Bat Rescue

• Liam Stephenson, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2008

Bat rescue

BRIIIING! “Class dismissed!” Mr Dash said. Anthony picked up his bag and headed towards the gate. As Anthony passed the gate his friend, Samuel ran towards him.
“Well, can you?” asked Anthony.
“Yep, my mum said I can come to your place tomorrow,” Samuel said. “Well, got to go.”
Samuel left, leaving Anthony on his own again. Anthony passed Mrs Macklin’s garden where he noticed nets around her orange trees. A little black ball was entangled in the net. Anthony stopped. He looked closer at the ball. Was it…was it moving? He stepped through the gate and stood next to the tree. It looked like a bat, but why didn’t Mrs Macklin get it out? The bat struggled weakly; if it wasn’t free soon it would die. Anthony made up his mind straight away. He slowly untangled the string around the bat’s body. The bat squirmed in his hand, but made no attempt to fly away. It wasn’t badly damaged; but it wasn’t going to fly for a while.

Anthony reached home just in time for dinner, but before dinner he put the bat in a shoebox in his room. Anthony devoured his food like a pig, made an excuse to leave the table and rushed to the house phone. Anthony frantically dialled the numbers. He heard the receiver being picked up. “Hello?” Samuel said on the other side of the phone. Anthony took a deep breath… “Samuel, come to my place NOW!”

“Wow!” Samuel gasped with his blue eyes wide with excitement. Anthony nodded, as Samuel inspected the bat. “I’m thinking red flying fox-- they eat fruit and they’re this size,” reported Samuel.
“You probably should get back home now, it’s getting late” Anthony said.
After Samuel left, Anthony walked to his room. Whilst in bed he kept on thinking about the bat until he fell into an uneasy sleep. The next school morning Anthony’s mind drifted away in class. Even if he tried too, he couldn’t get his mind to stay focused on the subject at hand. He began to think he would go crazy before school was over. Minutes became hours and the end of school bell finally rang. Anthony hurried to his house…..but stopped dead when he heard screams coming from his house.

Anthony burst into the insane, screaming home. He could see his mother, sister and, to Anthony’s surprise, his brother. Then Anthony saw the problem. Joining in on the screaming was the little bat; it had escaped the shoe-box. Suddenly it flew over their heads and out through the window.
“ANTHONY, IS THIS YOUR BAT?” his sister screamed. After Anthony told his over-excited family the full story his mother rushed him straight to the doctor. The doctor reassured her that he hadn’t caught any diseases, however he warned him to be careful where around bats.
As they drove back home Anthony saw the little bat hanging on the tree. Anthony grinned. They would certainly meet again.