Dissidents of Perfection

By Amruta Krishnan Srinivasan

Set in Animal Realm where magic and the wild are beautifully interwoven, this book delves into the ethics of meddling with nature even if it is for a good cause.

For Joey Fox and many other animals, Animal Realm is a refuge from Earth. Away from humans, it offers security that is absent on Earth. In fact, the carnivores in the Animal Realm do not even kill to eat. Instead, there is plenty of Bindarian Thistle, a food that grows on any surface, does not need any water, and morphs itself to the taste buds of the animals eating it. Joey likes the security of the Animal Realm and not the dangers of Earth. Then there is Fiona the Flamingo. She is different. She believes in nature, even if it results in lower security guarantees.

The Elders of the Animal Realm have been living in blissful ignorance regarding their citizen’s sentiments towards it. And Fiona Flamingo’s escape to earth proves it. Fiona breaks the rules of the Animal Realm by escaping back to Earth. The Animal Realm is shocked—why would someone abandon a perfect land?

Fiona’s escape triggered a chain of events in the Animal Realm, including the involuntary disappearance of Joey Fox. Incidentally, Amber, a human has unwittingly made it to the Animal Realm. The chaos has turned the Animal Realm upside down. The Bindarian Thistle has stopped growing, putting the lives of many animals in danger. Amber and the citizens of Animal realm must confront Fiona Flamingo’s disillusionment with “perfection” to restore normalcy in their ideal world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Aug 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9789358830057

Amruta Krishnan Srinivasan

Amruta is 12 years old and is in the 7th grade. Dissidents of Perfection is her debut novel. She completed working on it when she was 10 years old. She has published shorter works such as poems and short stories since she was 4. She is a voracious reader and loves writing. Some of her work has been published by Stone Soup and her short story has been a finalist at the Young Inklings book contest.

Book preview

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Chapter 1

Apool of liquid began to dissolve around her, bringing her along with it. After shutting her eyes for a few seconds, Amber started to materialize. Suddenly, she found herself in a forest, but a lot more brightly colored. Looking around, she peered into a tree and saw that its branches twisted into small living areas for animals. In each tree, it looked like someone had taken the branches and turned them into a house. On the ground, there were caves with stalactites, and little grass and flower hideouts.

Luscious fruits hung from every tree and beautiful fountains bubbled all over. And, on top of that, semi-precious stones blanketed the archways. A gopher hummed a little ditty before staring at her with eyes the size of dinner plates. When Amber finally snapped out of her daze, she realized she was in a different world, a world meant for animals.

How did I get here? she wondered.

It all started with the camping trip. She tried hard to remember what had happened earlier on that fateful day.

Amber, what in the world are you doing? she remembered her mom shouting. Have you even packed your bags? We’re going on that camping trip, so stop acting like you’ve got all the time in the world!

Amber hated going out, what with the bugs and the ‘live it rough’ attitude. She would have preferred a nice bike ride or reading a book in a hammock. Amber recalled burying her face in a book throughout the car ride, letting everyone talk about the trip. Pathetic, Amber had thought back then. After a billion car games, they had finally reached the camping spot. While her parents and sister almost flew out of the car, Amber had slowly gotten out of the vehicle, trampling the fallen leaves under her.

The camping trip was precisely how Amber had imagined it to be. She was forced to set up the tent and somehow turned it inside out and strapped herself to the roof.

The only good thing she could recall about the trip was the refreshing meal they’d had. Her growling stomach in this strange land of animals made her long for the delicious meal of sweet potato mush seasoned with some overripe blackberries.

Didn’t I see a dog that Melanie was cooing over? She now said to herself. The creature had looked more like a grumpy little fox with reddish-brown fur, pointed-up ears, and it looked like someone had scratched the top of his right ear. He was trying to glare at all the humans surrounding him. Then, letting out what he must have thought was a thunderous roar, he tried to pounce at the humans surrounding him. Amber recalled watching as they tried to put him into a duffel bag.

Amber had decided to go out to the woods and look at the wildlife. Usually, she would have just gone back to her tent, but this time she was out walking because of that little animal. So annoying. Animals were not the most exciting things for her. She recalled walking towards a slight blue glow that had appeared from the trees behind her.

Tiptoeing towards the glow, Amber had wondered whether this was a good idea. Wishing there was some pro-con chart she could make, Amber had pushed apart the ivy hanging around the blue light and saw a blue stone that was cut to perfection. If you looked at it from different sides, you could see shimmers of purple and gold. It was the most beautiful thing she had seen. Curious, she had picked it up and it immediately began to ripple in a bunch of different colors—red, blue, silver, orange, purple, another color that Amber didn’t know was a color, and green, to name a few. AHHH! Amber had screamed. That was the last thing she could remember from the camping trip.

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Chapter 2

H UMAN!

WE T-TASTE H-HORRIBLE!

Why is everybody–GOOD GOD A HUMAN!

WHAT DID I TELL THE LOT OF YOU? THE HUMAN INVASION IS UPON US!

ALERT THE MEDIA! ALERT THE GOVERNMENT! ALERT SOMEBODY!

Oh, be quiet, Ferdinand. I bet they can hear you on Earth.

"EARTH? EARTH? GOOD GOD, THEY HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO US!"

Ferdinand!

Amber sat on her boulder and stared wide-eyed at all the animals who were screaming or hiding behind trees. She felt like hiding behind a tree wouldn’t be such a bad idea now. Lions to rabbits, hyenas to cows, birds to reptiles—she had never seen such a large gathering of animals. And she had been thankful for that. Amber had a complicated relationship with the little critters. But, as she stared at an ostrich frantically trying to bury its head in a rock, it looked like they had a complicated relationship with her. At the same time, a beaver chewed on a massive log, blissfully ignoring the commotion. Finally, a llama was bold enough to say something.

AHHHH! HUMAN! WHY? WHY? WHY?

Well, almost say something.

Amber blankly stared at the animals in front of her.

Mr. Llama, why are you talking?

The llama glared at Amber. "Excuse me? I could ask you the same question! Goodness knows it’s the more pressing. I swear, you humans are an ignorant bunch. Why are you talking? What a childish question! Oh, and no, I am not a llama. I am an alpaca. And the name is Ms. Alpaca."

Amber nodded, not knowing what else to do. These animals certainly didn’t think of her as a friend. She felt terrified. There were creatures everywhere, animals who could talk, and if this weren’t enough, a brave but rather dumb rabbit was trying to push her off the rock. And failing miserably. Amber placed the rabbit back into the crowd of animals when a pigeon screeched: Where’s Joey?

Who is Joey? Amber asked.

All the animals stared at one another and ignored her question. These guys were odd. First, they were screaming about and at her, and now they had forgotten about the mysterious human. She didn’t know whether she was relieved to be rid of the attention or offended that it hadn’t lasted. Instead of screaming and hiding, they