Victorian Bushfires

• Harrison Scurr, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2009

CRASH! SMASH! Pieces of wood, iron roofing and shards of glass were flying out in all different directions at 37-year-old CFA firefighter Bob McPotterson.

Bob is an easy going kind of guy. He is blonde, has brown eyes and is tall and well built with fair skin. Unfortunately, Bob had lost his house two weeks before, when fire raveged through Marysville.

His wife, Naomi and their three kids, Peter, Tailor and Lacey and Bob had no were to go but a school hall. It wasn’t the best of places but it was enough. Even though he had lost his house, he was determined not to loose any body elses properties due to this disasterous fire.

When Bob left his house to go and help to save others, he left behind his wife, children and their pets. A Germain Shephard named Spots, and a Saimese Persian named Sooty. He was reunited with his family realizing that they didn’t have the dog or the cat with them. He asked, “Where is Sooty and Spots?”
“Oh shoot! I left them at home when I was in a hurry to leave the place,” Naomi replied as she started to sob.
“There, there. We will try to go and find them tomorrow when the fires move through.” Said Bob with a soothing tone to his voice.

So they spent the night at the hall waiting for what tomorrow would bring and what the weather would be like.

The next morning, they woke up and saw that there was light rain and a cool breeze. Just what they wanted! Bob said, “Alright gang, we have to go back to where our house used to be and find our pets.”

So they set off to go back to Marysville and find their beloved Sooty and Spots. As the went through some towns that had been destroyed and animals that had been killed from the fires, they prayed that their pets were safe and sound.

As they reached their property to find nothing but a pile of rubble on the ground and a wall of bricks standing up. The McPotterson’s got out of their car and went around the back of where the house used to be.

To their heatbreak, Spots was found on the ground. Dead, burnt, his face burnt so badly he was hard to recognize. Bob found an old blanket in the back of the car. He wrapped Spots up and dug a hole in the ground and buried him. They mourned for Spots and left him to rest in peace.

But the search continued. Until Peter and Tailor lifted a piece of corrigated iron and found Sooty. She was safe! A little singed but safe. “We found her!” cried Tailor. Naomi, Bob and Lacey rushed over to help get out the precious cat. They was so happy to find Sooty that they drove over to the closest shop, one that hadn’t been burnt to the ground, and bought a kilogram of fish for Sooty.