Eva Graham, age 9, Co Down
Hey, my name is Noah. This is the story of how I met my dog and we went on adventures together, just the two of us. It’s probably the clearest thing I can remember. I couldn’t remember anything clearer than that moment. It was special.
I was walking home from school, alone. It was a typical day. I carried my schoolbag over my shoulder and swiftly walked down the path. I was so excited to go home because my mother told me she had a surprise for me at home. I didn’t know what it was; she never told me, which only excited me more. But when I reached the middle of the footpath, I saw a box moving. I lifted up the box and I saw a small black and white puppy.
My mind was in a swirl. I ran home and called to my mum, “I found a puppy. It’s skinny and weak!”
She looked up from the pile of washing she was carrying. “Where’d you find it?” she said, alarmed.
“Just on the road, next to some bins,” I said, still confused how this had happened so fast. I was hopeful I could keep it, although I had just found it.
“Poor thing, we need to bathe it immediately, then see if anyone owns it,” replied my mother.
A few hours later, we had bathed the puppy and checked if anyone owned it. Nobody did. I looked up to my mother. I thought I knew what she was going to say. But no. I surely did not.
“We have to keep it. Nobody else in the town owns it nor wants it and we can’t just get rid of it again and you know how much the both of us wanted a dog,” she announced.
I was in shock. I finally had a dog.! Finally! I was so happy. This was an even better surprise than the one I was going to get.
The next day, I went downstairs to get my breakfast and my mother had already made a little bed for the dog. The puppy was sound asleep.
“Today we are going to the vet to see if the little thing is a boy or girl. But what do you reckon we can call it, even if we don’t know the gender. Any ideas?” said my mother.
“Yeah, how about… Cookie?” I replied.
“Perfect name! Cookie it is then. Right, you need to get breakfast.”
A few hours later we found out she was a girl. Now our true story begins. We are ready for our adventure.
