Highly Commended Story - 1-2-3 Hours

“1-2-3 Hours” by Sean Markert, Barkley Elementary School (Phoenixville Area School District), USA, is the Highly Commended story in the junior category of the first biannual Short Story Contest 2019.

Sean is a 5th grader in the Phoenixville Area School District. He loves reading graphic novels and other fiction books. He also loves the theater and has participated in numerous local and school productions. Sean has also started playing piano in the last year, which has quickly become one of his favorite activities.

1-2-3 Hours

Rumble! Boom! School had finally let out as the rain started to come down. I waited for my friend so we could walk home together but the rain came down harder so I decided not to wait for him. I rushed into my house to stay dry.

“Sean! How was school today?” my mom asked.

“Fine” I shrugged as I started on my homework. When I was the first math problem, the phone rang, and this is what I heard.

“Hello?” pause “Oh hi” pause “Yep, this is her” pause “mmmmmmhmmmmmm” pause “Okay, we will be there shortly” pause “Thank you” pause “No! Thank you!” pause “Thanks!” pause “Bye” pause.

That is when I had to rush to the vet. When I was at the vet, I saw my uncle & cousin, wondering why are you guys here? If you are here for a good reason, then where are your dogs? Huh? That is when I had to say goodbye to my favorite dog.

When I was at my house, I was in tears. I couldn’t believe my dog was gone. Then I reluctantly did my homework. I couldn’t focus. The only thing that was on my mind was my dog. That was when I rushed to my room. It was raining while I sobbed in my pillow. I cried for about 3 hours. By the time I was done crying, my whole pillow was drenched in water as if I put it in water from the tears that poured out of my eyes. At around dinnertime, I heard someone call my name.

“Sean, Dinnertime!” Yelled my dad.

“I’m not having dinner tonight,” I said back.

“I know you are sad but there is nothing you can do about it.” Said my dad.

“I just said I’m not coming down so leave me alone” I yelled.

The next thing I know I can hear my mother come up the steps.

“Sean,” she said

“I can see you are really sad about Zeus, but everyone loses loved one every once in a while. But they know that they still love it even if it’s dead.”

“That is not why I’m mad,” I said

“Then why are you mad?” Said my mom

“I’m mad because I’ve only known him for a couple of years,” I said crying

“And you, dad and my siblings have known him for your whole lives.” I said

After an hour of talking, I started to get hungry.

“Are you ready for dinner now? You are hungry, aren’t you?” she said

“Yeah,” I said smiling

“Mom?” I said

“Do you miss Zeus?” I asked

“I miss him with all my heart.” Said my mom “Now can we please go down for dinner?” she pleaded.

“Fine.” I said smiling.

During dinnertime, we all were miserable but my dad was right; there is nothing we can do about it. After dinner, everyone was so sad to the point they all went up to their rooms and cried. Even though we all miss Zeus, we all remember the fun and great times with our old dog Zeus.

From this day on, I will always hold on to the fun memories of my old dog. Every time I look at the pictures of Zeus, I will think of all the good memories and all fun times with him. I will never forget about my old dog Zeus. When we see a picture of him we laugh and remember all of the funny things that he used to do when we still used to have him.