Leah The Dog-Crazy Girl

• Abbie Pritchard, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2018

Leah was a ten-year old, dog-crazy girl. Leah had a younger brother named, Sam. Leah and Sam both adored dogs as much as moths adored light. They enjoyed spending their free time out with their pet dog, Molly and teaching her breathtaking tricks like how to shake, heel and even walk on her hind legs. Molly was loved.

One tragic day, Molly was diagnosed with arthritis. This was devastating to hear because they could no longer play with Molly like they use to. Leah had been with Molly for 10 years and it was the greatest ten years of her life.

Then one very cold winters day, Molly had vertigo. Vertigo is when dogs that are very old or very young lose their balance. It can be caused by a disease disturbing the inner ear or the vestibular nerve. Sam noticed something off with Molly so he told his Mum. They kept an eye on her for the next couple of days. That was when Sam’s Mum noticed the same thing. She noticed Molly’s lack of balance and her eyes were spinning like spinning tops. She took Molly to the vet and explained what it was. It took a few weeks for the vertigo to fully go away.

Later that year, Molly had problems with her back hips. It was one problem after another. The vet told them that it was the arthritis causing it and that if it got worse, they should consider putting her down. This tore them apart because they could never imagine life without Molly. Molly was getting better so they decided not to put her down. Molly showed strength for the rest of the year.

Early the next year, Molly's hip started getting worse and worse. She was struggling to walk and sometimes she couldn’t get up. At the end of January, she seemed to be getting better. Much better. Then on the 19-3-18, Leah and Sam were told that they had to put Molly down. This tore them apart.

The next morning, Sam and Leah’s parents took Molly to the vet to get the needle. To this day, the 20-3-18 is the anniversary of Molly’s life. Over the next few days, Sam and Leah kept having flashbacks of Molly. They were having these crazy dreams and even thought they saw Molly. They sat down and remembered things about Molly, like the time they came home and she was sitting on the chair, or the day they first met her, or even how she was always bouncing around at the door. They remembered the time they took her to the beach and she ran off with their Nan’s dog, Rosie and they had to chase them. There was not a doubt in their minds that they would never forget about their amazing, pretty, adorable best friend. It's true what they say, a dog really is a man’s best friend.