3rd Grade: "I've Got Your Back"

It was like many other summer afternoons. My sister and I were walking down the road with Dutch trotting happily behind us. In the past year he had grown into a tank; he was much bigger than an average German Shepherd and he had defined muscles that flexed when he walked. Dutch was very protective of my sister and I, he did his best to make sure we never went out of sight. If my sister and I were mad at each other and on opposite sides of the yard, he would try to herd us together like we were a flock of sheep by nudging us with his nose and running back and forth. My parents trusted Dutch, and we could go on long walks if we took him with us.

My sister and I took the route that led us past Macey's house and we were dismayed to see that she and her group of friends were outside on her swing set. Macey was known for being a bully, she always teased me at school, she made fun of my glasses, threw black paint on my art project, took my jump rope but worst of all she tricked me into believing that Seth had a crush on me. When I told Seth that I had a crush on him too, he acted disgusted and ran away from me. Macey told everyone as I hid in the back of the classroom.  As I walked by, my heart was thumping so fast that I could feel it throbbing in my head and I prayed she wouldn't see me. I kept my eyes locked on the ground as if I were counting every pebble on the dirt road. My tactic failed and my heart sank as I heard girls calling my name and running my way. I kept my eyes on the ground and felt Dutch's wet nose against the back of my leg.

"Courtney! How's Seth?" Macey jeered, the rest of her friends broke out in nervous giggles. I felt my face turn bright red.

"Leave her alone!" my sister demanded as she clenched her fists.

Macey laughed and grabbed a fistful of dirt and tossed it at me, but it missed so her friends all picked up hand fulls of dirt and started throwing it until it got in my hair and left a film of dust on my glasses. I felt tears start to well up in my eyes but I was careful to not let any of them see. The sound of their laughs filled my head and my knees began to tremble. Then I heard a new sound, a low growl that sent shivers down my spine and spun around to see Dutch, hunkered down walking toward Macey and her friends showing his teeth. All laughing instantly came to a stop.

"Courtney, make him stop!" Macey cried as she slowly backed up but I was too shocked to respond and kept my eyes on Dutch. All at ones they screamed and ran as fast as they could back up her driveway, her porch steps then into her house, slamming the front door behind them. Dutch immediately went back to his normal self. He sniffed the grass and sneezed before looking up and me and wagging his tail. My sister and I slowly continued our walk in silence, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Once my heart stopped racing and the knot in my stomach went away, I laughed and my sister laughed along with me. Dutch barked happily and ran up and walked in between my sister and I, and the three of us finished our walk in peace.

"That Old Wheel" Johnny Cash