Cart Dodgers - Write-a-Book-In-A-Day

Written and Illustrated by the
Cart Dodgers
-Caitlin Hogan-Felicity MCcloughan-Kate Mylan-Georgia Callister-Lara Ryder-Angelique Whitty-Caitlin Shalders-
A man
Rages to Riches
Carroll College
Middle School (NSW)
Team name --- CART DODGERS
-FELICITY MCCLOUGHAN-CAITLIN SHALDERS-GEORGIA CALLISTER-CAITLIN HOGAN-KATE MYLAN-LARA RYDER-ANGILIQUE WHITTY-
PARAMETERS
PRIMARY CHARACTER 1: homeless person
Primary character 2: swimmer
Non-human character: horse
Setting: nursery
Issue: becoming rich
Random words
Curiosity
Reflection
Frantic
Memory
Eye-opening
Dear all patients at the children’s hospital,
We hope you can enjoy this book as much
as we enjoyed writing it, we wish you all the
best.
Keep being cuties <3
~ CART DODGERS ~
We would like to acknowledge our sponsors and our teacher Mrs Belinda Barling for
the help with this book and making this all possible.
First published in Australia in 2015
Copyright © Cart Dodgers
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the act)
allows a maximum of one chapter or ten percent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by
any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that
administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Carroll College
2494 George Bass Drive
Broulee NSW, 2537
Cover design by Felicity McCloughan
Text design and typesetting by Caitlin Hogan, Felicity McCloughan, Kate Mylan, Lara Ryder, Georgia Callister,
Caitlin Shalders and Angelique Whitty
Printed in Australia by Carroll College
Chapter 1
The TV lights up the room in a colourful glow. A man with blond hair
that is almost as white as snow sits in front of the eighty two inch TV
almost asleep. He shuffles slightly in his couch hitting the remote
with his leg. The channel changes to nine news.
“The Cronulla police station is in a blaze. Five officers have been
confirmed dead with another two believed to still be in the building.
The fire is being treated as suspicious but no arrests have been made
yet. We will keep you updated as the story develops.”
The man sits up straight in his couch at the sound of his wife’s
Chihuahua barking. The sound of the doorbell echoes through the
house. He glances at the clock above the TV. 10:00pm.
“Who is going around to houses at this time of night?” He gets up
and walks to the door. Not thinking, he opens it to find two police
officers at his door.
“If you have evidence on the Bluebell case please give it to the
lawyer office during work hours” he says.
“Mr Riley Newman you are under arrest for suspicion of arson and
treason. Anything you say can and will be held against you…” Riley
interrupts the police officer. “I know my rights. I’m a lawyer” the
officer on the right who hasn’t said a thing the whole time pulls out
handcuffs and places them tightly on his wrists. He walks to the
police car while preparing his case of innocence.
Chapter 2
He wakes up from a nightmare to find himself on the floor of a
holding cell. He does the whole ‘what have I done?’ thing. But he
hasn’t done a thing, as far as he can remember.
He sits up and walks to the bars of the cell. An officer is sitting in a
chair behind an oak desk staring blankly at a computer screen.
“Hey Officer. Can I get my phone call?” he asks. The officer looks up.
His eyes are barely visible through the long mop like hair. He sighs
and walks over to the cell.
“Don’t try anything funny” the officer says. He unlocks the cell and
puts him in cuffs. He walks him to the phone and shoves him down
into the chair.
“Who you gonna call?” “My wife”. He looks at the computer and
dials the number. He puts the phone on speaker. It rings once, twice,
three times and goes straight to voice mail. “Sorry you don’t get
another call” he pulls him up from the chair and shoves him into the
cell, not bothering to uncuff him. Riley sits down on the bed and
zones out.
The phone rings and the officer picks it up. “Hello, Officer Jones
speaking” a sigh follows. “Okay good day” he hangs up.
“It’s your lucky day buddy you get let free” Officer Jones unlocks the
door and takes off the cuffs. He drives him home to his mansion at
Point Piper.
His wife Lidia greets him at the door in pinking tights, a leopard print
skirt and a very revealing shirt made of pure silk. Her hair is out in all
of its blonde glory. He notices fresh brown streaks in her hair.
She gives him a look of disgust. “Inside now” she commands. Riley
hurries inside.
She slams the door shut behind him.
“You’ve been fired”.
Chapter 3
“What?” a look of puzzlement is played across Riley’s face.
“You are fired from your job because you were arrested” “I’m not
guilty though” “They don’t care. You left your dirty socks on the door
you pig! Your hair is way too pale! You didn’t buy me those shoes!”
“You already over five hundred pairs of shoes” he replies. “Julie has
over two thousand! I have to wear the same outfit twice every year!
Do you know how much that pains me?” she screams back. “I’ll buy
you more clothes and shoes”.
“I can’t do this now” he says and walks away.
“I need a nice bath with the smell of the jungle” he mumbles to
himself. He grabs the handle of the bathroom door but something
strikes him from the behind in the head. He falls unconscious.
The sky is dark by the time he wakes up. Lidia is standing over him.
“About time you lazy thing” she spits at him. He sits up. A wave of
dizziness falls over him like a spell.
“Don’t you dare pass out again or I’ll sue you” she curses. “Look
honey I’m sorry. I’ll buy you whatever you want. A new car, a new
island. How about that?”
“No! No! I’m leaving you and I keep everything. Bye Riley” she
shoves him out of the house and slammed the door shut. There was
no point trying to get her back, or his house, or anything. So he starts
his walk into town, a long one at that.
Chapter 4
After days of literally sleeping on the streets, Riley stumbles upon an
old woman with grey, wispy hair sleeping at a former brick work site,
in Newtown. She appeared to be using a mouldy piece of cardboard
as a bed, and she let out a huff and rolls over.
“Go away, people like you don’t belong here.” she hissed, giving a
disgusted look at his suit. He glares at her, and marches inside the
building. Inside however, is not what he expected to find. A group of
young adults sharing a can of beans surrounded a campfire, staring
back at him with anger in their eyes. A tall, dark skinned man who
looked like one of the wrestlers he sees on TV gets up, and swaggers
over to him. He shoves his chest, making Riley stumble backwards.
“What do you think you’re doing here Buddy?” he growls.
“I just need somewhere to stay” Riley spits out, not losing his
confidence.
“Yeah, right…” the man snickers. His arm reaches up and cracks a
punch across his face, sending him tumbling to the ground.
“Whatever you want from us, forget about it.”
“I don’t want your money, I just want somewhere to stay” Riley
trembles. The man glares at him, and walks back over to the group,
whispering as they form a tight circle to discuss the matter. After
what seems like forever, they come to a conclusion. The man walks
back over to him, and stands in a pose that seems like he is going to
cause some serious injuries.
“Alright, we’ll let you in, but you gotta follow our rules, live our way,
or you’re out.” He snarls. Riley gulps, and joins the group.
Chapter 5
He’s been in the group for a few months now; it’s taken him a while
to adapt to the homeless lifestyle. But now it seems like he’s always
lived this way. The hardest thing was dealing with his hunger, since
he was used to an abundance of food. The group have finally
accepted him now, and they’re like family to him.
Today, they’ve been planning something they’d never even thought
about attempting before…getting jobs. It’s taken some pushing by
Riley to get the idea through their heads, but now they’re all ready to
take a stand. The only jobs that are open to them aren’t the highest
paying jobs, but it gets them through the day. Riley has been
assigned working at Macca’s, a low for him it seems, but Riley has
never been happier.
****
Today is his first day at the job, and he is ready to make a change.
Their goal is to buy a house that they can all live in, with flushing
toilets and hot water. Whether this will take years, it does not
matter, as long as they’re happy and together they’ll be okay. In
order to prepare for his first day, he has to go to the local swimming
pool to shower. He still has the same clothes from the first day he
joined the group, the day his life changed forever.
As he stands in front of Macca’s, a grin spreads across his face, as he
knows that this is the life he is meant to live. Growing up with
everything he ever wanted at his fingertips made him selfish, and
take everything for granted. But this life now, he has become selfless
and takes nothing for granted.
Chapter 6
10 Years Later
A thousand stars in the sky burn over Riley’s head. Beside him lies his
five best friends, Jordan, John, Steve, Patricia, and Baraka.
Behind them is a basic, family home, where they all live in comfort
with flushing toilets, hot water, and more than they could ever want.
They live in Caringbah Sydney a nice community without the
homeless. Jordan has now become an accountant, something she’s
always wanted to be. John works for the Daily Telegraph, making
comics. Steve, well Steve just really likes chicken. Patricia is now a
famous singer that everyone knows of. Baraka is a professional
football player for Australia in Rugby Union. Riley has now become a
model for Calvin Klein.
They aren’t rich with money but they are rich in happiness. They
have a friendship so strong that no amount of money could fill that
void. He is so happy that he hasn’t been in a relationship this whole
time and he does not regret it. He does not want a family because he
already has one, not a blood family, but family nether the less.
They have achieved their dreams. The only person who hasn’t is Lidia
who was arrested for identity theft and murdering her five children
and her three husbands.
Riley couldn’t be happier living a dream life with his five best friends
and his pet snake called Jackson. He felt rich in happiness to say the
least.
A Champion
Olympian
Chapter 1
Alex flicked her light brown hair out of her eyes as she grabbed the
watering can to complete her job for the day. Watering can in hand,
Alex walked around the plant nursery watering the plants.
Done at work, Alex left and made her way toward the pool. The bag
holding her swimmers bumped against her leg uncomfortably, but
Alex knew that the walk, no matter how uncomfortable, would be
worth it. The pool came into view and Alex felt her heart become a
little lighter as it always did. She knew that Stan would be there and
she couldn’t wait to feel his comforting arms around her.
Alex pushed open the door to the pool and smiled at the person at
the front desk and walked through to the change rooms.
Once Alex changed into her swimmers she left her bag of her work
clothes in the change room and walked out to greet her boyfriend.
The loose shirt over her swimmers was soft and comfortable; the
warm sun was welcome on her bare legs and she saw Stan. Alex
smiled at Stan and he waved back with a smile.
Alex hugged Stan tightly. She had missed him in the week that she
hadn’t seen him. They separated the hug and smiled at each other
one last time before Alex trotted off towards the edge of the pool
where the diving blocks were.
Alex looked at her competitors with mild fear, they were taller than
her, and they looked stronger. Even though Alex was slimmer than
most of them they looked as though they would be faster in the
water.
This would be a tougher competition than usual. As Alex took her
place in the line for the fifth diving block one of the tallest girls
turned to look at her, distaste was clear on her face and Alex
suddenly felt self-conscious. She slipped the loose shirt over her
head and felt very over exposed in her one-piece swimmers.
The line for the diving block shortened inevitably and Alex’s fear
grew. Her palms began to sweat slightly and she felt very
uncomfortable. Alex felt like her face was heating up and she longed
for the cool of the water.
The diving block stood as if mocking her as she stepped up. The
water rippled below Alex’s toes as she curled them over the edge of
the diving block and leaned forward, awaiting the sound of the
starting gun.
The gun was shot and Alex leapt forward and felt the water splash
against her feet slightly. Alex opened her eyes without goggles and
felt the chlorine sting her eyes. The momentum from her dive wore
off and Alex felt the hot burn of sun on her back.
The end of the pool loomed ahead and Alex did a tumble-turn. As
Alex completed the turn she caught sight of the taller girl that had
glared at her was in front of Alex. Panic flared inside Alex’s mind and
she kicked harder.
Alex noticed that she had nearly overtaken the girl; a glance ahead
revealed that the finish was near. Alex concentrated on her arm
strokes, she took one last breath and held it, and she felt herself gain
speed.
Alex reached forward and touched the wall, she pulled herself up
and took a deep breath, almost able to feel her limbs re-oxygenising.
The woman who had timed her race leaned forward and whispered,
“Good job, you won!”
Chapter 2
Alex laughed at Stan as he suggested, yet again, that she become
professional with swimming.
“You won an almost impossible race, Alex. You’re good at swimming,
better than good actually. Worthy of more than just local
competitions.” Stan sounded very convincing, and Alex almost
wanted to believe that she could make it, but she knew her limits.
“No, Stan.” Alex said, she was still exhausted even though the race
and been yesterday, Alex was convinced that she had pulled a
muscle and was limping slightly.
“Why? You’re obviously good enough.” Stan continued, Alex shook
her head at him,
“I’m really not, Stan.” Alex argued, and Stan seemed defeated, but
then he looked up again,
“Let me just call my friend, maybe a professional can decide.” Stan
opted, and Alex just nodded.
****
Alex stood awkwardly in her swimmers as she shook Robert’s hand,
it turned out that Stan actually did have a professional friend.
“So, Alex, how far will you be swimming to day?” Robert asked,
“Two laps.” Alex answered nervously,
“Okay, off you go.” Robert said enthusiastically, and Alex walked
towards the diving blocks again.
Alex’s stomach was twisted into nervous knots and she stepped
onto the diving block feeling slightly sick. She curled her toes around
the edge of the block as she prepared to dive.
The water was icy as she was enveloped into its embrace, Alex could
feel the water pressing against her skin and it made her confidence
grow. ‘I know my limits’ she had said to Stan, but it turns out she
didn’t, as he two laps that she did seemed like the fastest two laps
she had ever done.
Alex pulled herself out of the pool and gratefully accepted the towel
that Stan held out to her. Robert looked stunned slightly,
“Alex, that was really great.” Robert said, “And if it’s okay with you,
I’d like to offer you a place at the top Sporting Academy in Sydney.”
He continued and Alex’s eyes widened at the mention of the sporting
academy.
“Wow, really?” Alex said incredulously,
“Yes, so do you accept?”
“Hell yeah.”
Chapter 3
Alex missed Stan, she had been at the Sporting Academy for two
weeks and she already ached, she swum every day and it was very
tiring. Although she missed Stan Alex did meet new people, she had
lots of new friends.
The Sporting Academy was very eye-opening experience for Alex, it
was a lot harder than she had imagined, but it was also worth the
hard work, as an important swimmer is going to come to the
Academy.
Alex had quit her job at the nursery, to fully focus on her training.
Alex was sitting on her bed relaxing when Matthew opened the door,
smiling.
“Hey, Alex.” He said casually,
“Hi, Matthew. What’s up?” She replied, sitting up more,
“I wanted you to meet someone.” He said, stepping out of the
doorway. Another guy filled the doorway in Matthew’s absence.
‘Alex, this is my boyfriend, James.” Matthew gestured toward James,
who waved and smiled,
“Hey James, how are you?” Alex asked, only slightly caught off guard,
“I’m good thank you.” James replied a little awkwardly,
Both of them left awkwardly afterwards, and Alex got ready to train
again, after all, she wanted to do as well as possible, for Stan.
Chapter 4
Alex stood on the second podium, hands above her head in a silent
cheer. Finally, she had made it, after all her training she had won a
silver medal in the 2020 Olympics. The silver medal weighed down
her hand but she held it up proudly. Stan was there, newly engaged
to Alex and cheering proudly from the crowd for his fiancée. Alex’s
hair fell over her eyes, and she remembered the beginning of her
success, and thought,
How did I get here, from working in a plant nursery?
A Horse
Brad’s Escape
Chapter 1
Brad hated his life; he hated his owner’s guts more than when
beetles got in his water trough. Brad was an orphan horse taken in
by a cruel man who treated him like the dirt under his boots.
Brad the horse was sitting in the meadow surrounded by beautiful
trees and flowers. All though his surroundings were beautiful his life
was quite the opposite.
Brad only had a small memory of his family but it was enough to
know that his owner wasn’t treating him right and that is why that
night he would escape whether it killed him or not.
It was late afternoon and the sun was creeping behind the
mountains as he heard his owner calling him from the house. He
became frantic, what was his owner going to do to him? Last time it
was the branding against his right shoulder and he could still feel the
aching burn on his skin.
He stood up on all fours and reluctantly trotted up the hill and
towards a house of bad memories. His owner was standing on the
front porch with eyes blazing of fury and was obviously drunk
because he held a half empty bottle of rum in his hands. Brad
stopped in his tracks and as he expected his owner held a long slick,
black whip. As Brad turned to run from this mad man he caught a
glimpse of his reflection in one of the houses windows.
There were multiple whip marks across his back stretching from his
left back leg to his neck and he didn’t wish to have any more pain
inflicted on him.
He trotted behind the shed, hoping his owner was too drunk to find
him. Brad cowered in the corner and he could hear the heavy steps
of his owner, slowly and drunkenly stumbling towards him.
His owner found him, and whipped him until he could barely stand,
and then dragged him by his bridle to his small dirty stall where
locked away for the night.
When his owner left, Brad didn’t hear the familiar click of the lock on
the stable door, he heard the owner stumble in to the house and
shut the door leaving Brad in the dark, cold stable.
This was Brads chance to escape, he trotted quietly over to the door
and gently pushed it open. The outside air was cold and damp the
grass under his hooves already had a layer of dew on it. He knew the
place he could go to escape, a hole in the fence where he had
previously tried to escape from. Every time his owner let him out,
which wasn’t often he would push the wire just a small bit so by the
time he was ready to leave he was able to fit through it.
Brad bolted like the wind toward the railway track, not even
bothering to look back.
Chapter 2
Brad had been walking all night and the sun was starting to rise so he
figure that it wouldn’t hurt to take a rest. Just as he thought this a
rumbling sound came from behind him. There had never been any
trains on the track because it was so old and rusty. Maybe they
restored it? He turned around and saw nothing, just as he was going
to continue walking when one of the bushes beside the tracks
rustled, Brad’s curiosity took over him and he started slowly walking
towards the bush when a goat jumped out.
Brad stood frozen still, staring him straight in eye then watching the
goat frolic off into the bush.
Brad continued walking along the tracks when he saw a stream of
water. Brad suddenly realised how thirsty he was. He walked down
to the edge of the stream and turned his head both ways to see his
surroundings. To the left the trees curled making monsters in the
shadows.
To the right was singing birds and beautiful daisy’s .Yes, Brad was a
horse but he knew right from wrong so he turned left. He didn’t want
to get hay fever because he was allergic to daisies. He started
walking towards the terrifying shadows of the dark trees before him.
As Brad walked further into the dark, mysterious forest. All around
him the trees reached out their claw like branches and he became
suddenly lost and afraid. He saw a clearing he started galloping
towards it. In this clearing was the most beautiful meadow he had
ever seen; full of roses and poppies more beautiful than the one back
at his owner’s house.
Brad wanders through the flowers with great delight and a small
black and white butterfly landed on the tip of his muzzle. A stable in
the middle of the meadow caught his eye but he wasn’t sure if he
should go near it, it seemed a bit strange for a stable to be in the
middle of nowhere.
He took his chances and slowly trotted towards the old broken
stable, the windows were boarded up and the door had an opening
just big enough for him to fit through.
He squeezed into the stable but there was no light apart from a small
candle at the very back of the room. He looked around and saw and
old hay bale and a dirty water trough. Brad heard a snort coming
from the corner of the room.
He turned around to see two beautiful large brown eyes staring
straight back at his brown horse eyes. He got closer and made out
the face of a young female horse.
Brad noticed a chain around her neck with a tag on it saying
‘Philippa’.
Chapter 3
“Why are you tied up?” asked Brad. “My owner is coming back for
me; he just went to get water from the stream.” Philippa told him.
“How long has he been gone?” Brad wanted to know because it
didn’t look like her owner was ever coming back. “She has been gone
for three days” Philippa admitted. Even though Brad new nothing
about this strange horse and why she was tied up he wanted to help
her because her owner was probably dead or lost in the dark forest
outside.
“I’m going to untie you” Brad told her and started working at the
chain around her neck. Brad pulled at the chain with his teeth until it
unlocked but Philippa stayed put. “Are you coming with me or not?
You can’t stay here forever your owner is probably dead.”
At that moment they heard foot steps outside, they sounded oddly
familiar to brad, he realised it was his owners footsteps.” you have to
come with me now, it’s my owner, he will lock us up or worse”
Philippa followed Brad out the back door of the stable and out into
the meadow. “Follow me” Philippa said and ran towards the forest.
They disappeared into the trees but unfortunately Brad’s owner was
close behind. Branches scratched the two horses as they ran making
them slower and slower. Eventually they got out of the forest but
there was nowhere to run because the forest ended on a cliff. The
wind whipped at their manes.
They looked around and saw a scratched figure stumbling out of the
forest. They looked for anywhere to run and escape but it was a dead
end. Suddenly the goat that Brad had seen earlier bolted across the
cliff edge and rammed into the back of the owner causing him to
stumble over the edge of the cliff. Brad watched as his owner fell to
his death at the bottom of the cliff where sharp rocks awaited him.
A MAN
RAGS TO RICHES
Riley is a rich businessman living in Point Piper, Sydney
with his wife and a money filled future. Though he has
everything at his fingertips he isn’t really happy. A
mysterious fire burns the local police station to the
ground and Riley is a suspect. What happens next will
change his life forever. Will he ever find true
happiness?
A HORSE
BRAD’S ESCAPE
Brad is no ordinary horse. He has the wits of a human
but his owner treats him like dirt. One day his owner
makes a terrible mistake by leaving the stable door
unlocked. Will Brad escape? Will be get his happy ever
after?
A CHAMPION
OLYMPION
Alex is one of the best swimmers in town. Fast and swift
in the water. Kind out. Even though her boyfriend Stan
believes she has what it takes Alex still won’t believe.
But after Stan convinces her to get advice from a
professional swimmer things change. Can Alex really
make it as a world class swimmer?
For the ages ten and up