Mary

• Minjia Liu, Grade 5
• Poetry
• 2010

I slowly walked to the other side of the huge shelter. Hundreds of animals looked at the people passing by with huge sad eyes, hoping to find a caring owner. in the last cages of the shelter, where nobody really ever went were the scruffiest animals who seemed to have the saddest eyes. They somehow seemed to know that there was no hope and that they would be heading off to heaven very soon. That was where I went. In the last cage was a very scruffy puppy with messy fur standing right in front of her cage poking her nose out. She was trembling all over. I felt very sorry for her.
“Her name’s Mary, are you really sure you want her?” asked the lady when I said I wanted the scruffy dog. “There are about five hundred other clean, adorable dogs with smooth fur and out of all of them you choose Mary?”
“Yes,” I said eagerly,” I’ll have her.” I paid for Mary and went away.
When I got home Mary seemed quite relieved that she wasn’t put down. “She looks a bit scruffy,” said my sister, looking at Mary’s fur disappointedly. “Why didn’t you get a chihuahua?”
“I didn’t want to buy a Chihuahua - and you could give her a bath and make her clean!”
We got Mary and gave her a bath. When she was clean she looked like a totally different dog. Her messy fur had turned smooth and instead of an icky brown colour, her fur was cream coloured.
“Wow!” we both thought as we admired Mary’s new look. When Mary had gone to sleep I went to the shop to buy Mary some toys and food.

When I came back I expected to see Mary pouncing up to me but she wasn’t there.
Then I saw my sister coming up to me anxiously. “Um …er ... uh ..Mary um.. is.. dead,” she said softly.
“Did you kill her?”
“Um...no, I didn’t - she was on my lap and then she started choking and died!”
“So did you choke her?”
“NO! Of course I didn’t, why would I choke her?”
She went away and came back holding Mary. She looked like that she was sleeping but when I felt her she was cold.
“Are you really sure you didn’t kill her?”
“Yes, I told you I didn’t!”
I took Mary carefully into the car. It was weird that she was all cold.
“Where are you going?” asked my sister.
“To the vet!”
“But she’s not sick!”
“I’m taking her for a post-mortem examination .”
“Oh,but you don't have to.”
"Why not?"
"Ummm...errrrrrr...uh you just don't have to…"

The vet picked Mary up. We told her what had happened. She started examining Mary. Some time later, she came up to us.
“Mary died of something she ate, which I think was chocolate,” she said. Then she started saying things like

Minjia Liu
Year 5 Galapagos
Picnic Point Public School