The Hot Dog Adventure

Story by Sophie Licona

| SHORT WRITING CONTEST

It was snowing hard in New York. There were two days left before Christmas, and you could hear fake Santas ringing their bells, and see shops and stores being decorated, and when people walked into stores a short Christmas song would play. All was jolly in New York. Children were running around Central Park playing tag with their friends, and grownups were running from store to store buying Christmas gifts for their friends and family.

But in one of the hot dog carts in Central Park lived a very unhappy hot dog named Greg. Greg had a dream, a big dream. His dream was to star in hot dog advertisements. But he did not know how he could pursue his dream if any minute now the vendors' greasy and oily hands could reach in and pick Greg to be eaten alive.

As he sat grimly inside the cart, he decided it did not matter if he would be eaten alive because first, he was going to pursue his lifelong dream. So, he decided to make a plan. When a customer came by to eat a hot dog he would quickly jump into their baggage and hide there until he arrived at the Hot Dog Advertisement Center (HDAC). The only nerve-racking thought was if he was going to make it to the advertisement center, because he had never been outside Central Park in the so-called “Big Apple.” Little did he know that New York City was one of the USA’s most famous cities.

So, he did as his plan said. When the customer arrived, he quickly ran as fast as his little sausage legs could take him, jumping over other sausages who were pleading for him to take them with him, swerving past the greasy hands of the hot dog vendor, who almost caught him about three times. Plop! He made it into the customers briefcase just before the customer dropped his wallet in and snapped his baggage shut. Greg was safe inside, but it was dark and eerie. Fortunately, the briefcase had a hole in which light would shine in and Greg could look through to find the Hot Dog Advertisement Center. After about a half hour Greg spotted the HDAC a few blocks away, but to get there he would have to find a way to get out.

As Greg sat in the briefcase thinking, he decided he would have to make a run for it. As he scurried along without being stepped on, he saw a grey dog racing towards him. It was Pork Belly, a street dog that would always come by the vendor’s shop. Before Greg could even stop Pork Belly swung him across his back and raced towards HDAC. At the front steps of the center Greg could not believe that he had made it! Greg would have stood there all day if Pork Belly had not pushed him through the doors. He had made it and he was going to be a famous star!