Caroline and the White Dog

“Caroline and the White Dog” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Mary Chapman Martin, Discovery Christian School, USA.

Caroline and the White Dog

Once, there was a girl named Caroline Peterson. She loved cats and dogs. She had three dogs and two cats at home. Her family fostered puppies. The very first puppy they fostered was a lab, and he was so sweet that her family had to keep him for ourselves. The lab’s first name was Charley, but Caroline renamed him Buddy.

All of Caroline’s pets were fostered, but one. The other two dogs that Caroline has are named Gus and Bella. Gus is a Labrador Retriever that another family gave up, and Caroline just had to keep him. Bella is a standard poodle, and Caroline bought Bella with her own money.

All of Caroline’s cats were found on the street and brought home. Caroline’s mother always had to say yes because she promised Caroline that any cat or dog she found that did not have a collar she could keep. Caroline’s cats are named Elizabeth and Zipper. They call Elizabeth ‘’Lizzy’’ for short. They call Zipper ‘’Zip’’ for short.

Caroline has a brother named Charles. Charles has brown hair just like Caroline. Charles helps Caroline with her foster puppies.

One day, Caroline was walking down the road and saw a blur of white. She looked again, and it was a small white dog without a collar. Caroline tiptoed toward the dog as she always did. She tiptoed because she did not want to scare the dog. But, her brother Charles and his 4 friends, James, Alexander, Ethan, and Mason, came around the corner yelling and riding their skateboards and that scared the fluffy, white dog away.

Right away, Caroline scolded her brother and his friends. “You all scared the dog away.”“Don’t do that again,” she scolded. Then, her face turned red at the thought of the white dog getting hit by one of those speeding cars. When Caroline’s face turned red, Ethan started yelling, “Caroline has a red face, Caroline has a red face.” All the other boys joined in except Alexander and Charles. When Caroline heard them, she ran down the street and looked for the white puppy.

Caroline walked down Main Street, Oak Avenue, and Ninth Street and found no sign of the dog. Caroline was about to give up when she thought to walk down Elm Street. So, she did. Caroline looked under the first five cars and found nothing. Then, she looked under the first fifteen bushes and found nothing. Now, Caroline looked under the very last bush and screamed so loud she probably busted every ear drum in the neighborhood! It was the white puppy. She just remembered not to scream around an animal. But, before the dog ran away, Caroline picked it up and cuddled it in her arms. Caroline looked for a tag and it was not there.

Then, Caroline also remembered that her mother said, “If you find a dog or puppy without a tag you can keep it.” Now, Caroline was thinking what to name it. She thought of Baby. No. Then, she thought of Jasper. No. But, then, she thought of Sugar and that was the perfect name for this white puppy.

Before Caroline went home, she stopped by Dr. Brown’s office. Dr. Brown was a younger man who just started vet work, but was a great veterinarian. Dr. Brown said Sugar has no problems, and she just needs rabies shots.” So, Dr. Brown gave the shots to Sugar. Now, Caroline ran as fast as she could to home. When her mother saw a white puppy in Caroline’s arms without a tag, she did not know what to say. Caroline said “Mother, this is Sugar, and I can keep her because she does not have a collar or a tag on her.”

Caroline’s mother told her she could keep Sugar. Now, Caroline brought Sugar in. Now, she brought Sugar in her room, and they both jumped up on the bed. She pulled out her computer, and they looked for a food dish, collar, food, toys, and a blanket for Sugar. When Caroline turned on her computer, she typed in her password. Then, she went to her taskbar that is on the very bottom of her screen and clicked on a circle that has blue, red, yellow, and green in it. That circle is called Google. When she got to Google, she typed in “Dog food dishes.”

She saw a red dish. No. Then, she saw a purple dish. No. But, then, she saw a pink dish and said that was perfect. So, she ordered the food dish. Then, she looked up dog collars. She saw a red-striped color. No. She saw a collar that had an Auburn logo on it. No. But, then she saw a pink and white polka dot collar and said that was great. So, she ordered it.

Then, she typed in Petco.com to look for puppy food. When the stores website came on, they typed in puppy food in the search box. Now, Caroline saw different types of puppy food. Caroline asked Sugar what kind she wanted. But, Sugar did something strange. Sugar did not even turn her head. Caroline, began to worry. She thought “Maybe I should take her back to Dr. Brown’s office.” So, she did. She told her mom where she was going, and they went outside to get Caroline’s bike. Caroline put Sugar in the basket. Then, she jumped on her seat and pedaled as fast as she could to Dr. Brown’s office.

When she got there, she opened the door in a rush, and she told Mary, Dr. Brown’s assistant, what happened. Mary got Dr. Brown as fast as she could. Dr. Brown walked to Caroline and told her to come in his office. So, Caroline did. Dr. Brown said, “How are you today? How can I help you Miss Caroline?” Caroline said, “I’m fine but, I don’t think Sugar is.” Dr. Brown answered “Why?” Caroline said “Well. Sugar didn’t turn her head when I asked her something.” Dr. Brown smiled. Then, said “Maybe, she did not understand you.”

Caroline thought for a second. Then, she told Dr. Brown how grateful she was to him, and she rode off after telling Mary goodbye. Then, she rode home and told her mom there was nothing the matter with Sugar. Then, her mom said “Great Dear. Supper is on the table.” Caroline asked, “What are we having?” Her mom answered,“We are having chicken and potatoes.” Caroline smiled, and her tummy growled. She ran upstairs to her bedroom and set Sugar on the bed and went downstairs to eat her favorite meal. Before she jumped in her chair, she went to the sink to wash her hands. Then, she jumped in her chair and began to eat her meal.