Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Dog Walk                      - Anna

I was taking my two dogs for a walk and two neighbours and their two dogs happened to be walking the same direction as me. We all went through an underpass of a disused railway station. The dogs had all gone on ahead.

But then a train came. We were worried the dogs might have got on the tracks so we quickly ran up to the platform to look for the dogs and call them to us. We couldn't find them. We thought they might have got on the train. We walked up and down the carriages looking for them.

I had separated from the neighbours and went downstairs to the first class carriages. There were really nice seats and dining areas. I must have looked like riff raff to everyone there as I walked quickly along the passage way looking for the dogs. There was absolutely no sign of them.

There was another level below the first class carriage. This was second class. I found the neighbours here. They said the dogs had been caught and put in a container. It was a long train journey into the neighbouring country and the dogs had to be kept in the cargo area. We hadn't registered our dogs in our home town, and since the next stop was in the next country, the dogs would become citizens of that country. They wouldn't be allowed back home without undergoing an extensive quarantine period. I was so upset and angry.

I saw the wooden crate that the dogs had been put in. There would be several days until the next stop. I wanted to open the crate to feed them and give them water but I wasn't allowed. In the end they suffered complications and died.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

How Much Do You Like Cooking?                    - Anna

I got on the bus and sat behind a girl with long black hair. She turned around and asked myself and the other passengers near me how much we like cooking, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 meaning we loved cooking.

Someone next to me said "-1."

I timidly said, "I like it."

And a guy behind me said "-20."

I felt like the odd one out.

Then the girl with long black hair said, "If anyone likes yoghurt, I can make some nice yoghurt out of blackberry cake."

That sounded strange to me.