I lie in bed motionless, thinking of the things I wanted for my birthday. Only one thing came to mind – I wanted a puppy more than anything. Laying there I let out a big yawn, and then I smelled a very sweet aroma. It was coming from my window, which I left open. I could tell it was the jasmine – they thrive in the spring.


I am an only child. If you’re an only child, you probably know there are advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are you are the number one priority for your parents. This makes you have to get good grades! Also, if you do something bad, you have no one to blame it on. The advantages are not having siblings to fight with, getting pretty much everything you want and being able to say “table for three” when you go to a restaurant. I wanted a puppy; spring was the best time of year to get a puppy because a new litter of puppies would be born. I thought of how my life would be if I had a dog…the best life ever! With that thought, I fell into a deep sleep.

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!


Monday, I hated Mondays. Mondays meant the most homework of the week, and most of the teachers were grouchy. I nonchalantly got up and turned off my alarm clock. Then, I got dressed and packed my things for school. When I walked into the kitchen, I was surprised to have walked into a pitch black room. It was 6:15 a.m. and my parents are always in the kitchen talking and drinking their coffee. “Where are they?” I thought. So I went into their room but they weren’t in there and then when I walked into the dark kitchen Mom and Dad jumped up from behind the counter and said “Happy Birthday!” I was absolutely dumbfounded. I didn’t even know it was my birthday! “It’s my birthday?” I said. My parents looked at me as if I was a stranger they’d never met before. My Mom finally said “Yes, Bethany, it’s you birthday. March 29th, exactly eight days after spring starts. I checked my watch, they spoke the truth, and it was indeed the 29th of March. I jumped up and down and said “I’m a teen today!” “I’m thirteen!” So, what’s for breakfast Mom? “Your favorite, Muselix.” Mom and Dad grinned and gave me Muselix. Then right after I stuffed a big bite in my mouth, they said, “We also got you a present. “ I spit my food out and it went all over the table. “Did you get me a dog?” I said hopefully. “No, we got you a book about dogs!” said my parents. They handed me a book that was called Dog Breeds, from A-Z. Thanks I said. Then I finished eating went to my room where I moped around. I brushed my teeth, fixed my hair and threw the dog book on the bed and gathered my things. I went into the kitchen again and told my Mom and Dad I was ready. We all got in the car and drove for five minutes to my school. I live in a little village in a rural area. I love it so much though, because you don’t have to use a car, I have a bike, and at full speed, I could drive around the whole village in less than thirty minutes. I told my parents I was going to the library after school for about an hour. Then I said my goodbyes and walked to my classroom. There were only two people inside the classroom besides me, Mrs. Buttercup, my seventh grade teacher and my best friend, Isabelle. We talked for a long time, mostly about dogs. Isabelle was on the verge of tears because she said the name Chestnut. That was her dog’s name, her parents made her give chestnut away because it tore up the whole house. Right before we were about to start class, I asked her if she’d like to accompany me after school to the library. She said “sure” and we said we’d meet up outside of Biology class. The day went really fast, just as I wanted it to. After Math class, I headed over to Biology to meet Isabelle, she was already there reading Native American Traditions, which is our history book. “Ready?!” I asked her. She said, “Yes! I’ve been waiting for this all day!” We rode our bikes to the library and went in and research the Pueblo Indians for history and dogs for fun. We each checked out two books, one about the Pueblos, and the other about dogs. Then we pedaled our bikes as fast as we could to the pet store. We went in and rushed to the dog section. There inside a brown box was a new litter of puppies. We already saw the oddball. All the puppies had black eyes except one had blue eyes. The box was labeled Collie puppies, two weeks old. I asked an old woman wearing hot pink glasses when the puppies could be adopted and she said one week. Isabelle and I took one last look at the puppies and left. As we were departing, we made a promise to go back next week and buy the oddball of the bunch. Then we went our separate ways home. When I arrived home, it was 5:30 p.m. I did my homework and then ate dinner and went to bed. Everyday that week went the same way: school, library, pet store, homework, bed. On Saturday, Isabelle came over and we worked on our Pueblo Indian project and walked around the house making everything dog proof. This included putting any soaps or dirty laundry in higher places; it also included plants and draperies too. I wouldn’t have even thought of some of those things, but Isabelle said Chestnut tore the draperies. Monday finally came. I walked around the house making sure everything was “dog proof”, then left for school. Right after school, Isabelle and I skipped going to the library and went straight to the pet store. When we got there, we went to the box to see the oddball, but it wasn’t there…The whole litter of puppies had black eyes, not one with blue. At that moment, my heart of gold was torn, and my puppy sold. So we started crying and departed. When I got home, I went to my room and saw a brown box on my bed. There was a card on top. I went and grabbed the card it read: Bethany, I know it’s a week late. We hope what’s in this box will change your life. Love, Mom and Dad.



I didn’t really care what was in the box, it was probably more books. As I was moving the box, I was startled the box moved! “No way!” I opened the box and there she was…my oddball puppy…