Waltzing Story

In my english class, we had to turn the famous Waltzing Matilda song/poem into a short story. My friends did such great stories, I almost feel silly putting mine up here. But here it is. I did it from the stockman's point of view. It's a version I edited slightly.

The stockman watched in disgust as the jumbuck, one of his sheep, was forced into a tucker bag by a filthy looking swagman. But he was too scared to take matters into his own hands. So he left the swagman singing a foriegn tuneand off he went to find the police. That swagman would be arrested for stealing one of the stockman’s sheep. By the time the stockman got to town on his thoroughbred, the jumbuck would surely be dead, but he would still ensure justice was served. He went to the police and explained what had happened. Three troopers were sent to find the swagman and arrest him. So the stockman began riding back with the troopers following. They got to the farm and rode along the dusty trail towards the Coolabah tree where the jumbuck had been taken. And there was the swagman, watching and waiting for his billy to boil. Not only had the swagman stolen a young sheep but he was also trespassing on private property! He would surely not get away with this. The swagman saw the oncoming horses and their riders, and jumped up.

“Who’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?!” called out the angry stockman. The troopers rode down towards the billabong where the swagman was camped. They surrounded him and got off their horses to arrest him. The stockman smiled, knowing that the swagman would get what was coming to him. But the swagman was more stubborn then the stockman had thought.

“You’ll never take me alive!” cried he and the stockman watched in amazement as the traveller jumped into the billabong and let himself drown. The troopers tried to pull him out but they themselves were to afraid to get their uniforms wet. The stockman went down to the abandoned tucker bag and pulled out the frightened but very much alive jumbuck. The stockman couldn’t believe his luck. The troopers left the swagman’s body in the billabong and left on their horses. They began discussing how the chief would know of their bravery as they protected the stockman when the swagman went crazy, and how he ended up falling in the billabong. How they tried desperately to drag the swagman out but he was too panicked, and drowned before they could save him.

The stockman ignored them and led his sheep to the rest of the flock. The next day, he went back down to the billabong to clean up the mess the swagman had left. But as he picked up the now cold billy, he heard the swagman’s voice singing that creepy foreign tune.
"you'll come a waltzing matilda with me..."
The swagman didn't know who matilda was and he didn't wanna find out. He dropped the billy and ran, not wanting to confront an angry ghost. To this day, no-one has gone back to that billabong.