Canine Ingenuity

• Brandon Ng, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2009

My destitute family was too poor to buy pets. In fact, we didn’t even have enough money to buy food. There were many things I really desired like a dog – big, skinny, black, any dog.

One day I was out exploring and “woof, woof, woof.” I heard the sound of a small dog barking. I hurried towards the noise and there in front of me was a small skinny puppy It didn’t look like it had an owner so I walked slowly over to him and picked him up. The barking gradually stopped and it started to wag its tail.

“Come on Bubbles,” that’s what I will call you and walked to a nearby pond. After a good scrub, it looked a lot better. We raced each other back to “Homeless Park” where we lived. My parents were in the middle of an argument – what to eat, where to sleep, how to find money. It wasn’t until Bubbles barked that they left their conversation and stared at us.

Suddenly, dad exclaimed, “A dog, we don’t have to be hungry any more!”

I was horrified. “You’re not eating my dog,” I replied, picking up Bubbles. Dad lunged at me and I knew instantly that my parents weren’t kidding. I turned around and fled. Dad chased me round and round the park. Bubbles jumped out of my arms and scampered up a tree. He would be safe up there, I thought.

Dad went away and came back holding up a large bone. Bubbles was making funny high pitched noises. He must have been as hungry as a prisoner of war. The bone that dad was holding seemed like a magnet to him. Suddenly dad was grasping the squirming Bubbles.

“Stop!” I shouted but Bubbles didn’t need my help. The warm liquid from Bubbles splashed over Dad’s face. He screamed and dropped Bubbles. After a short while, he got back to his feet and resumed his chase. He tripped on the poo that Bubbles drop and fell flat on his face. He slowly stood up. Then he saw something that made him looked again. Dad crawled over to the poo. “I’m seeing things,” he muttered. “No I’m not!” Inside the poo were specks of shinny shimmering objects. “Gold!” he yelled. There really were particles of gold in the poo.

“This dog is a gold producing dog. It is worth lots of money,” announced Dad. “We can sell the gold and wouldn’t go hungry again” We sold the gold and bought a humble cottage and food. We appeared on the news and had many interviews, therefore filling our pockets with more money. We were all very happy and arguments stopped.. I spend most of my time now inspecting dog’s poo hoping to strike it lucky again. After all, my parents said that if you can find gold in Bubbles, you can find gold again in other dogs’ poo. I don’t like dogs quite so much anymore except for what they can produce.