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 ....”