Leon The Very Lazy Dog

• Gayathri Egodage, Grade 4
• Poetry
• 2011

Leon was a dog, a very lazy dog. Leon was a farm dog even though he barely did anything. The farmer's name was Farmer John and he was a very strict farmer. If you made a mistake, you had to fix it. The farm was in a desert - a really hot desert. Even though the farmer was strict and mean, he never gave a job to Leon.

But one hot afternoon, Farmer John said to Leon, "Make sure the sheep don't run away into the desert, but if they do, find them!" he yelled loudly.

Leon was guarding the sheep when he spotted his reflection in some water in a bucket. While he was staring at his reflection, the sheep quickly ran into the desert.

When Farmer John came back, he was so furious, he released Leon into the middle of the desert. To everyone's surprise, Leon wasn't worried or scared at all, he didn't even care. But a few hours later, Leon was starting to get hungry because he usually had 7 meals a day. That very moment he realised what he had done. He would never be able to survive in the desert!

So then Leon found his way back to the farm, but Farmer John would not allow Leon to come back to the farm. Then Leon had an idea - he would find the sheep. Leon searched day and night. Leon was walking silently when he stepped on something, something scaly. Immediately, Leon knew what it was. It was a snake! "Woof!" he screamed and ran away. Leon screamed so loudly that he heard the sheep calling in the distance. "I must have woken them up when I screamed," he thought to himself.

Then he ran as fast as his four skinny little legs could go. He rounded up the sheep, then he brought the sheep back to the farm. He gave a huge bark and suddenly Farmer John appeared out of nowhere, looking tired as ever. He said, "I thought I told you to get lost". But then he heard a little baa and looked past Leon. The dog had brought the sheep back! Farmer John gave a great big smile.

So then he let Leon come back. The next day, Farmer John found that Leon had died. He probably couldn't stand the heat in the desert, he thought sadly.

A few years later, Farmer John got another dog. He named her Leonie, after Leon. And he never made the same mistake.