ANNA & BELLA and the Puppy Problem

by Jane E M Atkinson

  Bella looks over at Keira. “I don’t think Pogo ever left the dog park. I think he just found a quiet place to rest.”

  Keira slowly nods her head. “That makes a lot of sense, Bella. This place can get wild and crazy. And Pogo is still a puppy. Let’s start looking right away!”

  Keira and her mom walk off to the left. Tulip and Bella head off to the right. Ishana and I walk into the middle of the dog park. We put our backs together and slowly spin around. We don’t want to miss a thing.

  I see the dog house, playground, and sandbox. Pogo wouldn’t be in any of those places. They’re way too loud. Hmm, where would I go if I was a dog?

  Off to my right, I see Bella and Tulip looking around a huge ash tree. A second later, Bella starts hopping up and down with excitement and motions for us to join her. Ishana and I race over to the tree. Keira and her mom are right behind us.

  “Look!” Bella exclaims. She points to the base of the ash tree, where a tiny, white puppy is fast asleep amongst the tree roots. The large roots make a perfect little hideout.

  “Oh, Pogo, you silly puppy!” Keira cries as she kneels down on the ground. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

  At the sound of Keira’s voice, Pogo wakes up. When he sees Keira, he immediately jumps into her lap.

  “I love you, Pogo,” Keira whispers softly into his ear. Pogo gives Keira’s face a wet lick.

  Keira looks up at us. “Thank you so much for your help today,” she says gratefully.

  “You’re very welcome,” I say.

  “I’m always glad to help,” Bella adds, crouching down to rub Pogo’s head. “You and I both like our hideouts, don’t we boy?”

  Pogo wags his tail and licks Bella’s hand.

  Going Home

  Tulip flutters down and hovers in front of Bella and me. “Thank you so much for your help today, girls. It wasn’t what I had planned, but I hope you still had fun.”

  “I had a great time,” I say honestly.

  “The absolute best time!” Bella adds.

  Tulip looks between Bella and me. “I can’t remember. Who has the gem?”

  The gem! I totally forgot about the gem. From the look on Bella’s face, I know she forgot about it, too. She quickly pulls the gem from her pocket and holds it out to me.

  “I’m so sorry, Anna,” Bella says apologetically. “We were supposed to take turns carrying it. I didn’t mean to keep it the whole time.”

  I smile reassuringly at Bella and close her fingers around the gem. “That’s okay, Bella. Why don’t you take us home this time? I can always do it the next time.”

  Bella beams at me. “You really are the best big sister ever!”

  I feel a warm tingle in my heart. My mom was definitely right. It does feel good to let others go first.

  I turn to Keira and Queen Katherine. “Hopefully we’ll see you again soon.”

  “I would like that very much,” Keira says.

  “Me too,” Queen Katherine adds.

  I glance up at Tulip. “We’ll see you the next time we come, right?”

  “You’ll see me or one of the other Flower Fairies,” Tulip says. “The gem will be your clue.”

  The gem will be our clue? What does that mean?

  But before I can ask Tulip about it, Ishana says, “Let’s go home, girls.” I notice she’s also holding a pink gem.

  I take Bella’s hand and close my eyes. Then Bella whispers, “Please take us home.”

  Just as my fingers begin to tingle, my eyes pop open. Oh no! I forgot to tell Bella something. I look over at her. She’s all shimmery. Will she be able to hear me? I need to at least try. I lean over and quickly whisper in her ear.

  A second later, I find myself back in the multi-coloured pink slide. The slide is way more fun the second time around! After zooming around a corner, I shoot out the end and land beside a big rock.

  When I stand up, I see my school. My friends are still running around on the field. I’m back!

  Then I think about Bella. Did she hear what I said before we left? I race over to the kindie fence to check. Yes! She did hear me.

  Bella is leaning against the old oak tree. Her face lights up when she sees me. I smile and wave. Bella grins and waves back. The pink gem is still in her hand. It sparkles in the sunlight.

  “Anna, come play with us,” my best friend, Mackenzie, yells from the field.

  I give Bella a final wave, then race off to join my friends.

  **Extras**

  Picture Gallery

  Sneak Peek of Book 2

  Party Time

  “This party is going to be amazing!” Bella exclaims.

  “The absolute best,” I add.

  My name is Anna, and Bella is my younger sister. We’re driving to my best friend, Mackenzie’s, birthday party. She’s having it at the new indoor playground.

  Mom peeks at us in the rear-view mirror. “Have you decided what to do first?” she asks.

  I’ve never been to this playground before, but I’ve seen pictures of it online. “I want to try the tall, twisty slide,” I answer excitedly.

  “The trampoline looks amazing!” Bella cries. “I definitely want to go there first.”

  Mom laughs. “Good thing the party is three hours long. You’ll have plenty of time to try everything.”

  Up ahead, I see the playground sign through the front window. Mom slows the car and turns into the parking lot.

  I still can’t believe the twisty slide is six stories high! Just thinking about it makes my belly tingle.

  My belly always tingles when I’m excited, nervous, or scared. When I was little, my mom told me a fairy was flying around inside my tummy, to keep me company. Now that I’m older, I know there isn’t really a fairy in my belly. However, I know for a fact that fairies are absolutely real.

  About a month ago, a sparkly pink gem whisked Bella and me off to a magical land called Flower. In Flower, we met fairies, a mermaid, and an actual princess. Ever since that day, Bella and I have been eagerly waiting to go back.

  Mom pulls into a parking spot and shuts off the engine. She turns around in her seat to look at us. “We’re here early, so you’ll have a chance to play with Mackenzie before the other girls arrive.”

  “Yippee!” Bella and I shout in unison. I flash Bella a grin. Whenever we say something at the same time we have good luck. At least, that’s what we think.

  “Do you remember what we talked about at home?” Mom asks.

  Bella and I nod our heads.

  “Good, because parties are supposed to be fun,” Mom says. “I don’t want anyone to feel left out.”

  The three of us link arms and walk inside. The lady at the front desk stamps our hands with a purple fairy. After taking off our coats and shoes we enter the playground.

  I can’t help but gasp. This is the biggest playground I’ve ever seen! The twisty slide is to the left. The trampoline is to the right. And in front of us is the six-level climbing structure.

  I nudge Bella. “There’s Mackenzie,” I say, pointing to the third level.

  Mackenzie is chasing her little sister, Michaela. When she catches Michaela, she starts to tickle her. We can hear Michaela’s giggles from across the playground.

  Michaela manages to roll away from her sister and runs to a rope ladder. “Bet you can’t catch me!” she shouts.

  Mackenzie starts to chase after her sister, but then spots us. “Anna! Bella! You’re here!” she cries. She runs to the blue wave slide and zooms down to the ground.

  “Happy Birthday, Mackenzie,” I say, giving her a quick hug.

  “Thank you for inviting me to your party,” Bella adds.

  Mom holds up the birthday presents we brought. “I’ll put these in the birthday room. You girls go have fun.”

  “Thank you so much, Mrs. Schmitt,” Mackenzie says to our mom. Then she and Bella run off.

  I’m just about to follow them when my
mom puts a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t forget what we talked about earlier,” she says quietly.

  “I’ll remember,” I whisper back. Then I dash off after Bella and Mackenzie.

  Available Now

  Coming Soon

  I wrote the Flower series with the help of my two incredibly creative daughters. If you have a comment or question, we’d love to hear from you!