Potter
Author: Helen He, Grade 12
The whining starts. Not loud, but it is there, like that mosquito hovering around your ear, deciding whether or not your blood would suit its palate.
Then came the cacophony of claws on newly polished wooden floor. I press my pen harder into the page, trying to drown it out with the scratch of ink.
The white noise of Spotify is quickly shattered by his sharp yips, greeting his sworn enemy, a seagull, paying him a visit.
I’m a hostage, I thought. A hostage to this grey, silky-furred terrorist. Would Mrs. Smith accept blackmail as a valid excuse for not completing my algebra worksheet?
Probably not… she loves dogs.
One swipe of my palm does the job. He turns, ears pinned flat, tail disappearing between his legs. I see my thunderous reflection through his dilated pupils. Pleading, unsure if there would be an encore, or multiple.
Just shut up when I’m working Potter, what’s so hard to get?
He lifts his paw gently, shivering, resting its tip on my knee, feather-light. The soft fur peeking out between his toes tickles my heart, just as it would whenever I trimmed his nails all those years ago. His pads were so supple and plush then. My resolve cracks a little.
