SEVEN TIGERS
Art - Mike Fyles
July 17, 1934
The first
tiger surprised Helene Vaughn. The young aviatrix was trying on outfits in a
small dressing room at the Robinson’s department store in Beverly Hills. She
put on a cute Tartan plaid skirt and short-sleeved white top she hoped to wear to
her pal Martha Mansfield’s birthday party. She opened the dressing room door to
get the sales girl’s opinion.
The girl wasn’t there.
A tiger looked up at Helene and snarled.
Helene screamed, jumped back, and slammed the door in the beast’s face.
Moments later she heard the sales girl come running, “What’s the problem, Miss…?” The young woman screamed - apparently she saw the problem - screamed again, and ran off.
Moments later she heard the sales girl come running, “What’s the problem, Miss…?” The young woman screamed - apparently she saw the problem - screamed again, and ran off.
Helene
grabbed her purse, stepped up on the dressing room bench and peeked over the
thin wall. The tiger sniffed at the crack under the door. Helene’s
eyes were as big as saucers. She moved to the side and looked over the wall
into the neighboring changing room.
An older
woman looked up at Helene indignantly, “Do you mind?”
Helene said,
“No,
not really.” She looked back in her changing room and saw tiger paws pulling at
the flimsy changing room door. Helene turned back and smiled at the woman below
her and said, “I’ll need your room for a minute…”
