Not Just A Walk In The Park

• Ellie Charman, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2019

“Bridget!” yells mum, “Go walk the dog please!” “Okay.”

I clip on Crunchie’s lead and we head off to the park. As I’m walking, I notice something in the distance. Crunchie gets excited and I realise it’s a dog, but strangely, one with no owner. I look at its tag:

Alfie
0456 938 247
5 Bokento Avenue, Crailee

That’s the… Oh gosh! 5 Bokento Avenue is this run down house with cracked windows, peeling paint and dead flowers. “Dreadful!” I think to myself. Well, I can’t leave this poor, innocent little dog on its own. I have to take it to its owner.

I take Crunchie home, then set off with my phone, some money and the dog, of course. As I walk towards the house, my heart skips a few beats. It looks even worse than I remembered. I walk up the steps. ‘CRUNCH’. One of the steps cracks. Again, my heart skips a few beats.

The dull thump of the loose doorknocker echoes sinisterly through the house. I wait, but no one answers. Piercing the quiet though, I hear the whistle of a kettle from within the house. Someone must be in there.

Not feeling at all brave, I call out “Hello?” No answer. I carry on, “I have your dog. I have Alfie.” Eventually, I turn to go, pulling poor Alfie away behind me.

I start to wonder what I am going to do with Alfie when I hear a key turn in a lock and a bolt slide. I turn around to see the door open narrowly. I wait to see who is behind that door, my heart now thudding in my chest, only to thump harder when I hear footsteps retreating into the house. Am I supposed to follow? Do I walk away? What about Alfie?

For some strange reason, the dog gives me courage. Surely Alfie will protect me. Well, that’s what Crunchie would do anyway! Courageously, I walk through the door. A musty smell devours me. That’s when I see torn wallpaper, broken glass, and money lying around. Astonished, I quiver out another “I have Alfie”.

The answer is not a voice but footsteps coming towards me. My fear rises up and, in a panic, I drop Alfie’s lead and make for the door. “No, wait!” comes an equally panicked response, “Don’t go!” I am jolted by surprise. The voice was not what I expected. It was the voice of an elderly woman, who was now approaching me. “Please don’t go”, she repeats. “I never see anyone. Not since my husband died a while ago. It is so lonely. I just went to pour water on the tea, I was hoping you’d stay . . .”

I did stay, and the following day I came again. That weekend, I made biscuits and I visited with my mum. Meredith became a wonderful friend to our whole family. We helped her around the house, and lifting her spirits gave us bundles of joy.