"Fetch" By: Xavier Shiu

One day Will, Alex, and Brett were trying to teach their dogs Skinner and Lucky how to fetch. Lucky got the hang of it pretty soon, but Skinner couldn’t quite get the idea. Then Brett had an idea,“ Why don’t we go down to the river, so that Lucky can fetch while Skinner swims around?” Swimming was one of Skinners favorite things to do, and he was twice as fast as Lucky.

When they arrived at the river, the sandy beach was deserted. They took off their socks and shoes, so they could walk in the sand without getting their shoes sandy. They threw sticks in the water for a while for Lucky to fetch, and Skinner swam in the water contentedly. Then they called the dogs in and shared some cookies Brett’s mom had made.

Once all the cookies were gone, they went down to the water and started to skip rocks on the water, but the water was so rough it was hard to skip rocks. Suddenly Lucky plunged into the water from his beach side perch, and the three boys stared in horror at what he was trying to fetch. It was a five-foot log going right down the middle of the river. The current was pulling it along at about eight miles an hour, but worst of all it kept on rolling over. The three boys yelled to come back, but Lucky was set on fetching that log.

When Lucky finally got to the log, he somehow hooked his jaws on the log and began to tow it toward the three boys. Then the log rolled, and Lucky went under. Seconds later, he surfaced still clutching the log. The three boys yelled over and over to Lucky to “Drop it!” Skinner, sensing something wrong, jumped in the water heading for the log. The log rolled again, but Lucky still held on, now for dear life. It seemed like an eternity before Skinner got to the log and gripped it. He started towing it in. Skinner was practically dragging the exhausted Lucky who was barely clutching the log. Then the log rolled again, and both dogs went under. They reappeared, but one more roll and you could see that Lucky would fall off and drown. It seemed like forever before Skinner finally towed the log in.

 Skinner instantly fell down on the beach exhausted. Will ran to Lucky. Lucky was still holding on to the log, but he was blacked out. Will called out to Lucky, and Lucky’s eyes opened, and when he saw Will he released his hold on the log. His whole body went limp as though he knew everything would be okay since Will was there. Then he blacked out again. Will picked him up and asked Alex to grab Skinner, so they could go to the animal hospital.

 When the three boys got to the hospital, they gave Lucky to the vet and waited exhaustedly in the waiting room. They must have been so tired from carrying dogs to the hospital that they fell asleep because they were roused by the nurse who told them that Lucky was doing great. All he had was some fluid in his lungs, but the vet had drained it out. Will thanked her and asked if he could use the phone to call all of the three boys’ parents. She said absolutely and led him to the phone. They all called their parents and told them what happened. After this, Will asked the nurse if he could see Lucky, and the nurse said sure, and she led him to the room that contained Lucky. When Will walked in, Lucky looked up from the bed and gave two short wags. Will sat with him for a while until Will’s mom came and picked him and Lucky up. They went home and everything went back to normal.