AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We followed the man into a colorful room with rubber mats covering the floor. There was a box of toys, some water bowls, and large windows showing the outside dog run. Posters of happy customers and their adoption stories lined the walls.
“Here we are. Go ahead and play for a while. Dolly is a bit of a shy one since her owner passed away, but Samantha has a real talent for matchmaking, and I justknowwith time, you two will be inseparable.”
Here I was, having an incredibly handsome man talk me into this little curly-haired creature. “Oh, alright, we will just—”
He quickly left the room, shutting the metal door behind him, and both Dolly and I stared at the door for a second before returning our eyes to each other.
The loud noise of the door mechanism made me recall when my mother brought home her current rescue dog.
“You’ll never guess what happened today,” my mother shouted into the house, and the door caught a gust of wind, slamming shut. “Oh, there there, sweetie. Don’t let the door scare you! This is your last stop.”
“What’s going on?” My father hollered from his chair.
“Come on out, guys. I have a surprise for you!” Mom hollered back.
I had been working on a term paper but happily accepted the distraction. “Okay, I’ll be right out. Let me just finish this sentence.”
Pounding away at the keyboard, I made a rough ending to the paragraph when a brilliant idea came to mind. I started typing away again when I heard a terrible noise followed by the screams of a grown man.
If you could imagine the noise a rabid animal would make when it received its first eyebrow wax, that’s about the shrill volume I heard coming from the living room. I pushed my rolling chair away from the computer desk and launched myself into the commotion.
My father was lying on his back, and my mother was holding a tiny dog who was licking her hand. I was at a loss for words.
“What in the world happened here? Dad, are you okay?”
“He’s fine. Little Edward here just felt intimidated, that’s all. How was he supposed to know your father is soclumsy?”
I went over to my dad and offered him a hand up since my mother wasn’t assisting. “Thanks, Katie. I have my hands full, as you can see. Isn’t Edward as cute as they come?” She was beaming.
“Is thatours?”I couldn’t imagine her response being yes. Any other response would’ve been acceptable.‘I’ve volunteered to take him to the looney bin.’Or‘No, he’s escaped the circus.’But my father and I groaned in unison when she cried out, “Yes! Meet your little brother, Katie! Edward Fitzgerald. Very regal, don’t you think? Maybe he will grow up to be a banker or a lawyer. Of course, he could just bemommy’s perfect puppyforever, too.”
After helping my father to his feet, we both gaped at my mother, who had utterly transformed now that she was holding the little fuzzydog.
“Are you momma’s baby?” The dog excitedly wiggled in her arms as she cooed to him.
“Thatthingis a national security threat for all I know. Katie, if only you could’ve seen how it came after me!” I looked down at my father’s legs.
“Dad, you're bleeding!” He was known to need a band-aid if he so much aslookedat something with a sharp angle, but he was right, this dog drew blood.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You just have thin skin. Here, Katie—take Eddie for a moment, and I’ll be right back.” She thrust the little guy, who we knew had a thirst for blood, into my arms, and I felt the fear wash over me. His body started to rumble, and a slight growl stirred from his throat.
“Hurry! He’s about to get me too!”
She didn’t hurry. Instead, I swore I could hearlaughterunder her breath. “Found them!” She exclaimed.
“Grab the antiseptic, too.” My father hollered back.
“What was that? No, I found something else. Here—Katie’s old shin guards from her soccer days. You two have the same legs. I bet they will fit fine.” She leaned down and adjusted the strap around his calf. “See? I knew it.”
Edward’s growl grew louder.
“Someone help me with this guy!” My panic filled the room.
“Just set him down Katie. Let’s see these things in action!”
I didn’t want to leave my father like that, but I also feared for my neck with him being so close. I set Edward onto the ground, and he went straight for my father’s exposed ankles.
“OWWW!”
