This is a story I wrote based off of a picture of someone staring horrified at a lump in the carpet. Enjoy!
“What were you thinking?” my father yelled, waving my wish list in the air. “You are not getting a dog! I want you to rewrite this letter, and I don’t want to see it even mention a dog!”
Yep, that’s my father for you. Once he makes up his mind, there’s no changing it. Unfortunately for him, I may have inherited some of his stubbornness. So when my father told me I had to rewrite my letter, and I couldn’t mention ‘a dog’, I erased ‘a dog’ from my number 1 ‘want it’ space and replaced it with ‘a puppy’.
Needless to say (though I’m going to say it anyways), my father was not pleased. He said I was grounded until I had rewritten the letter. I was fine with that. If I wasn’t allowed to leave my room, I didn’t have to go to school, right?
Well, so much for that idea. My father made me go to the bus stop, so I sat down next to Donna, my best friend. “What’s wrong?” she asked, only briefly glancing at my face before returning to reading. I explained my problem.
“Why don’t you start with something small like, say, a hamster?” she suggested.
The reason I didn’t try to get a hamster was I didn’t want a hamster. I wanted a dog, and that was final. In reading, we learned about figurative language. That gave me a great idea.
When I got home, I rewrote my list. This time, it didn’t mention a dog. Instead, my wish list included a “Servant-bot 3.0”. I said I wanted it because I was ‘lonely’.
I showed the list to my father and then I put it in my backpack. Hopefully, the person who recieved my list would see the word ‘lonely’ and get the clue.
All I could do was wait, so I went to my room. There I found my toy food bowl. I gently placed it on my nightstand. The next day I couldn’t pay attention in class. My mind kept drifting to my list. If this didn’t work, what would?
When I got home, I went to my room. I turned on my lamp and gasped. My little food dish was gone!
I immediately stormed downstairs and into my father’s office. “Where is it?” I demanded, tears in my eyes. “Where is my little food dish?”
“I thought it was in your room.” my father nonchalantly replied, not looking away from his paperwork.
I stomped out of the room, fuming. I immediately ran straight to my room, searching furiously through my stuff. I stomped back down to my father’s office.
“It’s not there!” I complained.
“Why don’t you check the garage?” he suggested.
“Oh no you don’t!” my mother exclaimed, entering the office. “You’re going to go wash up for dinner.”
The next day, after school, I stepped into my father’s office. “Can I have the keys so I can check the garage for my bowl?”
He thought for a moment, then replied, “No. I’ll come with you, though.” With that we set out for the garage door. My father slid the key into the hole and opened the door, revealing a vast, dark opening.
“After you,” my father said, gesturing towards the garage. I took a deep breath and plunged into the darkness.
A moment or two later, a lamp flickered on. I saw my father change the settings on the dimmer, and suddenly I could see the other side of the garage.
I turned back to my father. He grinned and did a mock bow like a stage performer. As he straightened up, he froze. The look on his face was clear. I turned very slowly to see where he was pointing.
“Wha-What’s that?” my father stammered, his eyes wide. I cautiously approached the lump. I reached down, grabbed the end of the carpet, and yanked it back. My eyes widened for a moment, then I burst into hysterical laughter.
There on the floor was my food bowl. But that wasn’t all! There was also a small, adorable yellow puppy! “Happy Birthday, son.” my father said, stepping over and patting me on the back. And that’s the story of how I got Dandelion.
