Waiting

• James Sutherland, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2017

It was a nice clear summer night with the stars dancing in the sky spreading out across the outback. The moon was high in the sky looking out across the remote rural area and an abandoned shack. Next to the shack, with weeds growing around the wheels was a worn out ute. Inside the ute sat an aged, experienced, Red Kelpie.
His brown eyes looking out across the outback with such precision like he had done it a million times before. He sat in a clam, relaxed position but will be ready to move at any moment. His ears twitched at the slightest sound as if they had a mind of their own. And around his neck, twinkling from the moon's light, was the dog's name tag. His name read ‘Rusty’.
Rusty just sat there in the back of the old ute waiting for his master to return. Waiting. Day and night but never seeing his master. Each day Rusty would wake up in the morning and scan the outback, hoping for his master to return. He would then get up and slowly stretch his front legs nice and slowly to relax the muscles in his legs then go and get a drink of water from his water bowl at the other end of the ute. Rusty would take long drinks, but never for too long in case he might miss his master. Once he finishes, he looks up and scans the area again, looking for something different. Something that wasn't there before. But it was always the same. An area covered in hot orange sand, two Myall trees standing on either side of his field of vision and a once nice flowering bed withered to ashes from the lack of water.
Rusty would then move back towards the shaded part of the ute where he would then sit in his relaxed position waiting for his master again. Waiting. Day after day, night after night.
One morning as Rusty got up to get his drink of water he looked down at the bowl and saw there was no water left. It hadn't rained in two weeks and the rain normally kept his bowl full of water. So Rusty moved back to the other end of the ute and sat down. Days passed and Rusty still hadn't had a drink of water. His nose was starting to dry up and he got weaker every day. One morning Rusty couldn't get up to see if he had any water in his bowl. So he just lay there. Waiting. Hoping that his master would return now give him a drink of water. Nice cold refreshing water.
After a while, Rusty had trouble opening his eyes. He was stuck in a terrible place. Unable to move and unable to drink. Rusty started to whimper in a hope that his master could hear him. It was a whimper for help. Rusty tried to go to sleep.
The next morning Rusty woke up feeling like new. He was able to stand up fully in the back of the ute. He looked from left to right. Everything looked the same but different. But in the distance, he saw something new. A figure wearing an Akubra hat. Rusty got so excited that his tail started to wag uncontrollably. Rusty leapt from the trailer like a sugar glider and landed on the crisp, white sand. And started to run.
As Rusty got closer, he could make out more of the figure. He was wearing a pale blue buttoned-up shirt and dirty denim jeans. The figure started to run towards Rusty. Finally, after all his waiting, Rusty had found his master. He had come home. When Rusty and his master made it to each other, Rusty’s master gave Rusty a big hug and his master whispered into his ear, “Sorry I left you, boy. But you found me and that's what matters most. We’ll never get separated again.”
And Rusty knew that he will never have to wait that long in his life ever again.
The End