Farewell Rosie X

• Tess Hartigan, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2018

FAREWELL ROSIE X
As Juniper gazed out across the glistening green-blue lake she remembered all the times that she sailed across it with her mother or had gone diving with her to gather enough food for them. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she recalled her mother’s last words that had come in static cracks through the walkie-talkie.
“Juni, listen to me. I have to go now. Take care of the farm but, most importantly, take care of yourself. I love you, my little sailor girl”.
It had been three weeks since the storm had taken her mother’s life, but Juniper wasn’t ready to take care of the animals or keep their little upbeat shack on the edge of Lake Bird alive and clean. Let alone go back to school.
After standing on the lake’s edge for what seemed like forever, Juniper reluctantly turned and walked down the path, that was shadowed by overhanging trees, towards home. When she did reach her shack, an eager dog was waiting for her.
“Alright Max,” she sighed, “I’ll get you some food.”
She wandered inside, fighting back tears as she passed her parents’ room. When she reached the kitchen, she went to the back fridge and got out a bag of old, rotting meat and poured it into Max’s bowl. She then plugged her nose and walked back down the hall. Once she was outside she put down his bowl and called him.
“Max. Come here boy.”
When she got no reply, she tried again.
“Max, I got you some food.”
This time she heard barking coming from the lake. She ventured down only to find Max sniffing at something that appeared to be a shark. However, upon further inspection Juniper realised it was a woman.
“Mum!” she exclaimed, rushing to the body and cradling the head in her lap. Her mother’s features had shrunk and become skeleton-like. But Juniper didn’t care, she was finally back with her mother.
Juniper decided to have a funeral for her that night, so she set to work preparing her mother’s first boat, the ‘ROSIE X’. She decorated it with ferns and grasses of many kinds and then she gathered all her mother’s worldly possessions and arranged them in the boat as well.
When dusk finally came, Juniper carefully carried her mother’s body down to the docks and placed her tenderly in the boat. After saying her last goodbyes, Juniper set fire to the boat and pushed it out to sea. She was so overwhelmed that she didn’t notice when a frantic Alex, her friend and fellow sailor, ran down and practically screamed at her.
“Juniper, is everything okay? I saw smoke. I got here as fast as I could.”
When he noticed that she wasn’t paying attention, he turned to look the same way as her. As he did, his breath caught in his throat.