Rotary Eclub- Butterfly StoryBook Participant
Age: 10 years old
Hillel Academy
Manor Park, Jamaica
ROVER’S GIFT OF KINDNESS
Adam White
One hot summer day in St. Ann, Jeff and his siblings Jimmy, Jack and Jessie decided to go down to the river to fish. They walked by the riverbank and searched for a spot to fish. They sat by a shady tree and started to put the bait on their fishing lines when Jeff noticed a stray dog who looked in need of care. Jeff said, “Look over there at that dog, doesn’t he look hungry and hot?”
“He does look hungry and hot,” said Jessie, “can’t we give him some bait from our bait bucket?” Jimmy agreed and took some of the bread out his bucket and threw it over to the dirty, skinny dog. The dog walked poorly to bread and ate it then slowly approached Jimmy and sat at his feet. “He isn’t as mean as I thought he’d be” said Jimmy. Jack gave him a pat on the head. Jack decided to give the dog the rest of his bread. The dog gobbled it up.
On their walk back the children decided they would each save a little of the dinner for their new friend they named Rover. Every evening for a few weeks they would take some of their supper in a napkin and ask if they could go outside.
On Sundays Jack would save some of his rice and peas and his chicken bones, Jeff saved him a chunk of his yam and a spoon of saltfish. Each day they visited Rover he became stronger and fleshier. Soon, he was running and barking happily to meet them by the side of the road which led to the river.
One fateful day, Jessie decided to feed Rover some of her stewed chicken and boiled bananas from lunch by herself. She didn’t want to wait for her brothers because she was too eager to spend some time with the dog and she wanted to go for a swim before her brothers got there. She put the food down and called for Rover, “Come boy, it’s your favourite, chicken!” She hopped from stone to stone to get to the other side of the river where she saw Rover chasing a bird. She didn’t notice that the river was swelling and became rougher because of the morning rain. She slipped on a rock covered in algae. She struggled to get out, but she couldn’t fight the current. Rover noticed Jessie straining to get out of the water. He could hear a huge gush of water coming towards them. He barked so loudly that all the birds in the nearby trees flew away. Jimmy noticed the large flock of birds flying away from the river. “Wait, did you boys notice that? By the way, where is Jessie? Isn’t it time to go feed Rover?” They left a message with their mother to tell Jessie that they were heading to the river and she should hurry along.”
As they walked along the road, they could hear the faint sound of Rover’s bark. Jack started running towards the sound of Rover’s bark. “Jessie! Jessie! Try to swim towards the bank!”, he yelled. His brothers saw the water rushing and took off behind Jack. Jessie started sinking as the water approached. Rover jumped into the raging water and swam to Jessie. He gripped the back of her shirt with his teeth and forcefully pulled her out of the water. The brother came to help as Rover got to the shore. Jessie was cold and her teeth chattered. Her lips were blue, and she cried. “What were you thinking? You could have really been hurt” Jeff said to his sister. “I just wanted to feed Rover by myself,” she replied. Jeff went to fetch his mom and told her all about Rover, the dog they had been taking care of, and how he pulled Jessie out of the river.
Their parents were so happy and grateful for the dog’s bravery and loyalty that they decided to make Rover their new pet dog. Soon Rover didn’t have to wait for the children to bring him food, as he had his own bowl right by the dinner table. The children still play happily with their dog Rover.