Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: DOG (08/09/18)
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TITLE: Bouncing Love | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karen Dick
08/16/18 -
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My heart beat wildly. “Someone stop Duke, he’s going to kill our puppy!” I yelled.
My friend Robin grabbed Duke by the collar, glanced at me and dragged him toward her house. “Your dog started it!”
The joyful puppy bounced after them.
The previous day, Dad surprised our family by bringing home the young black Labrador.
“Look who I found, Betty. I thought a puppy would cheer you up.” Dad handed the puppy to my expectant Mother, who took him in her hands looking stunned. She plopped onto a chair while the dog squirmed. Mother dropped him on the floor as tears trickled down her cheeks.
“I thought you would like him.” Dad’s voice got louder.
“Well… our fifth child is coming soon, and I’m not sure that a puppy is the best thing right now.”
“You were so upset when you ran over your Dachshund; I thought this would make you happy.”
Mother clenched her hands together, sniffed and sighed. “It’s okay. The kids will help.” She looked at me. “Leanne will take care of him. Won’t you?”
I smiled and nodded vigorously.
Our puppy grew rapidly. I learned to feed him, play with him, and even clean up his messes in the yard. He was so active that we named him Pepper.
One evening I shoved him outside to keep him from chewing on Dad’s shoes. The sun was setting, and it was almost dinnertime. “You go play, Pepper.”
We had finished dinner when Mother glanced under the table. “Where’s Pepper? He usually likes to eat the dropped leftovers.”
My eyes widened and I leaped up to open the back door. “Pepper, come!”
There was no sign of him. I hurried into the darkness and called his name. I crawled under prickly bushes ignoring the scrapes and cuts on my arms. As I crawled, I slid into a freshly dug hole that went under the fence.
Dad appeared next to me. “I thought you were going to take good care of him. Is this it? Letting him run off?”
I shook my head. Tears threatened to spill.
“We’ll have to pay a fee if he gets picked up, or he might even get killed.”
Sleep was difficult that night. Tears soaked my pillow. I dreamed Pepper was run over. God, please keep him safe and bring him home.
Mother received a call the next morning from the dog shelter. Pepper was found. The entire family rode in the station wagon to go rescue him.
Standing in the entryway of the shelter, we waited to greet our lost dog. A door opened and a man appeared with Pepper on a leash. I squealed and rushed toward my bouncing, barking lab. I bent over and received messy slurps across my face.
After Dad paid the fee, we piled back into the station wagon and went home.
“He better not run away again.” Dad glared at me as we entered the house.
I nodded and rushed in dragging Pepper beside me.
Pepper ran away from home three more times after that. Mother had her fifth child and proclaimed that she could not watch a runaway dog and an infant, so after some searching, a new home was found for our Pepper.
It took most of a Saturday afternoon to drive to the farm outside the city where we lived. The farmer was happy to have a dog to chase away varmints. Dad handed the leash over with Pepper still attached. I knelt in front of him and hugged him close. “I love you, Pepper.”
As we drove away I watched Pepper as he watched us leave him behind. Tears flowed. My heart hurt like it never had before.
The days dragged on without my dog to care for. Nothing interested me and thoughts of my dog consumed me.
One night, after I had gone to bed, I heard a commotion at the front door. I slipped out of bed and tip-toed down the stairs. Dad was kneeling at the open door. He looked up at me and grinned.
“Looks like he wanted to come home.”
The door opened and in rushed Pepper. He jumped right into my arms.
Based on a true event
(NIV) Psalm 66:19 “God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”
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I'm glad Pepper came home to you. It made me sad you had lost such a good friend.