Yesterday, Kim and I were sitting out in front of my house playing jacks. Kim had gotten up to threesies, I was just starting on twosies. My dog Boomer just stood there like he was guarding us from danger.
"I hope I can finish twosies. You always beat me, and I wanna win for a change", I told Kim.
"Keep trying, you'll get it", Kim said. "You just need to practice more."
I was just about to toss the ball in the air, when Boomer came over and started sniffing at my jacks.
"No Boomer, you leave those jacks alone!", I hollered.
Boomer whimpered and went to sit by the edge of the steps. He spotted our neighbor's cat Phoebe sitting on her lawn across the street.
Boomer started barking and took off down the steps!
Kim and I jumped up and ran after him. "Boomer stop! Come back!:, we yelled.
My puppy may have very short legs, but he can run awfully fast. By the time we got to the bottom of the stairs, Boomer and Phoebe were no where in sight. We started walking down the street whistling and calling for Boomer.
We saw Kyle sitting in front of his house, fixing his skateboard.
We ran up to him and asked if he had seen Boomer.
"No, I haven't seen him. What happened?" Kyle wanted to know.
"Oh, he took off after Mrs. Philcott's cat, and we can't find him anyplace", I told him.
"Well if I see him, I'll bring him right over to your place, OK?
"OK, thanks Kyle."
Kim and I walked on for a couple of blocks and saw Raychel and Sunny jumping rope in front of Raychel's house.
We ran up to them and asked if they had seen Boomer.
"No, we haven't seen him", Raychel said.
"You live 2 blocks away, Julie. Why would Boomer be all the way over here?", Sunny asked.
I explained about Phoebe and how we just couldn't find that crazy mutt of mine anywhere!
"Well if he comes by here, we'll get him", Sunny promised.
"Yeah", said Raychel. Even if we have to tie him up with our jump ropes!"
"Thanks you guys", I sighed.
I was really starting to get worried. Boomer had never done anything like this before. He's just a puppy, and never walked around the neighborhood without me holding his leash. What if he got attacked by a bigger dog or even got hit by a car? Oh we just had to find him!
After almost an hour, we made our way back to my house. We couldn't find him anywhere! I started to cry. Kim hugged me. I felt so bad about fussing at Boomer about my jacks! I'd take it all back if he would just come home!
"Don't worry, Julie. Boomer will come home. He'll probably be getting hungry soon."
Even though that was true, if Boomer ran too far away, he might not be able to find his way home.. I sat on the steps and sighed. I wasn't looking forward to telling my mom that Boomer ran off. She'll probably lecture me about what a big responsibility having a dog is. She might even ground me!
We walked into the house and told my mom that Boomer had run off, and I didn't mean for it to happen and maybe we should call the police. You know what my mom did then? She laughed!
"Julie, Boomer's in your room. When I opened the door to get the mail he ran between my legs and straight upstairs. When I passed by your room a few minutes ago, he was sitting on your bed, panting away."
I kissed my mom and me and Kim ran upstairs to my room. And there was Boomer sitting on my bed!
"Boomer! Do you know I've been worried sick! Don't you ever do that to me again!"
Boomer just barked and panted like he was happy to see me and he didn't know he did anything wrong. And as angry as I was, I was so happy he was home safe that I picked him up and hugged him.
He licked my face and then I sat him down on my bed.
"Boomer, you've been a bad boy. I'm gonna have to ground you. No doggie treats for you tonight. And the next time you go out, it'll be on a leash!"
I know he's only a dog, and probably didn't understand a word I said. But I guess this is how my mom must feel when I do something I shouldn't do. She loves me, but she's gotta punish me. I remember I wandered off in Conroy's Department Store when I was about 4. My mom said she was so happy when she found me, but she didn't know whether to spank me or hug me. She hugged me, but she took dessert away for a week.
Kim and I sat down to rap and to rest. Walking around the neighborhood for nearly an hour wore us out!
"I'm glad Boomer's home, Julie, I don't even think I've seen you look so scared!", Kim told me.
"Yeah, it was a bummer all right, but everything's OK now."
"Hey Julie, you know when Miss LaSalle lets us write compositions for extra credit?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You could write about what happened today! I think that would make a really groovy composition! Especially the ending...Boomer being here in your room the whole time.", Kim laughed.
I giggled. "Yeah, now that I'm not so scared, it's actually pretty funny. But I promise you it's gonna be a long time before Boomer runs away from me again!"
Until next time, future readers,
Your friend,
Julie Newman
