“Sonnetjie!” Little Anthonie, who had wandered away from his family and into the tall grasses of the safari, gasped as he laid eyes on the half-crup, curled up and whimpering in pain. She looked so small amongst the blades, their height so overwhelming in comparison. Sparing a gaze behind him at his distant family the nine year old decided that saving their cruppy, newly given birth to just over the summer, would take priority. Rushing to her side, the boy knelt down, and pressed a hand to the dog’s chest, checking for injuries. Noticing the gaping wound on her leg, he reached for anything he could press to it; yet as he glanced back empty-handed, he would find the wound gone.

Although he was in disbelief, Anthonie had always awaited for this moment to happen, and as the now healthy Sonnetjie climbed into his open arms he gently cradled her back to where his parents had set up a campsite. The boy, well aware of his feat despite his manifestation’s lateness, spoke, voice tinted with joy, “I think I just had my first instance of magic!” That turned heads, and Aneska’s marshmallow started to blacken as his younger sister glanced up at him curiously.

Pride evident in his voice, the boy regaled his family members with an over dramatised version of the tale that had just played out, leaving even his assortment of uncles and aunts clapping by the end. He grinned wide, Sonnetjie’s paws gripping onto his fingers as he squared his shoulders. “Well, my dear Anton,” his mother began, taking a few steps towards the boy and lowering herself to his eye level, “I think it is only fair that she is yours to keep.”

His eyes widened, brilliant blue flashing with anticipation. From the first moment of Sonnetjie’s existence, when the family bitch had her last litter of pups, Anthonie had doted over her. The most energetic yet most well behaved of the new batch of crops his liking was immediate. She may not have even been able to play fetch yet, but undoubtedly when Sonnetjie looked up at him with those eyes he could have given her anything she could ever ask forEven then he knew, he would take his beloved companion to Uagadou and beyond.

“Congratulations,” his father stepped in, “I am certain you will be an exceptional caretaker, just as you will be an exceptional wizard.”