Penny
Jessica Munguia
I gazed out the window to see endless blue waters that lead your eyes to the horizon. We were on our way to the beach from our normal trip to Monterey: Go to the beach, get lunch, go to the mall, Carmel, the wharf, and home. But when we were on our way to the beach, we passed by this little shopping mall that we never saw before. We decided to take a pit stop on the block. We first popped into an antique shop. They had at least 5 rooms in that shop but I remember my sister and I just running around carefully looking at merchandise. Then we kept walking up the block and found a jewelry shop (I think) and walked in. My sister and I were just standing around while our parents were looking at jewelry. I walked next to my mom and said,
“Could we go? I am super bored”.
After that, we were walking to our car to go to the beach finally, but when we were driving down the block my sister and I saw a pet shelter.
“CAN WE GO INSIDE, PLEASE!!? ”
We screamed and begged our parents to go inside, and they finally they said,
“Yes”.
We parked in front of the shelter and before we went inside my dad told us,
“Do not fall in love with a dog.”
“Fine,” we replied in a slightly sad voice and hopped out of the car.
When we walked in, all the dog kennels were empty, and my face turned gloomy. My sister said, “There are still cats in some of the cages, let's go check them out”.
So we ran to go play with them. It smelled very stuffy and with the crowded smell of dog and cat. After a while we got bored because all the cats were sleeping, so we walked to a wall with pictures on it. It was filled with dog pictures. We were pointing out the cute ones (all of them) and then all of a sudden, we heard dogs barking in the distance.
A man with about 15 dogs walked in, I was overwhelmed with the amount of dogs there were but this little black and brown puppy ran in first. The man walked them to the cages and put them back. After he was done, one of the dogs caught our eye. We walked up to her and saw that her name was Penny. She was a little miniature pinscher with a docked tail. We felt her soft small fur with her cold wet nose. My dad later came over and asked, “Do you want to give her a treat?”
“YES!” My sister and I replied.
He gave us both a quarter and we put it in the machine that gave us a little treat. I put the treat in front of Penny and she gobbled it up like she hasn't eaten in days. We both giggled and my sister gave Penny another treat and she did the same thing.
My parents started to talk to the lady at the front desk about what that shelter does. She looked over at me and my sister, then said “Your kids look like they like you. You should sign up to adopt Penny.”.
Before the pen could hit the paper, she said “Just so you know, five other families had already signed up to adopt her.” My parents’ hearts dropped knowing that their children would not get something that they loved, but they wanted to give it a shot anyway. My dad proceeded to write information on the page. My sister and I were on the floor petting her but we were secretly listening. My sister all of a sudden had a rush of excitement knowing that there was a possibility that we could adopt her. The lady started to tell us about Penny and how they found her. Apparently, they think that she jumped or she was thrown out of a moving car because they saw her on the side of the road, limping with a broken leg. But they helped her recover and when she takes walks she LOVES to jump.
We decided to go home because it started to get late. We got in the car and my parents said to me and my sister, “Five other families want her so there was a small chance that we would end up taking her home.”
On the way home I could not stop thinking that we had a chance to get a dog. A DOG. My sister and I had been wanting a dog for the longest time! And we were about to get one! Well as a kid I over-exaggerated and when my parents told me that there were five other families that wanted her I was too excited thinking that we were going to take her home, oops. Then as soon as I knew it we were home.
7 DAYS LATER
I woke up at 8 in the morning, had breakfast, and watched Mickey Mouse clubhouse. When my sister woke up, we colored with markers and crayons, (ah a simple childhood). Later, my mom came home from work with a smile on her face and asked us,
“Guess who is coming home with us?”
My sister and I forgot about the dog so we were spitballing people we knew. My mom later could not keep the secret; she said “Penny is coming home with us!” We were confused about why we got her when a ton of people wanted her, too. But then my mom told us, “The people who signed up had babies and they were worried that the babies would not be careful around Penny.”
My sister and I were jumping up and down.
A couple of days later we went to Pet Smart and bought a ton of things they told us to get to be able to pick her up. We walked out with a cart and a half FULL of dog stuff because we were just so excited. We got home and we were preparing to pick her up. Getting her leash, dog bed, and diapers for some reason.
The next day we drove all the way to Monterey to get her. We parked in front of the shelter and bolted out of the car as fast as we could. But I noticed something, she was not there. We stood there not knowing what to do for like 10 minutes until a lady caring Penny walked in. She had Penny dressed in a sweater with a huge skull on the back. We were super confused. The lady who came in with Penny asked the lady at the front desk, “Who is the new owner?“
She pointed at us. She handed her over and Penny was jumping up and down as usual. She told us, “I was taking care of her until she was adopted.”
We took Penny home and she enjoyed the drive. When we got home we showed her our home and when we showed her our backyard, she fell in love. She is now 6 years old (I think) still loving us and of course our backyard. After getting her, she made me so much happier and everyone in this house too. I look back on that day and I appreciate every moment with her.
THE END :)
