Liam's Protector
My dear sweet pups, I want to tell you a story of survival and loyalty and forgiveness. You know we live with the wonderful prince Friedrich and his sweet little son, Liam. They treat us well and it is up to us to protect them. Our loyalty to the prince is extremely important. He trusts us and we trust him. It hasn’t always been that way.
When I was younger, Friedrich would take me and our other dog friends out with him hunting. I loved hunting with our prince. I was really good at it. I also used to sleep at his bedside. It was my place to be next to him. He loved me and I loved him, and still do.
One day, I heard a strange noise coming from little Liam’s room. I heard the call of the prince to start the hunt, but the strange noise in the Liam’s room concerned me. I was torn, do I run to Friedrich to join on the hunt that I love so well, or do I check on the noise in Liam’s room.
I chose to check out the noise. Boy, am I glad I did. Liam was asleep in his bed, but there in the corner of the room was a wolf. The wolf was crouched down, about to pounce on the little boy. I couldn’t let that happen to my friend. I would never be able to forgive myself if anything bad were to happen to little Liam and I did nothing. So I reacted in the best way I knew how. I attacked the wolf. It was a bit of a struggle. The wolf was bigger and more powerful than me. But I had one thing on my side, my love for little Liam. I was able to kill the wolf, but the room was destroyed. Broken furniture and blood was everywhere. Liam was knocked over in his bed. It landed on top of him. I checked to make sure the boy was unharmed and then headed outside to await prince Friedrich’s return.
When I was younger, Friedrich would take me and our other dog friends out with him hunting. I loved hunting with our prince. I was really good at it. I also used to sleep at his bedside. It was my place to be next to him. He loved me and I loved him, and still do.
One day, I heard a strange noise coming from little Liam’s room. I heard the call of the prince to start the hunt, but the strange noise in the Liam’s room concerned me. I was torn, do I run to Friedrich to join on the hunt that I love so well, or do I check on the noise in Liam’s room.
I chose to check out the noise. Boy, am I glad I did. Liam was asleep in his bed, but there in the corner of the room was a wolf. The wolf was crouched down, about to pounce on the little boy. I couldn’t let that happen to my friend. I would never be able to forgive myself if anything bad were to happen to little Liam and I did nothing. So I reacted in the best way I knew how. I attacked the wolf. It was a bit of a struggle. The wolf was bigger and more powerful than me. But I had one thing on my side, my love for little Liam. I was able to kill the wolf, but the room was destroyed. Broken furniture and blood was everywhere. Liam was knocked over in his bed. It landed on top of him. I checked to make sure the boy was unharmed and then headed outside to await prince Friedrich’s return.
I was so excited to see Friedrich when he got home. I did my best to lead him to Liam’s room. When we got to the room, Friedrich started calling Liam’s name. He looked scared because Liam didn’t answer. It was then that Friedrich started yelling at me. I was scared. Then Friedrich started kicking and hitting me. I was confused. I didn’t know what was wrong. I thought he would be happy I killed the wolf. But Friedrich was angry. He continued to hit and kick me until I thought he was going to kill me.
I cowered in the far side of the room where the dead wolf lay. Friedrich started towards me, but suddenly stopped. He picked up Liam’s bed and found the still sleeping boy under it. He turned back towards me and then walked slowly up to the dead wolf nearby. He cautiously kicked at the wolf and then started to cry. He called to me, saying he was sorry over and over again. I think that maybe he thought I did something bad to Liam, but once he finally saw the wolf realized that I was protecting him. I slowly went over to prince Friedrich, and he gently pet me. He kept saying he was sorry and that he would never doubt me again.
For a while I had a hard time trusting Friedrich. I was afraid he would hurt me again. But he didn’t. I chose to forgive him for beating me. I realized he did it out of fear. Friedrich made certain that I was comfortable as I healed. I can no longer go hunting because my injuries were bad enough that I never regained my full strength again. But I am okay with that. Friedrich trusts me completely now. So much that I now sleep at the feet of little Liam at night. I feel honored that he trusts me. I am little Liam’s protector.
Author's note: I based my story off of The Martyred Hound. In the story a prince takes his dogs out hunting. One day his favorite dog didn't come when called. The prince left without him. Upon returning the prince felt the dog was acting funny and noticed the blood on it's face. The dog led him to his child's room where he see's the baby's cradle overturned. The prince, fearing the worst, decided to kill the dog. Afterwards the prince finds his son unharmed and sees the dead wolf. He realizes that his dog killed the wolf, protecting the child. It is too late. I chose to change the ending. Instead of killing the dog, he beat him, but he finds the dead wolf before he fatally wounds his beloved pet. I wanted the prince to beg forgiveness for his brutality and to have the dog forgive him. I put this in the point of view of the dog, having him tell his story to the younger pups. I also wanted to include the importance of forgiveness and how trust can be regained.
Bibliography: Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas
I really enjoyed your story, especially how you changed it! I am really happy that the dog lived in the end and the owner realized his mistake. I think that people often overlook the love from dogs. Dogs will love you as long as you love them. I would love to have this dog as my best for sure! Great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Andrea! I really enjoyed reading your story this week! I read this story too and was happy that you changed the ending to only hurting the dog instead of killing it. I thought the original ending was too harsh! I also liked how you wrote the story from the dog’s perspective. Allowing the dog to be the narrator really put an interesting spin on the story! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with this story! I think you did a great job captivating the reader. I also think it was a great spin off of the original story. You did a good job incorporating the original story but making it your own in a creative way. Also, I really like your background for your blog. The lightning makes it more interesting and makes me want to find out more about the blog.
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