  “Oh no. No, Yi, don’t you dare!” he cried.

  She ignored him and sprinted toward the boat. With a mighty leap, she hurled herself off the dock and landed on the deck of the barge.

  She smiled at the yeti. “Guess I’m coming with you, huh, Everest?” she said.

  The yeti let out a happy hoot! Yi laughed. “I guess you like your new name?”

  “Yi, are you crazy?” Jin called from the dock.

  Peng pushed past his cousin. “Wait for me, Yi!” he called out.

  He raced down the dock and took a mighty leap, just as Yi had. But he came up a few feet short of the barge.

  “No, no, no!” he wailed, squeezing his eyes shut.

  Everest reached out and caught him in midair. Peng opened his eyes and smiled at him, and Everest smiled back.

  Back on the dock, Jin was furious. “Peng, I’m responsible for you! Your mom’s going to kill me!”

  Jin reluctantly took off and jumped onto the barge, landing successfully in a puddle of oil. He looked down at his ruined brand new sneakers.

  “My babies!” he squeaked, and Peng burst out laughing. To make things worse, Everest was laughing too. “You think this is funny?” Jin exclaimed. “Do you even know how much I paid for these?”

  Jin walked up to Yi, who had her back to him as she gazed over the railing of the barge.

  “What were you thinking, Yi?” he asked, pacing back and forth. “You have gotten me into so much trouble. I am so mad at you right now. You know what? I can’t even talk to you. That’s how mad
I am.”

  Yi wasn’t really listening. A slight smile crept onto her face as the city became more and more distant.

  The money, the postcards, the maps . . . she had been planning a journey for a long time. Maybe this wasn’t the journey she had dreamed of, but it was the one she was on. It was strange, and scary . . . but also exciting.

  She couldn’t wait to see where the journey would take them.

  Chapter Five

  Blueberries

  Over at Burnish Industries, the very angry owner of the company was scolding Dr. Zara and the security captain.

  “The unveiling is in one week, Captain,” Mr. Burnish snapped. “Now how am I supposed to prove that the yeti exists when I don’t have a yeti?”

  Suddenly, he jumped out of his chair and stepped up to the top of his desk, using an ice axe as a cane.

  “Uhhh . . . . ,” the security captain stammered.

  “No speaking!” Mr. Burnish bellowed, waving the ice axe in the captain’s face. Then he pointed the axe toward the door. “Only leaving!” he yelled.

  The captain walked out, hanging his head. Dr. Zara didn’t move, but cocked her head to one side and stared at Mr. Burnish with steely eyes. The furry rodent on her shoulder did the same.

  Mr. Burnish hopped off his desk and began to pace. “Dr. Zara, what am I going to do?” he wondered. “The science community will be there, the press will be there, the world will be there . . . watching with their eyes.”

  “Mr. Burnish, there are many rare and exotic animals you have collected over the years,” Dr. Zara reminded him. “These snakes, for example.”

  She snapped her fingers and a lab tech wheeled in a glass aquarium filled with sand.

  “You are the only one in the world to have a newly born clutch of rare whooping snakes,” she said.

  Three snakes popped their heads out of the sand. “Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!” they sang.

  Mr. Burnish bopped each of them on the head with his ice axe. “Down! Down! Down! Go in your holes, you weird snakes!”

  Dr. Zara snatched the axe from his hand. “Sir, please! These creatures are to be respected!”