Bandit's Luck

• Justin Blums, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2016

Hi my name is Justin. I am a 10 year old boy who lives with my family and my pet dog, Bandit. I called him Bandit because he has distinctive black patches all over his body. By now you are probably wondering where I live, well I live in a safe and sturdy tree house about 1km from a tiny little town in tropical north Queensland. We live in a small tree house because my family is quite poor.

I found Bandit by accident when I was walking mysteriously in the rainforest looking for sticks and bark to have a huge campfire that very night. I was walking around minding my own business, when I heard rustling in the palm leaves lying on the ground. So then I went to investigate the almost horrid noise coming from the palm leaves. Once I was close enough to move the leaves I realised it was crying. I picked up the thing making the noise and discovered it was coming from a tiny puppy. I named him Bandit.

From the first day I met him I knew there had to be something wrong with his left eye. I knew that because he had a ghost white eye with a tiny little pupil in the middle. He would always bump into our valuables and obliterate our treehouse. One thing that stood out about him, was that he had a fantastic sense of smell. He would always lead me to juicy, plump mangoes hidden in the rainforest.

One day Bandit caught a little scent which made him lead me in the opposite direction he usually goes. I was sprinting after him when he finally froze on the spot. I saw him staring at something green on the ground. Straight away I knew it was MONEY, I didn't believe it. I picked it up and ran to the nearest general store, to get groceries for my family. I finished shopping and I had a little bit of left over money, so I decided to try my luck and brought a scratchie. I knew I would get in trouble if my parents found out so I hid it in my pocket.

I got home and gave my family a huge surprise! They were so gobsmacked my mum started to cry and that's when I told them how Bandit found the money. That very night after dinner I got in my ripped pyjamas and the scratchie fell out of my boardies pocket. I had forgotten about it, so I decided to scratch it. Bandit sat next to me wagging his tail happily with pride. When I was done I saw I had 3 of a kind but I hadn't yet seen the prize money. I nervously looked, jumped to the sky and said "HALLELUJAH". I had won so much money. I then knew that we would never be poor again and I could pay Bandit back by having his eye fixed.