The Little Girl and the Puppy

Assignment for Brylee Stinnen from Doctor Phelan: Tell me a story about something good happening to someone who has only experienced bad.


The Little Girl and the Puppy

A bright summer day greeted the little girl as she skipped out of her house and down the porch steps to the cracked sidewalk. Patches of grass and moss poked through crevices and along spances between slabs of cement. It was a typical Chicago morning in a typical Chicago neighborhood. Car horns sounded in the distance, followed by loud taunts in language her parents ensured her were not proper for communication between polite people.

With clear, brown eyes wide in anticipation, she rushed past the parked cars and sickly trees lining her street. She was meeting friends at the playground this day, the first day her father agreed to let her walk the two blocks all by herself. It took a bazzilion hours of pouting and frowning, but daddy finally agreed she was old enough to walk alone. He then grabbed his coat and ran ahead, reminding his small daughter not to talk to strangers and not to divert from her well-mapped route.

When she turned to check the walk behind her, her long black ponytails flowed around her shoulders. Standing at the end of the porch steps was her mother, waving proudly as she monitored the very important journey. The little girl laughed and waved back with the unbridled enthusiasm of her first taste of freedom. Then remembering she was a big girl now, she lowered her arm and nodded politely before turning on her heel and walking on proudly. Daddy wouldn’t wait all day for her to arrive.

After a few steps, her head tipped towards a sound, a whimpering and crying, but the sudden silence from her stopped footfalls also silenced the sounds of distress. She took a deep breath and looked around, no sign of anyone other than her mother standing observantly down the street. As the little girl started to walk again, the quiet pleading began as well.

“Hello? Is someone there?”

Nothing answered her direct question, but her mother called to her, wondering at the lack of progress in her daughter’s walk.

“I thought I heard…Momma, come quick. I hear crying.”

With cell phone at ear, the tall lithe woman raced to her little girl who squatted next to an expensive luxury car parallel parked. “She says she hears something crying. She’s practically underneath that obnoxious Mercedes down the street. Yea…see you in a few.”

The mother brushed her hair back behind her ear and then over her shoulder as she knelt on the damp cold grass at the curb. “What did you find, baby?”

“I think it is a puppy. Momma, look, she’s so scared.”

“Let me see. Oh, sweetie, you’re right.”

Shivering near the rear tire a small-starved puppy curled up protectively, its eyes searching the two females that watched it. The mother made note of the dirt covering its patchy fur, and the fact the poor thing looked like it hadn’t seen a meal in days. At least not a proper meal.

The thumping that announced the arrival of the father intensified the puppy’s fright, causing it to burrow further into the recesses by the wheel. “Daddy, we found a puppy. She’s hurt and scared.”

“A puppy? Show me, baby girl.”

Rich green eyes appeared, kind and warm, filled with love and caring, but the puppy was too frightened to move. The puppy had seen kind loving eyes before, and those quickly lead to pain. Instead of running to the tempting affection encircling the family watching her, the puppy whimpered and scooted further away.

“No, don’t go. These big people are my mom and dad. They are very nice, and they would never hurt you.”

Siren songs come in many forms, but the little girl’s pleading eyes made the puppy feel safe. All three faces wore expressions of patience and worry. Maybe the puppy could trust them. Maybe they would feed her, and bathe her, and cuddle with her during those loud thunder storms that frightened her so much. Maybe they will let her sleep in the house at night, warm and cozy on her own bed. Maybe it will be in the little girl’s room.

Slowly, on her belly, the puppy crawled towards the little girl. “Yes, that’s it. Come here, girl. Come here, pretty puppy.”

“Now be careful, very gentle, sweetie. She’s been hurt really badly. Slowly, baby girl. Nice and slow.”

Cradled in the girl’s arms, the puppy shuddered and whined softly. “She’s cold, and, she smells. She needs a nice warm bath.”

While she stroked her daughter’s back proudly, the mother kissed the puppy’s head and smiled. “First she needs a nice, easily digestible meal. I can see her tiny ribs, poor thing.”

The father helped the little girl stand with her malnourished burden, pride exuding from his whole body. “You got her, baby? Hold her close. We’ll walk slowly. And talk to her. Keep telling her she’s safe.”

After arriving home and eating a meal of cooked chicken and fresh vegetables, the puppy was bathed and then wrapped in a warm fuzzy towel. The little girl carried her precious terrycloth package to the couch and snuggled up to watch TV. When her parents came into the room, they smiled and joined the fast friends for family time.

“Mommy, can we keep her?”

“Yes, love. She needs a family, so we will be the best family we can be for her.”

Surrounded by genuine love and affection for the first time she could remember, the puppy fell asleep happy and safe.