I wrote this for one of the third grade classes I worked with this year. They enjoyed it, hope you do too.
The Tale of Tobias
He could hear the crickets in the distance. He had found a nice spot, under a large oak tree. The leaves were moving gently in the breeze, keeping him cool from the hot, summer sun. The wind would occasionally move the branches enough to let the rays of the bright sun hit his eyes, but that shot of sunlight was brief enough to not burn them. Or make him squint. He hated squinting.
Tobias rested and thought back at the adventure he had been on; an adventure that seemed to have no end in sight. His breathing got a little ragged, just then, thinking back at all that happened. But he was too tired to worry now, to think about François, to think about the house and the screaming and the noise. He closed his eyes again, took a deep breath and thought to himself: “Sleep, now. Later you will start searching again. Sleep.”
He awoke with a start. Something wasn’t quite right. The crickets had stopped their constant chirping. It was quiet. Too quiet. It was coming again, he thought. He put his nose up in the air, forcing his nostrils to get as big as they could, to sense if danger was coming.
“Wait for it,” he told himself “wait.”
False alarm. He heaved a big sigh of relief and decided that after all that had happened, he should go back one more time, to see if something had changed. He stretched his paws in front of him and pulled up his tail. He yawned a big yawn and started on his way back to the city. Back to François, he hoped.
After a good hour, he knew he was close. He could see the trucks moving back and forth. He could hear the yelling and the screaming and the honking and the crying and the lament of people in pain. But he couldn’t see François; he couldn’t smell him; he couldn’t feel him. He felt like he couldn’t be the best friend he had always been.
He couldn’t save him.
He saw the same truck with the red and white stripes that had been the first one there. He saw the tall man with the golden hair. He went up to him, wagging his tail, letting him know he was friendly and began his ritual barking. “Hey boy! You’re back again. Looking for food, eh?” said the tall man. Tobias thought to himself, “No, I’m not looking for food. I’m looking for my best friend, François! He would understand. Why don’t you?!?”
Tobias gently pulled at the man’s pants. Then stepped away a little barked and wagged his tail again. The tall man with the golden hair looked tired. He smiled with his face, but not with his eyes. “You must have seen some sad things, boy,” he said to Tobias. Yes he had, but now he needed to find François. “Bark! Bark! Bark!” Tobias continued “Bark!”
“Maybe you’re not hungry after all,” said the tall man with the golden hair. “Maybe you’re trying to tell me something.” Finally. Tobias continued barking, he jumped a little for effect, to let the man know there was some urgency. “Alright, alright, let me get my gear.” He looked over to the truck and yelled “I think I have a lead, I’m going to go look for survivors!” A voice from the truck yelled back “Hurry up man, we’re due back in Port-au-Prince by nightfall.”
The tall man with the golden hair followed Tobias. Tobias was so happy that he sped up, almost to a sprint. “Wait up, buddy, my gear is heavy!” Finally, they arrived. The bricks were still all in the same place. The silence was deafening. Tobias walked in circles around what was once the house he grew up in; the house he was born in. The tall man with the golden hair started lifting a big brick. The smell of François hit him harder than the shocks of the earthquake. He ran up the rubble. He wagged his tail. “If I can smell him, that means he must be alive! He’s a strong boy!” He barked at the tall man with the blond hair. “Sh, sh, buddy, I think I hear something.” Tobias stopped. Both man and dog shifted their heads and ears towards the sound coming from below. It was a faint whimper at first; then it got louder. And louder. And louder until,
“Aide moi! Help me! Je m’appelle François. I am François. I am a boy. Help!”
They had found him. He was alive. That is all Tobias cared about.