Become Animals.

The boy was excited! There were almost 30 puppies in the large kernel. Little fun balls that kept hopping around and falling over themselves to get his attention. He had worked for this. “Straight As and you get a puppy”, his father said.

He rose to the challenge, putting away his game console for weeks, and taking every opportunity to study. He studied while eating, on the drive to school, during lunch break, and on the way home. He studied like his life depended on it. For a puppy? The reward was worth it. He was so proud to march the report card to his father. His little chest puffed out even more with his father’s very gentle, “I’m proud of you”, the only thing that made it better was, “Let’s get this dog”.

They drove to the dog pound he had visited every day after school because the owner kindly allowed him. Spending this much time with the puppies meant he already had a favourite, but his favourite was not for sale. “Besides, this breed looks like puppies forever, they don’t grow”, the owner said to him. “You need a different kind to keep up with your energy”. The boy wasn’t convinced. All the other dogs paled in comparison and nothing the man said could deter him. So he had a plan.

“Here take the key, bring out- What are you naming him?”

“Wilson!” the boy quipped

“Bring out Wilson the owner continued, handing him the keys, “I’ll make a collar in his name for you”.

Excited, he hurried to the back, took in the puppies and found what he was looking for. A pup with almost the same white and brown spots as Wilson. He quickly traded one puppy for the other and walked gingerly back to the front store. His heart was racing as his father paid for the medicine, food and toys. Later that night after hours of playing, he finally went to bed with his new friend sleeping in the corner of the room. It was the crying that woke him up. He looked over to the corner of the room where his companion was and screamed.

In the corner was a little boy no bigger than he was with the “Wilson” dog collar tight around his neck, crying. To his horror, the boy said, “Help us! Help all of us.”