Remembering Slim

Prologue

Remembering Slim is the heartwarming tale of a bittersweet conversation in class. It is a picture book manuscript aimed at 4-8 year olds and the intellectual property of C.L.E Webster if you would like to represent this book please get in touch.

Remembering Slim

By Chloe Webster

It's Pet Day at school today. Lots of us have brought photos of our pets to show our class. At group time, we all sit in a circle, and Mrs East asks us about our pets.

Advika lives in a townhouse and has a cat named Aanya, whose fur is silky and black, and her eyes are gold. Aanya is a very, very beautiful cat. Advika loves it when Aanya comes and slides her soft furry body against her ankles and purrs loudly.

Tim lives in a unit and tells us about his goldfish, Bubbles. Who is orange and has a floppy tail and big bobbly eyes that make Tim laugh. We all laugh too. Tim says that Bubbles has a memory that only lasts for three seconds and that his goldfish only eats a pinch of fish flakes every day, so it takes bubbles a whole year to eat one jar of fish food. That's amazing.

Sam lives in a house with a big backyard, and he is a bit sad. He had a dog named Slim, who was a very old greyhound. Slim used to be all black and very fast, but after a while, his face got grey, and he didn't go very fast anymore. Slim died in the school holidays.

Sam’s eyes are full of big tears, and his mouth has a big sad frown. My eyes are full of tears, and I have a big sad frown too.

In a very kind voice—the same one she uses when someone needs a bandaid or an ice pack —Mrs East says, "It's very sad when someone we love dies. But, it's okay to feel sad sometimes. We all feel sad sometimes, don't we?"

Sam does a big sniff because he's so sad that his tears are sneaking out his nose too.

"What can we do when we feel sad, to help us feel better?" Mrs East asks us.

Harper puts up their hand,"Cry." they say.

"Yes, crying when you're sad helps a lot." Mrs East nods.

Henry puts up his hand. "Tell someone about your sad feelings," he says.

"Yes, good idea!" Mrs East says.

Zhang Wei's hand is waving wildly. He has a great idea. "Ask them if they'd like a hug," he says.

"Yes, a very good idea. I like to have a hug when I feel sad. Would you like a hug Sam?" Mrs East asks.

"No, thank you," Sam says.

"That's okay, too. We don't all like to have hugs when we're sad," Mrs East tells us.

"It's good to ask people what would make them feel better. What might help you to feel better, Sam"

"A drink of water," Sam sniffs "and my Bear."

Advika goes and gets Sam's teddy bear, and Harper goes and gets Sam’s drink bottle. He sips his water and hugs his bear, and it does make his breaths a little less huffy. Mrs East gives him some tissues for his nose tears.

"My little brother thinks drinking water makes us feel better when we're crying because it refills all the water that leaks out of our eyes while we were crying," I tell Mrs East.

"Wow, I wonder if that's really why it works." Mrs East says with a smile.

"My dog died last year," Harper tells Sam. Harper doesn't seem as sad as Sam is.

"I thought I'd be crying forever, but now, I don't feel sad all the time. When I think of her, sometimes I feel happy," Harper says.

"Did you know you can sometimes feel happy and sad at the same time?" Mrs East says.

"Yes!" says Henry. "My grandpa died last year. We were all very sad. At his funeral, we all told stories about happy memories of him. It made us laugh and cry at the same time, and we all felt a little bit better." he explained.

"Do you have some good memories of Slim you'd like to tell us about?" Mrs East asks Sam.

Sam has a think.

"Yes,' he says, and he slowly takes a very big breath in, and a very big breath out.

"We got slim from the pound when he was already big. At the pound, he lived in a small cage and only got to have his walks in a small yard with no grass. When he got to our house, he got to run around in a big yard with lots of grass. He liked to zoom around and around with a big smile on his face." He tells us.

As he speaks, a little bit of his smile comes back.

"And Slim had never been to the beach before! When we took him for the first time, he ran so fast he skittled a flock of seagulls into the air then jumped so high after them that he flew for a moment. When he landed, Dad told him he was the first greyhound ever to fly. Slim looked really proud of himself."

Sam blows his nose, and it stops leaking tears. It feels nice to remember Slim.

"Most of all, he loved to sit on the couch with me and read stories, and when I scratched his head, he thumped his tail because he was so happy," Sam remembers.

Sam smiles. We all smile.