Outstanding Story (Sub-junior) - Best Furry Friends

“Best Furry Friends” is one of the outstanding stories (sub-junior) of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2019 written by Haley Tan Hui Min, Sekolah Sri KDU® (Primary), Malaysia.

Best Furry Friends

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Lavender. She loved playing with her dog, Lily. She adored dogs and wants to be a dog very much.

One day, as she was having her evening walk with her grandfather and Lily, she saw a man approaching them. He was wearing a purple wizard’s hat and cloak. He had a wand in his hand.

Lavender thought, ‘It’s too early for Halloween. Why is that man wearing a costume?’

As the man got nearer, he smiled.

“Is your name, Lavender?” He asked.

Lavender was too scared to speak. She nodded.

“Well, it’s pretty rare to find a real wizard around here, isn’t it? So, why don’t you ask me for a wish? I can grant it for you.”

Grandfather was in shock too, but recovered quickly. Then he said, “Well, go on Lavender! Make a wish!”

Lavender said quietly, “Can I have the gift of transformation? I would like to become a dog but be able to transform to human form again.”

“Of course!” boomed the wizard, “Close your eyes, and be still!”

He waved his wand and muttered ‘Hilarimoonoobakira!’

Lo and behold, Lavender turned into a Schnauzer, just like Lily. They started sniffing each other. Lavender then accidentally brushed against the wizard’s cloak and turned back into human. She smiled widely.

The wizard said, “Here are your magic words.”

“Say ‘Hilarukarimuti!’ to turn into a dog and bark ‘Utumirakilari’ to turn back.”

“Ok!” said Lavender, sheepishly.

The wizard left and they went home. Lavender quickly wrote the magic words down and went on the evening.

Every Saturday morning, Lavender and Lily would go out and play. They invited their neighbour’s dog, Fluff-Puff, to join them. She transformed into a dog and off they went.

Lily pleaded, “Let’s go to the park! Pretty please?”

“Okay, but stay close to me.” advised Lavender.

Lily wagged her tail vigorously.

When they reached the park, they went to the playground. They had a fun time going up and down the slide and jumping around like kangaroos. After that, they decided to play hide-and-seek. They invited some birds to play. They had a wonderful time playing together. They thought it was their best adventure yet.

On one particular rainy day, Fluff-Puff had a bad cold. She was not recovering. Her owner was getting worried.

“Poor Fluff-Puff, she has been sniffling all day,” Lavender heard her neighbour say to the town vet, “She could hardly eat or sleep.”

“How can we help?” asked Lavender.

“I have done all that I could,” said the vet.

“That’s it!” cried Lavender. “We can ask the wizard!” So off they went searching for him.

Lavender and Lily went back to the spot where they first met the wizard, calling out to him. “Mister Wizard! Where are you? Please come out!”

After hours of searching, they still could not find him. Lily started to feel discouraged.

Right then, the wizard appeared. “We have been looking for you!” exclaimed Lily.

“Hello!” said the wizard.

“Oh, great, he’s here!” Said Lavender, smiling. She was back in her human form. “We need your help, Mister Wizard.”

“How can I help?” asked the wizard.

“We need a get-well potion for one of our doggy friends,” said Lavender. “She has been very sick with the sniffles.”

“Oh no! What a pity,” said the wizard. Then he started searching in his pockets.

Out came a small bottle containing some queer yellow liquid.

“Thanks!” They said, after they took it from him. The wizard smiled and disappeared.

They ran back and gave the potion to Fluff-Puff, and she recovered almost immediately. Everyone was happy that she had recovered. Lavender and the two dogs continued to go on adventures together. They lived happily ever after.