The Reward

I planned to win $20,000 today. I carefully copied the details of the reward poster into my little black notebook: blond curly hair of medium length, brown eyes, and a phone number to call with information. I would be able to find him, I felt sure. I had seen him yesterday skulking about the neighbourhood. I took a last look at his eyes staring back at me from the poster tacked to a light pole. He looked alert and handsome, a face anyone would love.

I strode back to my vehicle where Jenna waited for me, and the smell of fresh roasted chicken from the groceries in the back hit my senses as I got in. “Did you get the details from the poster, Matt?” she asked.

“Yep,” I said and beamed at her.

“Is he the same as the one you saw earlier today in our street?”

I nodded. “I’m sure he must be the one. Here,” I said, and handed my trusted black notebook over to her. “If we find him then it might be best for you to call the number.”

“Matt, you sound great over the phone.” She patted my arm. “You have a lovely voice.”

I sighed. My reluctance to phone people remained a well- known fact between us, and I preferred Jenna to call anyone on my behalf, where possible. People always told me that I had a lovely voice, but that had nothing to do with why I couldn’t speak using that medium. My mind froze up sometimes when I chatted to people over the phone, but I always seemed fine in person. “Let’s go back to our street and cruise about from there,” I suggested.

Jenna said, “Sure. I’ll keep a look out and shout if I spot him.”

I turned into our road, and drove slowly along, but we saw nothing of interest. We took the next left turn. It felt great to be cruising about the neighborhood in the warm sunshine. A few white clouds dotted the blue sky, and it seemed a perfect day for a slow drive. I flicked on my indicator to take a right turn next. We drove about for half an hour without success. Where should we look?

“Maybe we could try the park where there’s a river,” Jenna said. “It’s only a few hundred meters away.

That seemed like the perfect spot for him to hide up and rest. I flicked my indicator to take the next left turn, and then another left, and we arrived at the park. No-one seemed to be around. I parked the vehicle and we got out.

Jenna stretched her arms out, and then put them on her hips and swung her upper body about to stretch after being in the car. She stopped and put her hands over her eyes to get a better view and then pointed and said in an excited voice,” Matt, isn’t that him over there?”

I spotted a figure skulking along near the water’s edge. That must be him. I hurried over to the vehicle and grabbed the roast chicken from the back seat and walked slowly over to the figure. He definitely matched the photo. “Here boy,” I said in a friendly voice as I got nearer to him. I held out my hand, and he loped over. He seemed suspicious, but the smell of chicken drew him near. I fed him a small scrap. He wolfed it down. I walked back to the vehicle with him trailing behind me. Jenna stayed clear of us, but she opened the back door in anticipation of him getting into the car. I fed him another scrap. He seemed absorbed with the food. I placed a scrap onto the back seat and he got in after it. I closed the door, and Jenna and I both got in too. The wolfhound stared at us from the back seat, hopeful for more food. I gave him a few more pieces. and after eating quite a bit he settled down.

Jenna and I smiled at each other. We had our $20,000 dollars. The phone number on his collar matched the reward poster.