Short Story Contest winners

Ducky

By Kelsey Ruhl

There once was a little girl named Kelsey. It was COVID 19, so not a lot to do! She was busy sorting old greeting cards with her Mom, in an attempt to organize the closet. Looking inside a card she read:

“Happy Seventh Birthday Kelsey!

XOXO Niki!”

Niki was a great family friend that always remembered her birthday. Then she noticed something…a gift card! After examining it closer, she realized that it was thirty dollars to Chapters Indigo, one of Kelsey’s favorite stores!!!!

She immediately yelled excitedly to her mom about her discovery .

“Kels, are you sure it’s not used already?” sighed her mother.

She wandered over to where Kelsey stood, in the center of a card graveyard.

“Huh, I guess you’re right” her mom exclaimed, her face lighting up as she inspected the gift card. “What do you want to buy?” she continued.

“I dunno. I’ll look online later tonight!” Kelsey replied happily.

That evening, with Covid 19 keeping everyone at home, and the stars lighting up the dark sky, Kelsey could be spotted shopping online waiting for something to catch her eye. She saw a book, but that wouldn’t come till Easter, which was about eleven months away. (Eleven months too long!)

Her mom was looking too.

“Fidget pack?” She suggested.

“Nah, I already have too many!” responded Kelsey.

Suddenly, her mom burst out laughing hysterically.

“Kels, look at this!” her mother exclaimed, when she had finally stopped laughing.

She had found the cutest, tiniest, fattest, fluffiest, stuffed horse ever. That changed Kelsey’s world from boring to adorable and fun in a second flat.

“Omg, he’s sooooo cute! I need him!” squealed Kelsey, soon to be the happiest girl on earth.

“Do you actually need another stuffed animal?” her mom observed.

But Kelsey begged her Mom to order it right away but her Mom rolled her eyes and replied, “Kelsey, I will order it in the morning. Now go brush your teeth.”

“Uggghhh!” Kelsey groaned as she went upstairs.

The next morning she scurried downstairs right towards her mother, who was leaning against the kitchen wall.

Kelsey questioned, “Mom, have you ordered him yet?”

“Oh, thanks for reminding me. I’ll do that now before I forget,” her mom sweetly told Kelsey.

The next few days felt like years. Being home all the time allowed Kelsey to notice every car that stopped near her house. She made a never ending list of names, nothing else was going on during COVID! When would her special package arrive?

This story takes a turn now, it’s only fitting that the stuffed horse, lovingly named Ducky, be the one to share it. You’ll all learn why this animal with a BIG personality became Kelsey’s best friend during a very isolated time.

When Kelsey and her Mom went out for a walk, I ARRIVED!!

It wasn’t in some fancy limousine, but I got to my destination, that’s what matters. I didn’t have the most pleasant life before my new home with Kelsey. I guess you could say I had a strong personality. I was too handsome and I knew it! Everyone was jealous of my talents and looks. Some animals said I was over-the-top, others said I was ugly. Nobody liked me, but personally, I only needed one cheerleader. ME!!! When I heard animals talking behind my back, do you know what I said?

“I’LL DETERMINE THAT!!”

Can you guess what I said when Kelsey’s puppy bit my butt?

“I’LL DETERMINE THAT!!”

If there is something you don’t approve of, then you make sure everyone knows that only

YOU’LL DETERMINE THAT!!!!!!!

Kelsey gave me the most suiting name, a small horse with big ideas – Ducky. It was based on many things:

ONE: my body is very round and my legs and hooves are squat like a duck

TWO: my mane and forelock hair is the colour and feel of duck fluff

THREE: it suits me cause I ‘m fabulous and it’s unique like me!

FOUR: the name makes others giggle so APPARENTLY it’s funny and makes me more endearing with my complex personality…

Anyhow, I am much more than my name and looks and much more than just a stuffed horse. I was the friend that became a real live horse and Kelsey’s best friend during a scary and lonely time. I was proud to be the friend to bring a huge and silly personality into her home and be her best Ducky..errrr…horse she didn’t even know she needed!

The Cat in the Magic Shop

by Marina McLaren

A cat stood beside a crosswalk at the end of the street, as he usually did during the morning. Here he could watch as people streamed out of the doors of their houses and either rushed to their cars or strolled down the sidewalks as they were heading to work that day. People never paid much mind to the cat as he sat there watching them go about their daily business. The cat didn’t mind though; this was less activity than he used to do during his younger years.

Nowadays, the cat would just sit there and watch as people passed as they walked on the sidewalk, and people never took notice of him. However, those that did notice him didn’t seem to forget him either, especially when they were passing the cat on their daily runs. The people that mainly knew of the cat’s existence were very friendly with him.

When the milk man came down the cat’s street to make his deliveries, he always brought an extra bottle of milk to fill the dish that people had set out so that the cat had something to drink. Another thing that people did, especially when it came to those that were extremely cheerful that day, was to name the old cat.

Names that the cat found to be regular included names such as Scruffy Joe or Old Paul; unusual names for a cat, though people were found to be more creative than others might think. One name specifically that was used by the kids in the neighbourhood was Fluffy; a common name among cat-lovers. Of all the cat names, Fluffy was the one he hated the most.

All and all, this was the cat’s routine every single day and he was quite comfortable. However, one might not realize how they can grow bored from the same thing every day. It was from this sense of boredom that something unexpected emerged from this cat, curiosity. Now curiosity is something that is very common in children, but very rare in elders, who are seen as wise in a sense. The curiosity that this cat was experiencing had come from the many times that he had watched people pass him. What was it like to walk like them? To be like them?

This thought caused the cat to pace up and down the sidewalk during the night, wondering what it was like to walk on two legs instead of four. The old cat was soon driven to walk beyond the street where he would sit in the morning and to walk deeper into the city.

A few blocks further from downtown, the cat stopped and took in his surroundings, realizing how far he had strayed from his street. As he was looking around, his eyes landed on a building that he had never seen before. It was a short apartment building with at least two apartments on top and a fancy looking café with two large windows. The building was sandwiched between two alleyways that separated the building from the rest of the neighbourhood. A sign above the doorway to the café read “Mystery Bake Shop”.

As the cat stared at the building, he became aware that he was starving, deciding to go into the shop. As if sensing the cat’s presence, the door to the shop swung open, allowing the cat to come in.

Despite the near emptiness of the shop, the room proved to be as mystical and beautiful as it looked from the outside. As the cat managed to leap onto the tall countertop, a young woman emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of milk, sitting it down in front of the cat before leaving the room again. The cat, too hungry to be suspicious, quickly drank up the milk.

As if almost instantly, the cat changed into a well dressed man. Confused and excited, the man jumped off the counter and started to walk towards the door. As he reached the handle, the man began to think another thought that he had not considered. Strange as it was, a cat can become a human, however, it would be impossible to remove the cat from a cat. Upon realization, the man quickly turned back to the counter where the same bowl had been refilled. Urgently, the man gulped down the milk and became a cat again. Upon leaving the shop, the cat returned to his street and was happy as he was for the rest of his life.

Sunny

by Joey Cole

Sunny was familiar with rejection from a young age.

Mere days after seeing sunlight for the first time, his raging father beat him nearly to death.

The sky, which just yesterday was vibrantly blue, was flushed with red as he was carried away from his own kind and put in the care of the standing people.

Handed desperately into the arms of his true mother, he was too blinded by the light of acceptance and her kind smile to notice the lack of thick black hair on her arms and posable thumbs on the feet of his new siblings.

For nine months he had a home and a family that cared for him, making it all the more confusing when he was taken away.

The night of his departure was one of his darkest. Alone and confused, he cried to himself as he sat in a cold steel cage stowed alongside suitcases and wooden crates.

When the doors finally opened, Sonny was comforted by the emerald green hills as they passed by his window on the drive to the Dublin Zoo.

The pale grey walls of the pavilion felt cold, as did the passing looks from the standing people, too pre-occupied to care that he was afraid and lonely.

At ten months old, Sonny finally met another chimp. A young female, rejected by her mother and raised by the standing people, just like him.

They were fast friends, curiously examining each other with long fingers and exploring their new enclosure, decorated lovingly with a sign that read “Vikki and Sonny’s playhouse.”

The pair would eat and play and sleep through the day until the standing people came to get him at night, carrying him away from a distraught Vikki, rocking back and forth and hugging herself through the night, alone again until the sun came up.

Sonny, too young to be left alone, went home at night with a young couple.

On the drive home he watched the world outside, thrilled and entranced by the strange, two wheeled contraptions some of the standing people passed by on, reaching his long arms out to them through the open window, much to their confusion and terror.

Sonny became used to this reaction, seeing it in the faces in passing cars as he hung his head out of the window and felt the cool air on his tongue. He watched above the rim of a glass of milk as drunken pub-goers rubbed their eyes and asked their friends if they could also see the chimp.

He missed Vikki these nights but found company in another creature the couple seemed to be hosting, a four-legged critter with even more hair than Sonny and a long, wagging tail. Though it frustrated and confused Sonny at times that this beast held things in its mouth instead of its hands, and often did not understand personal space, he was soft to touch and fun to play with.

Sometimes on weekends, the group would go out for walks around the neighborhood. Whatever pride Sonny had taken over the four-legged creature for having to be walked about on a leash was diminished by the firm grip the standing people kept on his hand as they strolled, though they would allow him one free hand to pick black berries when they passed a bush of the delicious treat.

He would stow a few away in his diaper and present them proudly to Vikki the next day, an act of guilt for having another home.

The guilt turned to desperation the night the standing people did not come.

He waited for hours, gripping the bars of his enclosure and watching the doors, waiting for them to come back for him, wondering how they could forget him.

That night he rocked and cried alongside Vikki, he’d been rejected, just like her.

The final rejection was the worst of them all.

It was mid-day, a few weeks later, in his new, outdoor enclosure, watched on by crowds of standing people on the other side of a mote. Vikki and himself shared the space in intervals with another pack of chimps, the looks of which terrified Sonny.

His fears were confronted one morning when a door was left open and a raging, adult male chimp came barreling towards Sunny. In a fit of terror, seeing the same anger and strength in this beasts eyes he’d seen in his fathers, Sunny dove into the moat.

Realizing too late, he didn’t know how to swim.

Pee-Wee & Gingers Trip to Newcastle

by Beverley Rose Lynn Thomson

Ginger was lying on her doggie bed so sad with her fur baby Pee-Wee wondering why don’t our parents take us for a walk? When all of a sudden Bevy grabbed the leashes and said we’re going to Newcastle today to visit uncle Timmy. Now Ginger and Pee-Wee wagged their tales with excitement. As the windows in the car rolled down the doggies let the wind and cool air blow across their whiskers.

This place was everything the puppies had dreamed of and more. Some children had made a snow man and next to it was an ice castle on Pebble Beach. As the puppies ran toward the water chasing the ducks and seagulls, frost was making little ice sickles on their whiskers. Ginger spotted a northern cardinal. She thought it must be a female bird because it only had red on its crown, beak, wings and tail. The cardinal contrasted beautifully against the white snow that was soft and easy to run through. The branches on the trees were ice covered and the beach looked like a magical playground.

The water was only half frozen and not realizing this, chubby Pee-Wee ran toward the water and skated across what he thought was a frozen ice rink to chase the birds. Ginger ran after her son only to find a melted patch of ice on the lake and found herself also starting to dip into the cold water. Bevy screamed for help from Timmy with great fear and regret that she had let her puppies off their leashes and now they were in danger.

Pee-Wee could see his mom coming toward him in the cold icy waters so he skated and swam toward her across the frozen lake. All of a sudden, the water cracked and Pee-Wee’s heart started pounding with fear. He knew it was only a matter of moments before they would both be under the water. With panic he swam as fast as his little legs could go. It was so cold he felt his one leg go numb. Pee-Wee’s anxiety caused him to hyperventilate and cry out a loud screeching scream. Bevy watched with horror as the fur babies were slipping through the ice. She felt powerless to save them. She watched with horror as the ice crack beneath the puppies’ feet and the dark cold water started to cover their bodies.

All of a sudden, a mysterious snowy owl with large talons swept down from the sky to above the dogs and said: “You can swim ashore. I will help you as long as you don’t give up hope, but you must believe in yourselves or you both won’t make it!”

Just then a big black crow came and told Pee-Wee “Your fat and out of shape and there is no hope of escaping these icy waters.” With panic Pee-Wee started to cry for his mom. Ginger yelled! “Don’t listen to the crow – face your fear sweetheart and trust the wise owl.” The majestic snowy owl said: “So what’s it going to be, are you going to listen to the crow, or believe in yourself?” Just then Ginger said: “Please save my son Pee-Wee …gulp…I believe you can save us.” So, the owl grabbed the dogs one-by-one by their necks and helped them ashore.

Now the ducks, seagulls and cardinals flapped their wings with excitement that the dogs had pushed through their fears and believed they could make it out of the icy waters to land. The old crow was asked to leave Newcastle for good – “You have no place here!” the wise owl spoke.

If the dogs had not believed they could swim with help of the owl they wouldn’t have been saved. Everyone thanked the wise snowy owl for saving the dogs. The owl answered: “You saved yourselves because you didn’t listen to the crow and you believed you could make it.” Bevy wrapped her fur babies in towels and hugged them tightly. Bevy said she was sorry and would never let her dogs off the leach again and would protect her doggies. Timmy petted the owl and said thank you so much for caring about all the animals and speaking the truth.

Timmy said it was funny that in the beginning of the day the dogs were chasing the birds, but said to the doggies “Maybe you shouldn’t chase the birds anymore… you just never know which one might save your life someday.”

The Dog Who Ate The Eiffel Tower

by Bill Chambers

Jerry forced himself to look around the classroom again. Sure enough, his was the only desk without a macaroni sculpture on it. He cursed Mr. Nibbles under his breath. The bell rang, and Jerry, sensing what was coming, didn’t bother packing up.

“Jerry, you’re not dismissed yet,” Mr. Beaumont called out from the throne of his big steel desk. Some of the other sixth graders glanced back at Jerry judgmentally as they left, making him feel even smaller in his seat. Mr. Beaumont signalled for the last student to close the door behind her.

“Just so I’m clear, Jerry,” Mr. Beaumont began, “you’re saying you couldn’t hand in your macaroni model of the Eiffel Tower because your dog ate it, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

Mr. Beaumont stood up. “Since this is the second time it’s happened, I took the liberty of asking him to meet with us. He’s just outside.”

“Wait, Mr. Beaumont—”

Ignoring Jerry, Mr. Beaumont opened the door and ushered Mr. Nibbles inside. Mr. Nibbles, an immaculately groomed German Shepherd in a blue collar and jaunty fedora, extended a paw towards Mr. Beaumont, who shook it. Mr. Beaumont sat back down and Mr. Nibbles followed suit, squeezing himself into one of the empty desks.

“Thank you for coming down here on such short notice, Mr. Nibbles,” Mr. Beaumont said.

“Please, Mr. Nibbles is my father. Call me Ralph.”

Mr. Beaumont smiled for the first time that day. Charmed already, Jerry thought. I’m toast. “Ralph, I’ll get right to the point. Jerry says you ate his homework—and not for the first time, either.”

“Jerome,” Mr. Nibbles said, cocking his head to the side, “as much as I would like to take the heat for you, I cannot have you besmirching my character like this.”

He continued. “Mr. Beaumont, why would I, a well-fed, upstanding member of the canine community, eat the child’s homework? It makes no sense. Frankly, if I did half of what the lad accuses me of, I could not answer ‘who’s a good boy?’ in the affirmative and still live with myself. Jerome didn’t complete the assignment and now he’s afraid of the consequences. I get it,” he shrugged, “I was a pup once myself.”

“I did complete it! He’s gaslighting me, Mr. Beaumont!” Jerry protested.

“‘Gaslighting.’ Isn’t that fantastic? Oh, the verbiage! You must be a very good teacher, Mr. Beaumont.”

Mr. Beaumont chuckled. “I can’t take credit for that one,” he said. It was true: Jerry learned it while looking up words to describe his dog’s behaviour. Mr. Nibbles had taught him many things unwittingly. That most people are rubes, for example.

“Mr. Beaumont, except for his lack of accountability, Jerry’s a good student, is he not?”

Mr. Beaumont nodded.

“In light of this,” Mr. Nibbles continued, “I propose we give him another chance to build something. Perhaps he could make Parliament Hill out of sausage links, or the Enola Gay out of a nice sirloin.” Jerry could see drool forming in the corners of the dog’s mouth.

Mr. Beaumont leaned back and weighed his options silently. “You’re fortunate to have a friend like Mr. Nibbles, Jerry,” he said. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to hand something in tomorrow.”

“You’re a prince, Mr. Beaumont,” Mr. Nibbles said. “What do you say, Jerry?”

Jerry’s skin was hot and prickly with indignation. He wondered if it showed.

“Thank you, Mr. Beaumont,” Jerry managed through gritted teeth.

“You’re welcome, Jerry.”

“Walk me home, Jerome?” Mr. Nibbles asked, as though Jerry had a choice.

***

Mr. Nibbles spotted an oak tree giving shade to a few cars in the school parking lot and called out to Jerry. “Jerry, darling, fetch me a baggie. May as well do my business here.”

Jerry retrieved a baggie from his backpack. He caught up with Mr. Nibbles, then turned to give the dog some privacy. It suddenly occurred to Jerry that pets train us, that—

Plonk. Jerry heard something brittle hit the dirt beneath the dog’s hindquarters. There it was: a macaroni Eiffel Tower, practically whole. Jerry’s eyes widened. Mr. Nibbles opened his mouth to speak, but a car remote’s click interrupted him. That’s when the two of them realized they were standing in front of Mr. Beaumont’s Buick.

“Hi, fellas,” Mr. Beaumont chirped, walking towards them. Then he noticed the macaroni tower and did the math.

“Mr. Nibbles,” Mr. Beaumont said witheringly. Jerry grinned.

Mr. Nibbles considered his next words carefully.

“I want my attorney,” he said.