SAM – TAMMY RUGGLES

It was a chilly, rainy, orning; terrible weather for summer.

School was out, but I couldn’t go outside and play because mom said I would get sick.

So, I put on my jacket and went out on the front porch, and that’s where I found this blond Labrador with a hurt paw.
“Gee, what happened to you?” asked as k knelt down beside him.

He whined and put his head down on his good paw.

There wasn’t a collar, so I didn’t know who he belonged to or what I should do.

It seemed kind of mean to call the dogcatcher on a hurt animal.

“Mom!” I shouted as I ran inside the house. But mom was gone. I’d forgotten that w\she had to go to the store.
Oh we, I went to my room and got out my first aid kit.

It wasn’t a real one. Just the one I played doctor and patient wit, but it had stuff from mighty mom’s real one, like iodine, bandages, stuff like that.

After carrying medical supplies out on the porch, I bent down to the dog again, “what’s your name, huh?” the dog only whined.
“guess I’ll call you godly” I told him,” since you’re gold.”

I nursed the dog’s paw as best as I could, then sat down next to him and patted his head because he seemed kind of sad. Questions circled through my mind, like, how did he get hurt? Who did he along to? Where did he live? How did he get lost? Goldy and I sat go tether unit mom came home.


“Can I keep him, Mon?”

She knelt down withes and patted the dog’s head to. “He probably beings to someone, Shelly. He must have somehow got separated from his master. We need to find his owner” my heart sank. I knew she was going to say that.
“But if the owner doesn’t show up, I guess he’s ours.”

So mom put a notice in the paper, and we waited. It was the longest wait of my life. Goldy was a good dog, and mended more every day. At first he couldn’t walk on his paw at all, but then little by little it healed.

The days went by with no one showing up to claim the dong. When god was feeling a all better, we played Frisbee and football in the year. He was a very smart dog and knew commands like “sit”, “stay”, and “come”.

“Someone must have trained him”, mom said sadly. “That means he has an owner”. But still no onecam.secretly,I was glad. I wanted goldy to beamy dog Momevenput his picture in the paper, and still no one came.

“Guess he’s you r dog now, steely,” she dad one day, as they brought home a new chew toy for Godly to play with. “yey!” I yelled jumping up and down.

Goldy was even beginning to act like my dog. He followed dme to schoolman nod waited all day untilled came out. He even walked beside me, and on the outside of the sidewalk to get between me and the traffic.

Then one day when we got home from school, a strange van was in the driveway, and there was a lady with dark sunglasses and a white cane on our front porch talking to Mom. A man was with her. Godly started barking and ran up to the blind lady.
“Sam!”The lady laughed, and godly ran into her arms. Goldy whined with love, licking all over the lady’s face. I looked at Mom. She didn’t have to tell me what was going on godly wasn’t really godly. He was Sam. and he was her Sam. Her guide dog. my heart sank.

The lady began to cry, and so did Sam, by the sound of him. They looked so happy to be reunited. I started to cry too, but for a different reason. I was going to lose my new best friend.

“Thank you, Shelly”, the lady said holding her hand out for me to shake, “for taking care of Sam. We were in a traffic accident, and somehow we got separated when went to the hospital. I guess he lost his collar and harness too”. I looked at their hand, I don’t want to give godly up, but I could see that it was this lady the really belonged to. not me. I was just temporary.

She needed him, and he needed her. He was a trained working dog with an important job to do. They were happy together. And I definitely wanted Sam to be happy.
I did what I knew was right, and shook Diane’s hand.

“You’re welcome”, I told her. It was hard letting him go, but it would have been harder keeping him from his rightful owner. “You can come visit him anytime you lime,”diance offered.

That put a big smile on my face. “Thank you”. I said and watched the car with the two happy souls disappear round the driveway.