A poodle in a land of hounds
By: Margaret Lin, Grade 5
The bright sun glared into my eyes as I stepped off the train onto the dusty, peeling, platform. A rotten plank of wood squeaked under my feet, just about ready to cave in. If this was earlier, I probably would have sat down and cried. Stuck out my bottom lip, refused to move from my spot on the rusty porch that was the loading platforms. Looked around, swept my arms out: Look! This place ain’ t worth a checking. Forget about it. But I had gone through too much, seen horrors beyond this. I mustered my courage and took a step. A spider scuttled. I emitted a high-pitched squeak and scooched my feet closer to each other. Okay, maybe that the fact that this could be my only chance for a home helped my disgust a little bit.
The train slid out of the station with a rumble, blasting my hair every which way with a hot, smelly, puff of August air and smoke. Hair that was once shiny and clean..... I shook the nostalgia away. No... some things are not meant to be talked about.
I squinted, saying softly into the muggy heat,” Hello? Anyone there?” There was no reply.“ All right,” I said gaily, swinging my feet. I almost could pretend those blurry trees were dolls, and the wide blue expanse of a lake in the background could be just another soft bedspread. Yes, it could almost be like home-
Snorting laughter came from behind me. I whirled to see a boy behind me, laughing and pointing. He smirked.“ Oh no, Miss Girlie-girlie, go back to make-believe world. We don’ t want to bother you.” Okay, maybe not so much like home anymore. I ignored him.“ Excuse me sir, could-” He grinned meanly.“ Sir..? What kind’ a English is that?” He mimicked me, putting extra emphasis on the word sir. Other boys loomed up behind him, letting out deepthroated growls of laughter. I gulped. More boys?
But he was just annoying. Lots of people were annoying. A whole ton of boys at home were annoying. Yes, I could ignore this annoying boy. But something, still, inside me stirred. Annoying had cost me my life....
I tried again.” Good sir, if you’ d be so kind as to-” A boy with creepy different colored eyes let out a sharp bark.” Look, Crow. The poodle can speak! And I thought those dogs were only used for girlie-girl shows....”