Sophmore Year

My Very First
The police car drove up to the front of my house, I looked out the window and there it was. I watched as the police man went to my front door and knocked. I watched him knock, but I couldn’t hear a thing. I was hiding now, I heard my mom yelling my name but I just breathed deeply and held her.
One week before-
I was walking down the block to go get ice cream when I saw a stray dog. I always thought that any dog that didn’t have a leash attached to it was homeless or lost. Since that dog was either lost or homeless it was my duty to take care of it and do whatever I needed to, to make sure it was comfortable. My whole life I had dreamed of having a dog. I would put a leash around my brother’s neck and make him crawl around the floor at times, to show my parents how much I wanted one. They always thought I was too young and not ready to handle the responsibility of a dog. I knew I had to prove them wrong. When I saw the stray dog a fire cracker went off in my head that told me, this is the time to show how responsible you are, take this dog and show your parents you can handle it. It was my first time being responsible for something, I had to make sure I did it right.
“Come here, puppy! Come here.” I said to the stray. She walked right over to me, as if she had known me for years. She let me pet her and get close to her. I could tell that she hadn’t been taken very good care of. There were chunks of her chocolate brown fur that were gone, and her light pink skin was showing. What was left of her fur was muddy and felt greasy. I had to take her into my possession and give her my love. As I started to run home she followed. She ran right up to my back door with me. I knew my mom and dad wouldn’t be happy when they saw her so I decided to put her in the garage. I laid a blanket down and said, “Don’t worry baby I will be back in a minute with food for you.” I ran into the house, trying not to be sneaky while I grabbed a couple pieces of bread. When I got back to the garage she was waiting at the door for me. I gave her the bread and she gobbled it down faster then anything I had ever seen. I sat down on the blanket and she lied next to me and put her head on my lap. I talked to her as if she was a real person. Since I didn’t want her to ever leave me I decided she needed a name. I named her Jewel after the girl puppy from 101 Dalmatians.
After being in the garage for a while, I went inside. I knew that I had to tell my mom. A rush came over me and I got butterflies in my stomach, a thought popped into my head. What if she didn’t let me keep her? I couldn’t let that happen, I told myself be persuasive. My mom was sitting in the kitchen making dinner when I walked in. “Hi mom, guess what! Today I was walking down the street and I found this puppy. I know that I should call the police but I don’t think she has a home, and she loves me and I named her Jewel.” My mom gave me a confused and disappointed face.
“Megan, that dog probably belongs to someone. Did you let her go?”
“Nope, she is lying down in the garage I gave her a blanket and everything so she would stay warm!” I led my mom to the garage where she found Jewel lying on the blanket.
“Megan, she has an owner. You can’t keep her locked up in a garage.”
“BUT MOM! She loves me, and she wants me to take care of her. Look she wants me to be her new owner!” I said as I bent down and let Jewel lick my hand.
“No, you know the rules. You are not allowed to keep dogs you find unless you are 100% positive that they don’t have an owner, and if you talk with me and your father first! Since your dad is not here, I am saying no. I will call the police right now.” Without one more word she walked out of the garage and into the house. I sat on the ground next to Jewel with her head in my lap, watching my mom from the garage while she was on the phone. I immediately started to cry. I tried to think fast, anything I could do to keep her for just a little bit longer. My mom walked back outside and I slammed the door to the garage I put the trash can in front of it, hoping that I could block her from coming in. “Megan! You are being ridiculous; the police said they haven’t gotten any calls yet so you can keep her until they do! Are you happy missy?” My mom yelled through the door. I threw the trash can out of the way and flung the door open, giving her a bear hug. “I can keep her for just a little bit longer, really!” I was thrilled! A chance to finally show my parents how responsible I can be! My mom just rolled her eyes at me and walked inside. She knew I wasn’t going to give up on this dog.
3 days went by and the police still hadn’t called about the dog. My parents were getting anxious having her around. “Daddy, do you want to play fetch with Jewel and I? She is really good at bringing the stick back!” I asked my dad as he read the Sunday morning paper.
“Sure, let’s see what this dog can do.” We went outside and the minute my dad got close to her with the stick, she started growling and barking at him. I didn’t understand why this was happening. My dad said that it was probably because her past owners hadn’t treated her nicely and they were most likely male. My dad went inside after that encountering, and not much longer did I hear…
“Meg, can your mom and I talk to you for a second? Put Jewel in the garage and come inside.” My dad yelled from our back door. I knew this could either be great news, or bad news. I prepared myself for the worst. Once I was inside both of my parents were sitting down at the kitchen counter. So naturally I sat down and they started the conversation. “Megan, over the past couple of days you have fed and cared for Jewel as your own dog. Although you have done a fabulous job, we just really feel like it’s not time for us to get a dog.” My dad calmly stated to me. I couldn’t control myself, I started bawling and screaming “No!!” My mom talked through my screaming now. “Calm down Meg, we have called the police and they are going to come get her, she is going to go to a nice house with someone who can care for her, more then we can. You can visit her anytime you want though.” I didn’t listen to a word she said, the only words I heard were it’s not time for us to get a dog. I only grasped the concept of my new best friend leaving. I ran to the garage and stayed there until my dad came to get me.
We watched from the window as the cars drove by. All of them seemed blurry. The black and white car pulled up and it was the only one on the street that wasn’t blurry. He got out of his car and I immediately sprinted up stairs holding on to Jewel’s fur.
“Megan!” Come down here! Megan!” My mom screamed my name throughout the house. I refused to answer her though.
“Come down here with Jewel, right now!” My mom yelled again. Jewel barked and ran out of my hands; she sprinted herself down the stairs and right into the arms of the police man. I ran after her screaming no! As soon as she saw me at the top of the stairs she ran back up into my arms.
“Is your name Megan?” The police officer said to me.
I replied cautiously “Yes.”
“Can you bring the dog down here?”
My mom butted in, “Megan, come down here with Jewel right now please. I promise we won’t take her from you.”
I grabbed Jewel’s fur and held her as we walked down the stairs. We stood about 8 feet away from the officer and my mom, just in case they pulled a fast one on us.
“I heard that you found this dog down the street from your house about 1 week ago…right?” The police officer asked me.
“Yes.” I replied almost in a whisper.
“We haven’t gotten a call from anyone, but your parents don’t think its time for you to have a dog, so she is going to go to an owner that can care for her. You can visit her anytime you want.” The officer explained to me.
I wasn’t sure what to say. I knew I couldn’t yell because he was an authority, but I couldn’t let him take her away. I knew I didn’t have a choice though. I let go of her soft fur as the officer bent down to hold her. I couldn’t move. I stood at the bottom of my stairs watching my best friend being taken away from me. I held myself back from crying until the officer was out of the house, then I ran to my room and cried for the rest of the day.
One week later-
I had accepted the fact that Jewel wasn’t my dog and that she deserved someone who could take care of her better then I could.
“Come on Meg! The car is running!” My mom yelled to me from downstairs.
I was looking the mirror making sure I had put on just the right outfit. I hustled down the stairs and out to the car. We drove into Lake Forest past what seemed to be a million houses. Finally we pulled up to a small ranch that was painted yellow. I got out with my mom and walked up to the front door. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I just wanted to see her. A lady who seemed to be about 35 answered the door. Jewel ran beside her.
“Delilah. No. They are here to see you!” The woman said to the dog. I was confused, she just called her Delilah. I named her Jewel though? I bent down to pet her and she immediately knew who I was. She licked my face and I felt at home with her.
Before leaving I gave Delilah a big hug, and I knew she was with a good owner now. I wasn’t sad that she was gone anymore I knew that I wasn’t ready for a dog like her and that her new owner would take good care of her. I visited her continuously for a year after that. I had to check up to make sure that she was doing alright. I lost contact with her owner though, and soon Delilah wasn’t the main thing in my head. After looking back on these moments I don’t regret having to give her away, because I am sure she has lived a happy life with her new owner. I am sure she is still alive to this day and still running around as she used to.


After reading this story I can remember those days like they were just yesterday. Although this story meant so much to me as a child, and even during sophmore year this is now just a memory to me and is not important enough to write a story out of. I think that I could have used different phrasing throughout this piece and added a bit of fun by explaining how much fun the dog and I had instead of focusing on points that didnt matter as much. Throughout this piece I just told the story instead of adding small specific details that would have made it more entertaining.