Wah: A warning

When my brother was born, we got a puppy. In my mind these were equal events and I had two brothers. A few years later, when it was my turn to Show and Tell at St Philomena’s nursery, I brought a picture of our dog and said he could talk. That, in fact, we talked all the time.

Sister Rose sighed and shook her head.

‘Show and Tell is not for fibbing, Cynthia. You have to tell the truth,’ she said.

The other children sniggered. I blushed but didn’t cry. Then I told a story in which my dog did not talk. He retrieved sticks, rolled over and scared burglars away. They were all lies – but good lies – and everyone clapped when I finished.

In my defence now, and by way of introducing this book, I would say this: maybe the dog talked.

-Cynthia Rogerson