Survival

Survival-the tale of a boy and his dog

by Dasha Zerboni

Joe had lost his parents when a wildfire had happened. His dog Cuda, had saved him then so now they are inseparable. Even though Cuda comforts him, Joe still quivers with fear whenever there is fire.  A Burning sun blazed down on the icy water as strong as an ox, making the drink evaporate. Refreshing breezes ruffled my black lab, Cuda’s fur while he panted while he wagging his blurr of a tail. The tired boy, Joe was puffing down the plain while his backpack sagged with weight. Some loose rocks tumbled down the rolling hills that loomed over them causing a dark shadow to fall over the two travelers. Flying fish leaped gracefully out of the crystal clear water of the pond that sparkled, catching the light of the sun. Coarse dirt dug into the Joe’s skin during the swaying dance of the tall prairie grass that swayed like a horse's mane when he gallopes. The boy munched on his cheese and ham sandwich, tossing pieces to Cuda as the group continued to drag their feet through the dirt.

    3 Days Earlier- Joe and Cuda sat on the wooden porch. They looked out at the sun, that was starting to rise signaling the start of a new day at the farm house. Hands trembling, the boy picked up the two juicy red apples he had picked from the orchard a couple minutes ago. Crunch! Cuda caught the fruit as the generous child flipped it into the air. After that, the boy took his own out of his jacket pocket. Shining it on his jacket, he then took his pocketknife and cut the apple into clean slices. Between bites, he declared “ You know what? I’m tired of foster homes. I just want to live my life with you. How about we run away?” Nearly 5 minutes after, the schoolboy and his furry friend were packing up supplies into an old cloth backpack. Later, both of them had collected this list of things. 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, 5 bottles of clean water, the knapsack, the penknife, a small compass, 4 shirts, 1 leather jacket, 1 cloth cap, 4 pairs of pants, 1 pair of shoes, and 2 pairs of socks. With the heavy pack on his back, the two friends melted into the scenery behind them and ran away. Almost dropping down to the ground to the ground with exhaustion, the fellow and the canine continued their venture. During this, the troup thought “ We must find shelter soon, but were?”  Too tired to go on, the bunch stopped for some food and well needed rest. Hands trembling with fatigue, the youth reached for a sandwich and sank his teeth into the thick, floaty, bread. His stomach growled with hunger, crying out for more like a starving animal. The lad took another bite, this one even more delicious than the first. Suddenly, Cuda snatched up the second sandwich in his jaws, leaping back to enjoy his satisfying lunch. Finally, the young man poured half of his water supply into his cupped hands. He then poured the rest of the bottle into the dogs waiting mouth.

While Cuda swished the water around in his mouth like a whirlpool, he thought “At this rate we’ll run out of food and water before we get there.” Soon, the unsuspecting boy finished filling is empty stomach with all the sandwiches and approximately all the water storage. Finally, they continued to journey through the plain. As the hours passed by, there stomachs grew emptier and emptier as if someone was digging out all the food and nutrition within. Some time after, the boys thin legs collapsed with effort. His companion lay down beside him. “ Ohhh! My stomach. I dont have any food but I could eat a horse, I’m that hungry.” Ravenous, man and man’s best friend continued their travel on unsatisfied bellies.

As the hound and child marched on, they got a marvelous sight. Right there in front of them was a mammoth cave. Pleased with their discovery, the pair sauntered inside the grotto. It was a quite fascinating cavern. Stalagmites and stalactites were sparkling as if they were the made out of jewels instead of water. Exquisite rocks like amethyst or quartz were hidden inside of the craggy looking shell outside them. Miniature tide pools with all types of tropical fish swimming around in it finished up the cave with flourish. Now delighted, the lab and lad raced up to the pools and immediately made it more comfortable to their liking. Together, they soon splashed into the petite lake that had the most refined water. Delighted, the partners took a well needed bath. After that, the dripping mongrel and soaking child leaped out to dress themselves in clean clothes or in the dog’s case, shake the water off, right onto the almost dry boy.Fortunately, the youth thought this somewhat hilarious and fell down into the pool chortling with laughter. In all of the commotion, a garibaldi from the pools jumped from the water and landed on Joe’s head flopping around much to the pooches amusement. Exhausted from their play, the mutt and youngster slept pleasantly as the sun already starting to set. Brilliant shades of orange, peach, red, and pink were spread in wisps across the darkening sky. By the time they woke up, by then it was morning of the next day. “Let’s go fishing for breakfast!” exclaimed the fellow as he was ravenous. They went to the pond with the plumpest and healthiest fish to catch some. Fishing was quite a hysterical sight too. Just imagine a dog jumping into the water gnashing his teeth in hope of catching a fish. Meanwhile, the fish are hurling themselves like arrows at the boy who traps them in his skilled hands. After practicing for a while, the loyal friends had caught a total of 4 fish. They quickly killed them so they could be edible.“ Just enough to last us a day.” he remarked, his chest bursting with pride. They stoked a tiny flame which soon became a roaring fire. While eating the blackened fish, they stared into the fire thinking about there new way of life. Together, they thought of their life and what more will come in the future. They were together, they had a home, food, and were alive. Right now, that was all that mattered.

From that day on Cuda and Joe learned that they could do what people thought impossible. All they had to do was follow their dreams and stick together. Together, they would persevere through life and all the hardships within.