The Mystery Bag

• Rishikesh Pramod, Grade 4, Schofields Public School
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition

I was handed a heavy canvas bag with something writhing inside it. The old man muttered a few words and ambled off into the crowd. I was speechless and too afraid to open the dusty bag.
I went home wondering what was inside the canvas bag. When I got home, I put the bag on my desk, which I thought was the safest place to keep the bag. After a couple of minutes, the bag had moved! I was very surprised and was keen to open the bag. I directly opened the bag and there popped out the face of a cute otter.
Most of you might think that the otter is harmless because it is cute. But if you had lived with it, you would understand what I am talking about. It ruins everything. When I say, “It ruins everything,” I actually mean it!
In the morning, it sneaked into my bag, which I took to school and when I opened my bag at school, the otter jumped out of my bag and went savage. Then I got in trouble.
And, when I went for lunch with my friends, do you know what happened? Yep, it (otter) sneakily came with me and when the waiter came to serve us, the otter jumped on the food and it went flying onto the waiter’s face. Since the yummiest food landed on the waiter’s face, the otter jumped on him and he fainted on our table. This caused the food to fly to our faces. I had managed to get out of the restaurant and go back home.
Soon when I reached home, I was in utter despair. Did I have to live like these until one of us dies? Then soon out of nowhere, something hit me. I had figured it out.
Remembering the man’s words, I said it to the otter. All of a sudden magically the otter transformed into a wizard who could grant wishes. Since that day, the wizard was my best friend. Once total enemies and now best friends. What do I have to say, nothing? Nothing at all. In fact, I feel like I could tell you... Nah, not going to spoil it for you. So, meet you next time. Hasta Luego!!!