A story by Tammy Ruggles
It was a chilly, rainy morning; terrible weather for
summer. School was out, but I couldn't go outside and play because Mom said I
would get sick. So I put on my jacket and went out on the front porch, and
that's where I found this blond Labrador with a hurt paw.
"Gee, what happened to you?" I asked as I
knelt down beside him.
He whined and put his head down on his good paw. There
wasn't a collar, so I didn't know who he belonged to or what I should do. It
seemed kind of mean to call the dogcatcher on a hurt animal.
"Mom!" I shouted as I ran inside the house.
But Mom was gone. I'd forgotten that she had to go to the store.
Oh well. I went to my room and got out my First Aid kit.
It wasn't a real one. Just the one I played doctor and vet with, but it had
stuff from my Mom's real one, like iodine, bandages, stuff like that. After
carrying my medical supplies out on the porch, I bent down to the dog again.
"What's your name, huh?"
The dog only whined.
"Guess I'll call you Goldy," I told him.
"Since you're gold."
I nursed the dog's paw as best I could, then sat down
next to him and pet his head because he seemed kind of sad. Questions circled
through my mind, like, How did he get hurt? Who did he belong to? Where did he
live? How did he get lost? Goldy and I sat together until Mom came home.
"Can I keep him, Mom?"
She knelt down with us and pet the dog's head too.
"He probably belongs to someone, Shelly. Somehow got separated from his
master. We need to find his owner."
My heart sank. I knew she was going to say that.
"But if the owner doesn't show up, I guess he's
ours."
So Mom put a notice in the paper, and we waited. It was
the longest wait of my life. Goldy was a good dog, and mended more every day. At
first he couldn't walk on his paw at all, but then little by little it healed.
The days went by with no one showing up to claim the dog. When Goldy was feeling
all better, we played Frisbee and football in the yard. He was a very
smart dog, and knew commands like "Sit", "Stay",
"Come".
"Someone must have trained him," Mom said
sadly. "That means he has an owner."
But still no one came.
Secretly, I was glad. I wanted Goldy to be my dog. Mom
even put his picture in the paper, and still no one came.
"Guess he's your dog now, Shelly," she said
one day as she brought home a new chew toy for Goldy to play with.
"Yay!" I yelled jumping up and down.
Goldy was even beginning to act like my dog. He followed
me to school, and waited all day until I came out. He even walked beside me, and
on the outside of the sidewalk to get between me and the traffic.
Then one day when we got home from school, a strange van
was in the driveway, and there was a lady with dark sunglasses and a white cane
on our front porch talking to Mom. A man was with her. Goldy started barking and
ran up to the blind lady.
"Sam!" the lady laughed, and Goldy ran into
her arms.
Goldy whined with joy, licking all over the lady's face.
I looked at Mom. She didn't have to tell me what was
going on. Goldy wasn't really Goldy. He was Sam. And he was her Sam. Her guide
dog. My heart sank.
The lady began to cry, and so did Sam, by the sound of
him. They looked so happy to be reunited.
I started to cry too, but for a different reason. I was
going to lose my new best friend.
"Thank you, Shelly," the lady said holding her
hand out for me to shake. "For taking care of Sam. We were in a traffic
accident, and somehow we got separated when I went to the hospital. I guess he
lost his collar and harness too."
I looked at her hand. I didn't want to give Goldy up,
but I could see that it was this lady he really belonged to. Not me. I was just
temporary.
She needed him, and he needed her. He was a trained
working dog with an important job to do. They were happy together. And since I
definitely wanted Sam to be happy,
I did what I knew was right, and shook Diane's hand.
"You're welcome," I told her.
It was hard letting him go, but it would have been
harder keeping him from his rightful owner.
"You can come visit him anytime you like,"
Diane offered.
That put a big smile on my face.
"Thanks."
The End