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The following story and poem were written by 11-year-old Julia Hudson, a registrant in the Division of Lifelong Learning's Creative Writing (ages 11+) course offered in the Winter session of 2011. The story and poem have been selected for publication in the 2011 Young Canadian Authors book. Our thanks to Julia for permission to reproduce her submissions here. |
A Dog's Love
Grace was an elementary student, at the local school of Rimouski. She had always wanted a puppy but her family was struggling to make ends meet and a puppy would be expensive to buy, and to keep. Grace believed that she would never get a puppy and that made her feel sad, everyday.
Grace had health problems including severe allergies and lived in fear of the dreaded anaphylactic reaction. An Epi pen was her constant companion. This was difficult for Grace, but she managed.
One Fall day, after a long session at school, Grace started on her walk home. On this day, Grace heard a sound in the bushes and it made her nervous. She started to run. Suddenly, a dirty and tattered Siberian husky popped out of the bushes and sat down right in front of her. Grace knelt down next to the dog and began to scratch behind his ears. Looking for a collar she found nothing to indentify the dog so Grace decided to take him home with her. She was excited and thought she should call him Skimo, just for now. She wanted to clean him up and keep him for herself but Grace’s parents insisted that she exhaust all efforts to find the dog’s rightful owner.
Grace put up posters, announced the missing dog at school and on radio stations. She asked around the neighbourhood but the owner was not to be found. Grace’s parents did not want to keep the dog. He was big and they knew it would put an extra financial strain on the family. They decided with heavy hearts, that the dog should go to the local dog shelter. Grace was sad but she knew she had to listen to her parents.
On the way to the pound Grace felt strange. She was dizzy and having trouble breathing and suddenly everything in Grace’s world, went black. Grace was having an anaphylactic reaction and she was alone in the woods with Skimo. Grace was scared, she couldn’t move and she needed help or she would die.
Skimo started whimpering and barking and pulling at Grace’s clothes. He wanted her to get up but she couldn’t. He ran circles around her barking frantically. His bark was harsh and loud and before long, a lady passing by heard the dog and came to investigate. By now, Grace was clutching her Epi pen in her hand but she was far too weak to administer it. The lady knew exactly what to do and jabbed the pen into Grace’s thigh. Within seconds, Grace’s throat began to open up and she could breathe again.
Grace was going to be fine and she had Skimo to thank for it. Without his incessant barking, Grace would have died that day in the woods. Skimo was hailed a hero and he would never make it to that dog shelter. Instead, he spent that night and all the nights that followed curled up at the foot of Grace’s bed.
Water Runs Through Me
Water runs through me, purifies me
Water represents me
Free, loyal and beautiful
Water trickles freely through my soul
Water is my tears and saves me from my fears
Waves crashing against the shore
When the rain starts to soar
When the waves ease, you can feel the ocean breeze
The way my tears fall down my cheeks, when I’m feeling weak
That represents me
