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The Littlest Pet by Aleesah Darlison
Highly Commended - Charlotte Duncan Award 2009
 

Everything about me is big.

Big hair.

Big feet.

Big belly.

Even my freckles are super-sized.

I guess that's why the kids at school call me 'Blimp'.

Whenever they see me, they chant; 'Belinda Blimp, She's a wimp! Cries all day, nothin' to say.'

When I told Mum what the kids said, she got cross. She said I wasn't a blimp, I was cuddly. I didn't tell anyone that. It did make me feel better, though.

Being so big, I had no chance of doing anything little. How could I? My whole life was ruled by big.

So when Mr Dorkings announced to the class that we were going to have a Littlest Pet Competition, I knew I had no hope of winning.

That didn't stop me from entering, though.

***

We live on a farm. A big farm. A big pig farm. We have lots of pigs and they're smelly. Real smelly.

They're not exactly little, either. Oh, they're kind of little when they're born, but they don't stay little for long.

Can you imagine what the kids would say if I took a pig to school?

'Which one's the pig? They're both so BIG it's hard to tell.'

No, no pig of mine was entering The Littlest Pet Competition.

We've got other animals, though. Horses, cows, chickens. Two cats and three lazy beagle dogs.

But nothing little.

Nothing that had a whisper of a chance of winning because no animal on our farm compared to what the other kids were entering.

'I'm bringing my guinea pig, Han Solo,' Valentino had said.

'I'm bringing my stick insect, Inspector Gadget,' Lloyd said.

'I'm bringing my fuzzy, wuzzy duckling, Marigold,' Olivia, the new girl, said.

'Pah! My dwarf tree frog beats your duck,' Jake said.

'You're all going to lose,' I said, taping a fake smile to my lips. I had no idea where to find a pet littler than a dwarf tree frog, but I didn't let on. 'I've got the littlest pet and that's that.'

'Oh, yeah?' Valentino sneered. 'What are you going to bring Blimpo?'

'It's a surprise.'

Jake snorted. 'More like a lie.'

***

That afternoon, I searched everywhere for a littlest pet.

Mum found me under the house, poking a stick at a cobweb.

'Belinda Isabella Gordon!' she screeched. 'What are you doing?'

See? Even my initials spelt BIG.

'Catching spiders.'

She dragged me out from under the house. 'Do you know what would happen if you got bitten?'

I shrugged. 'I'd be rushed to hospital.' It'd be worth it if I won The Littlest Pet Competition.

'Right. Now, why don't you go do something useful, like help your dad? He's in the orchard.'

'Good idea,' I said.

Maybe I'd find something there that would win The Littlest Pet Competition.

***

Dad smiled when he saw me. 'How was school?'

'Okay.' I didn't tell him about The Littlest Pet Competition. He'd make me take a piglet, for sure. 'Need a hand?'

Dad nodded at a bucket. 'Fill that up, will you? The pump's broken and these peach trees need water badly.'

I didn't mind carrying the bucket down to the creek. It'd give me a chance to watch the gudgeons, tiny fish that lived there. Tiny fish!

I raced down the hill to the creek, searching the muddy water for flickery fish tails. There! Those gudgeons were tiny.

Why didn't I think of it before?

I scooped the bucket into the water and caught some fish. Then I slid them into an old jam jar lying nearby and sat my winning gudgeons in the shade while I watered the peach trees.

'Is that it?' I said when I'd watered them all.

Dad nodded. 'Thanks, Bell. You can go now.'

I carried the gudgeons back to the house. When I got there, I took a handful of pebbles from the garden, washed them and put them in a clean margarine container. Then I carefully tipped the gudgeons into their homemade fish tank.

Surely they would be the littlest pet.

***

The next morning, I jumped out of bed and dressed quickly. I couldn't wait to get to school. I was sure I had the littlest pet.

I ran out to get my gudgeons from the veranda. They were gone. 'Mum!' I screamed.

Mum came running. 'What's wrong?'

'My gudgeons,' I pointed to where I'd left the container.

'Oh, that. I thought your dad left that out for the cats. I tipped it down the drain.'

Great. Now I'd never win The Littlest Pet Competition. I didn't even have a littlest pet to enter. But I still wasn't taking a pig.

***

I trudged off to school, trying not to cry. Trying to convince myself I didn't care if I couldn't enter The Littlest Pet Competition.

Then I noticed some milkweed plants growing alongside the track. A butterfly flitted from one plant to the next.

'Hmmm.' I studied the leaves carefully.

Could it be?

***

When I got to school, the bell was ringing. I raced into class and sat at my desk, smiling secretively.

The other kids were talking and laughing, though no one seemed to notice me. Maybe they were too busy with their pets.

Olivia had brought her duckling. It had pooped all over her desk in squiggly, white blobs.

Up the back, Jake was chasing his frog, calling out, 'Hoppy! Come back, Hoppy!'

Valentino was nuzzling his guinea pig. 'Who's my sweetums, then?'

Gross.

'Good morning, class.' Mr Dorkings strode into the room. 'Take your seats, please. Then we'll start our inaugural Littlest Pet Competition.'

'What does in-au, in-au, in-au, oh,' Lloyd sighed, 'never mind.'

'Inaugural means first,' I informed him.

'Thanks Blimp-Brain.'

'At least I know what inaugural means,' I said.

Lloyd poked his tongue out.

***

Kids showed off their ferrets and yabbies. Their snakes and mice - not at the same time, of course. Their turtles and hamsters.

They were all nice pets and little, too. But none were as little as mine.

Finally, it was my turn. Bursting with pride, I lumbered up the front carrying my lunchbox.

'Hey, Blimpo's brought her lunch to show us!' Lloyd yelled.

'That's not little, it's huge!' Valentino shouted.

The other kids cracked up.

'SD,' Mr Dorkings warned, 'E-nough.'

I opened my lunchbox and showed the class my pet. The littlest pet so far.

'Where is it?' they said. 'There's nothing there.'

'Look closer;' I said. 'See on these leaves? There's a teeny-tiny caterpillar. The larvae of the monarch butterfly.'

The class oohed and aahed.

He was tiny, only as long as my pinky fingernail. He had black, white and yellow stripes across his squidgy body and wavery black tentacles on his head.

'His name is Colin,' I said. 'Colin Caterpillar.'

'Cool,' Valentino said.

'Cute,' Olivia said.

'Crumbs,' Jake said. 'I guess Hoppy isn't the littlest pet after all.'

'Afraid not.' I turned to Mr Dorkings. 'Does this mean I win?'

Mr Dorkings scratched his chin. 'Unless Anthony has a smaller pet, it does.'

I'd forgotten Anthony hadn't showed us his pet yet.

All eyes turned to Anthony. He pulled something out of his bag and sat it on his desk. Everyone leaned forward to look. I craned my neck around the others to see. It was a farm. An ant farm.

As little as Colin was, Ant's were way littler.

A big winner's smile snuck across Anthony's face. A smile that was meant to be mine. 'Oh, no!' I groaned.

'Oh, yeah!' He grinned.

***

'Never mind,' Olivia said. 'If it was a Cutest Pet Competition, you'd have won.'

'Really?

'Sure. Hey, can you show me where you found Colin? I'd love a mini-caterpillar of my own. Less poop than a duck, I bet.'

I nodded. 'I'll show you after school. I mean, if you want to.'

Olivia smiled. 'I'd like that.'

***

Anthony got the 'FIRST PRIZE' certificate and a silky blue ribbon. I got a 'SECOND PRIZE' certificate and a silky red ribbon.

Second prize wasn't so bad. Red was a nice colour.

Plus, I still had Colin.

Mr Dorkings took a photo of Anthony and me holding our pets and our certificates and ribbons. When he showed us the shot on his digital camera, I had to squint very, very hard to see Colin.

'This will go in the school newsletter,' Mr Dorkings said.

It wasn't the same as being famous, not like being in the newspaper, but it was something.

'That was fun, Mr Dorkings,' Valentino said.

'Yeah,' agreed Jake. 'Can we do another competition?

'Certainly.' Mr Dorkings scratched his chin. 'What about ... The Biggest Caterpillar

Competition? Belinda can show you where some likely candidates live, I'm sure.'

'Yeah, can you show me where you found Colin?' Valentino asked.

'Hey, Belinda, take me too!' Lloyd said.

'Don't forget me, Bell,' Jake said.

BIG caterpillars? I could do that. After all, everything about me was big.

I grinned. 'Sure.'

Walking home from school was going to be so much fun.

Copyright © 2009 Aleesah Darlison.