The White Fox

• Rosemary Baker, Grade 3, Ellerston Public School
• Short Story
• 2020

Excellence Award in the 'The Inside Story 2020' competition

One frosty winter night Cassie yanked her blanket as the wind howled through her bedroom window. She tiptoed out of bed and closed the window and noticed a shadow in the snow. It looked quite like a dog. Cassie wondered what it was, it looked up at her. Cassie's jaw dropped in amazement.
I never knew that there was such thing as a White Fox, Cassie whispered to herself.
She couldn't be loud because she shared a room with her little brother Max. Luckily Max was a deep sleeper. He woke up at 10:00 yesterday! She crept back to bed. It was a school day tomorrow.
Cassie thought about the Fox and where it came from. Cassie drifted back to a deep sleep.
The next morning Cassie wondered was it a dream? Had she dreamt about seeing a rare White Fox? She looked out her window to barely see the tiny footprints in the snow.
"What are you looking at?" Max questioned.
Cassie gripped Max's hand and announced, Look! Look!
"Wow!" he said "What type of foot prints are they?"
"Fox footprints" she replied.
Finally it was time to go home from school. Cassie was eager to go home and investigate the footprints. When Cassie arrived home to her yard, she saw a little white fox approaching her. The fox was gentle and rubbed it head against her in affection. The fox liked her.
That evening, as she was getting into her pyjamas, Cassie could see her White fox from her window. Cassie stood still at the beauty of the white fox until her mum interrupted her gaze and said goodnight. Yip yip Cassie decided her fox needed a name "Frosty". Perfect.
In the morning before school Cassie rushed outside getting to the car before anyone else, Max arrived and was nervous as it was his first day of kindergarten.
"Cassie, I'm scared" he mumbled.
"It will be wonderful Maxi!! School is Wonderful!"
Cassie could not get her mind off Frosty.
It was pet day at school next week. Cassie didn't have a pet, but what if Frosty could be Cassie's Pet? Cassie quickly realised that it wouldn't be acceptable to bring a fox into her school.
The school day ended and Max had a great day. Cassie smiled and remembered how fun kindergarten was.
Several days on and Cassie grew closer to her fox. Frosty came every day and they would play catch with one of Max's old frisbees.
One day the fox didn't visit Cassie's house. Cassie understood that the fox was a wild animal and it needed to be free to hunt and roam. Maybe tomorrow she thought.
Sadly, Frosty did not return again to Cassie's house. To help with her sadness Cassie's parents surprised her with a white puppy that she named Frosty.
I can definitely take this puppy to pet day, Cassie thought.