The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: DOG (08/09/18)
Sighing deeply, the pain still fresh, Rebecca brought up the image of Scooter on her display tablet. He was an older animal who had clearly brought much love and affection to his owner. As she had told her husband many times, animals like Scooter weren't human, but they were often very, very close.

"That looks nice. I'm sure she'll appreciate this."

Sending the image to the central printer, Rebecca stood up and looked around the office. Fortunately, most of the staff are in today. She hoped to get as many signatures as possible. She walked over to the printer and pulled off the photo of Scooter with the animal's name in a fun colored-script across the top. It will be a memento worth treasuring. She placed the photo on the table and wrote her first name at the bottom. She had been unfortunate to see the animals in its last moments. No death was pleasant, but the death of such a loyal animal hurt just that little bit more.

"That's beautiful, Rebecca."

She returned from her place of memories to see that Carl has been looking over her shoulder. Carl has a real heart for animals and has saved quite a few that she was sure were past gone.

"Scooter was one of the good ones."

"Aren't they all?"

"I suppose so. Sometimes, though, one of them really tugs at your heart."

"Yeah. We might have had a chance with Scooter if he had come in a little earlier. I think a lot of times reality is too difficult to accept."

"I can relate."

"You want me to pass that photo around the office?"

"Would you? I'm a little spent."

"My pleasure."

Rebecca returned to her desk and attempted to regain her composure. A few minutes later, Carl dropped off the photo of Scooter full of signatures. She smiled and gave Carl a wave as he returned to his duties before placing the photo in a quality shipping container, addressing it, and placing it in the outgoing mail. Her work was done and it had taken much more out of her than she had anticipated.

* * *

Digging through the mail, Lisa spotted an envelope that was sent from the clinic where Scooter had breathed his last breath. The pain was still fresh and as she opened the envelope, she wondered what it could be. When she saw the photo of her Scooter and the loving sympathetic message surrounded by the signatures of those who had cared for Scooter, well, she lost it. The tears came strong, but they were also cathartic.

"These people really loved her Scooter."

Finding a place of honor, Lisa placed the photo where she could see it daily. The pain would never really leave, but knowing that such compassionate people existed made it just a little bit better.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 447 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
08/25/18
I really enjoyed this story. You did a great job of setting up the conflicts right out of the box. You had a bit of suspense to move the story along too. It has a great message, although it's not a clear Christian message like the new rule says, but I still could feel the Holy Spirit using your words to touch my heart. Be careful about the tense. You switched from past to present to past again. Overall though it was a delightful story and was spot on topic.