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It was already 11.30 p.m. and there was
still no sign of my parents. I took the two
speckled puppies into the kitchen. They
had been scratching the door for quite
some time. I put some milk into two
bowls and poured some cornflakes. In no
time, the puppies lapped up everything
and were eating out of the same bowl. Suddenly, I heard some dogs fighting
and I hurried to the window. I could not
see anything but I could recognize Lucky's
rage. I stood rooted to the ground, listening
and praying for the fight to end. I was
really worried for Lucky as there had been
news about a mad dog which had been
haunting the villagers the past month.
Then, I swung into action. I went out
and switched on the spotlight outside. I
caught my first glimpse of the howling
battle. It was Lucky all right and he was
fighting savagely with another dog as big
as he. They leapt and snarled, their bared
teeth gleaming white, each refusing to
back away. Then, suddenly, the dog
jumped onto Lucky, its jaws clamped
down tight on Lucky's throat. That was
my chance. I grabbed my hockey stick
and dashed towards them. I hit the
dog as hard as I could, at least a dozen
times. I couldn't see a thing, blinded by
my own tears. Then I realized that all
the growling and snarling had hushed.
Lucky was the first to move. He struggled
up to lick my hands, wagging his war-torn tail. Then, to my horror, I saw that
the dead dog was the mad dog that
everyone had been talking about.
By this time, my parents and sister
had come home. I told them what had
happened. My dad put his arms around
me and quietly said that we might have
to put Lucky to sleep. "But Dad, he has
saved our lives many times. We can't..."
I cried. "We'll have to, son. We just can't
take the chance."
That night, after we had buried the
mad dog, it became clear to me that my father was right. We couldn't take
the risk. The next day, my father called
someone and they came to take Lucky
away. I felt numb as I waved goodbye.
Days went by and I couldn't seem to get
over it. I couldn't sleep and I couldn't eat.
A mere thought, a name, a bone, a bowl
was all it took for a fresh flood of tears.
My mother tried to talk to me about it.
Everything she said made sense to me, let
time heal the pain, I will forget and learn
to love again. My sister, Lin, told me,
there were still the two puppies which
we hadn't even named yet. Yes, but they
were not Lucky and never will be.
The pain lasted for another week or
so. It was an unstated rule in the family
that no one should mention Lucky's
name. I went about my life as usual. I
went to school and I did my chores at
home. Yet, I couldn't forget the pain. It
was as if a part of me had died with him.
Then, something happened that
jolted me back onto my path again. My
father had told me to clear the garage. I
knew he wanted me to take my mind off
my pain. While lifting a huge cardboard,
I heard some whimpering behind a
box. I lifted the box and I saw the most
beautiful sight on earth. Minnie was
nursing her six little puppies and she held
out her paw to me. I took it and patted
her. Right then, I began to feel better. I
remembered what my father had said,
"Sometimes, life may seem unfair and
bad but it is only some of the time. Other
times, life is good. A man cannot afford
to waste all the good parts worrying
about the bad parts." And this was the
good part, watching new lives being
brought into this world. It also brought
fresh memories of the day I first saw
Lucky and suddenly, I felt alive again. |
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Based
on the passage given, write a summary on :
•
what the writer did to save his dog,
•
his reactions before and after his dog died, and
•
how he recovered
Your
summary must:
• be
in continuous writing ( not in note form )
• not
be longer than 130 words, including the 10 words given below
Begin
your summary as follow:
When I heard some dogs fighting, I went to check ... |
