A Dog’s Perspective On Lockdown

• Sophia Ghanem, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

Dear diary,
Up until 10 weeks ago life was pretty normal to me. Until all of a sudden the girls stopped disappearing everyday! It was like they loved me again. I soon discovered that nobody could come over and mum and dad had rearranged the furniture. What was going on? I was getting more attention than I had ever got in my whole life, I enjoyed it….but something was not right. Everyday they started watching this lady on the big screen, and she kept saying things that... well I couldn’t really understand her but I assumed it was bad. How did I know? Well because my dad would sit there with a very stern look and shake his head.

Then one day I heard the doorbell ring and you know what I did, I bolted to the front door. ‘Finally’, I thought to myself, ‘people are here’. But yet again I was wrong. At the front door, I could smell the sweet aroma of tropical fruits and the familiar scent of raw meat and chicken coming from several plastic bags. YUM! I was licking my lips until I discovered that it wasn’t for me. How disappointing.

Something else that’s interesting is I get about 10 walks a day. But it gets weirder every time someone takes me for a walk. They put this weird blue thing on their mouth and then they TALK to me. I usually don’t mind going for walks. But this was getting ridiculous. They were walking me every day of the week and I was exhausted.

Afternoons are my favourite time of day, because the girls have stopped working which means they give me so much love and attention.

Finally the most luxurious part of my day is going to bed. Why? You might wonder. Well before all this crazy stuff happened I slept outside in the cold. Well I had a kennel and my family would put what they call a ‘jacket’ on me. But when all this crazy stuff happened it was like my family had turned into zombies because you will never believe it they let me sleep inside. The best part is I have 2 options as to where I want to sleep: it could either be on the couch or on the floor. Usually I choose the couch. However when I feel hot I sleep on the floor.

Putting all this crazy stuff behind me, I am really enjoying this quality time I get to spend with my family. I learnt that walks are good for me and my family. I also figured this ‘lockdown’ probably won’t go on forever so I should soak up all of all this attention while I still can! I really appreciate all their hard effort during lockdown as well as the determination of the girls and mum when they are working. Although I can’t say the same thing about dad, he is not as determined because he always gets distracted by ME!

?? Rocky