Quite The Opposite

• Esa Somra, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

One day, in a tiny village off the coast that went by name as Merlin’s Cove, there was a 12-year-old boy named Dominic. He was tall and had dark brown, fuzzy hair. He was a little shy, but still loved to walk around his town and had made friends with some elderly couples as he frequently visited his local aged care home. Now, Dominic loved dogs and was begging his parents to get him one. He didn’t usually ask for too much, maybe the odd toy or gadget every blue moon. He was the simplest of the simple. Eventually his parents reluctantly let him get a dog, but not free of conditions. He had to feed it (obviously), clean up after it and take him on the occasional walk. He didn’t care, he was too excited about getting the dog. Well and truly, ecstatic.
When they got to the pet shop, Dominic picked out the most fluffy and cuddliest one of the lot. He named it Merlin after his hometown. Why? A greater mystery than the construction of the pyramids my dear reader. When he got home, he immediately asked if he could take Merlin for a walk. His parents, thinking they may be able to rid him from the house for a bit and enjoy a steaming cup of tea, instantly agreed.
Dominic took Merlin to his favourite cave that beheld a beautiful view of the ocean. He decided to enter the cave and explore, but as soon as he entered there was a deafening whizz, pop and kaboom and before you could say “plot twist” Dominic was scratching behind his ears with his paw. Excuse me reader but you may be wondering if you stumbled on the lines, but no I did in fact say paw, yes paw. Now why the confused look? Haven’t you ever seen a human switch bodies with a dog? If you haven’t, let me tell you now, it’s quite a visual.
Before you knew it Merlin was running down the hill on all four limbs in Dominic’s body while Dominic was frantically trying to stand on his hind legs and failing miserably. Both eventually ran further inside the cave only to find Merlin (not the dog, the wizard) toying with a couple spells. You have been secluded in that cave for 1000 years! He instantly saw the issue and tried a couple spells to turn back time till one worked. But before he let Dominic and Merlin go, he gave both a right kick for disturbing him.
Dominic was bemused to find his dog’s name tag reading... ‘Do not enter the cave?’ (And I though the last one was bad.) Dominic was very confused as his car pulled up to his house but had decided that he had a very fuzzy memory. For some reason he had a weird craving to chew a bone and dig a hole.