THE WORTH OF ONE - A CHRISTMAS STORY 

By Tessa Harvey

    Veronica was kicking the gravel driveway. It was weeks since she had heard from her travelling parents. Gus had met some junior boys, not that much older than he was. Keen to impress, he had pretended not to be interested at all in Ronnie, and she had felt the loss of his presence.

    The other two girls seemed to have drifted away to be with others of a fairly similar age. It had not occurred to Veronica to question this. The fact that others had tried tactfully to tell her she was argumentative and bossy at times did not sit well with her. She became even more sullen and morose when her teachers chided her for work left undone or done badly and sloppily. 

    This morning she had woken up far too early and stolen down to the kitchen to purloin some supplies. Only the very senior students were allowed to do this and even then it was under supervision. They liked to slit bananas lengthwise and melt chocolate in them under a grill.

    But Ronnie had stolen more substantial food - cheese, bread, fruit and tomatoes. It was lunch break, but Veronica decided to leave the school completely and explore a native corridor of trees and shrubs that linked neighboring properties.

    Trailed by the school cat, the girl wandered a long way. The cat was having fun leaping at butterflies, stalking grasshoppers, rolling in the dirt. Veronica not so much. She had forgotten water and was very thirsty - and lonely.

    The sounds of school had long faded. The sun was setting and a chill wind had sprung up. Uneasily, she called for Brutus, but he had disappeared. A noise startled her and, turning quickly, she tripped over an old tree root and fell headlong down a steepening gully slope.