Olive's Luck

• Tina Tian, Grade 7H
• Short Story
• 2010

The sunset light rays lit the footpath. I trudged up stone stairs and my hair stuck to my face. Sweat trickled down my cheeks and forehead. I pulled my backpack higher. The keys jingled in my hands. All these things didn’t matter when I saw the pup. Limping badly and whimpering, leaving a small trail of blood where he walked. I rushed up to him and he backed up slightly, tripping over his tail. His big brown eyes were big and dilated as my shadow loomed over him. I crouched down and dropped my bag by my side. The pup seemed to have just been born a few months ago. He had two gashes on each leg and he was cut in the back leg. I had some band-aids in my bag but I can’t put them on until his cuts were shaved. I decided to pick him up and take him to some help, but I had nothing to pick him up with. I can’t use my hands, they are unsanitary. I remembered the cloth I had in my bag from textiles and pulled it out, it was velvety on one side and fluffy and soft on the other.
I scooped him up and pulled the blankets into a ball, with his head poking out. I walked quickly but stopped dead in my track when I saw something lying on the road. A tear slid down my face, it was the body of a mother dog. She was bloodied and bruised and there were screech marks before it. She was hit by a car.
The other pups must’ve scattered. This one limped in my direction. I guessed that they were crossing the street when a car came and decided to run them all over. This pup here was in front of it but the mother had protected him, to give him the only chance at life he could have. I hurried towards the local milky bar. I used the phone to call a hospital and the hospital called the local vet. The reception lady was called Meryl and she told me where I could find the vet that took care of car crashes, and someone that would take care of the body. The vet’s name was Dr Monross. He was very nice and had a small beard. He looked like Santa Claus. He took the pup inside and didn’t come out until about an hour later. The pup was bandaged all over and I was left with him. I guessed I had to take him home, and I led the body care – Mario – to the road where I saw the mother. I cared for the pup and named him Luck. Luck is now a grown dog, and I take him lots of places, turns out the mother’s name was Olive. We visit Olive often, she’s under the Olive tree in the backyard. The olives we eat are the most delicious, because they came from a loving mother.