One Small Step (Kristen)

If Emmeline was going to be home alone most of the time, her parents were going to make it less lonely. They’d talked it over with each other, bribed her brother into not hating them for it, and decided that they would get her a puppy. A puppy was going to give her something to do, a companion, and some responsibility. But most of all, it was going to make her happy.

Her mom had read somewhere that the best therapy sick people get is when they’re visited by a therapy dog, but so why not get her daughter one?

Without telling Emmeline, they packed her up in the car while her brother was off at hockey practice (he’d would get to pick out his own pet later) and drove her to the pet store. They just said they were going out on errands and wanted her to come with them. When she was little, Emmeline would always point out the pet store when they passed it, so excited and hopeful that they would get to go inside and at least look around.

Even though she saw it coming, Emmeline just wistfully stared at it. She’d had a hamster when she was younger, but after it died in high school all of her problems cropped up and she’d never gotten around to getting a new pet. The hamster cage was still in the garage somewhere.

But then the car stopped. And then they told her to get out.

As they walked inside, Emmeline felt a familiar knot in her stomach. It was the same kind of knot she got when she was getting nervous, but this time it felt a little different—the nervousness was still there, but it was also lined with excitement. Was she really going to get to pick out a puppy? A real puppy? It was a little busy inside, so while they waited their turn to be helped, they looked around at all of the pets and the supplies.

A puppy. What kind of puppy was she going to get? She hadn’t had time to think about this—but her parents assured her that anything she wanted. All she had to do was find one she liked and they would take care of the budget.