A Wishbone Come True

by Kristin Earhart

  “She’s so cute!” Lexi said. It was true. She was the cutest puppy Lexi had ever seen.

  Rrruff, ruff, the puppy barked. She trotted toward Lexi and put her front legs up on the side of the pen. Rrruff, ruff!

  Lexi looked up at Mr. Power.

  “I think she wants you to pick her up,” he said.

  Lexi quickly bent down and swooped the puppy into her arms. She was so soft! “Hey, you,” Lexi whispered, and the puppy responded with a sloppy lick of Lexi’s nose. Lexi giggled. As she pulled away, she noticed a shiny brass tag hanging from the puppy’s collar. It read LUNA.

  “Hi, Luna,” Lexi said. “Is she the only puppy you have?”

  “Well, yes. Right now. We aren’t like most pet stores. We don’t carry a lot of animals all of the time. We take animals who need a home, and we work to find the right family.”

  “Oh,” Lexi said. He wouldn’t let the puppy go home with just anyone. Lexi told herself it didn’t matter. Her parents wouldn’t let her have a puppy anyway.

  Mr. Power walked away to help someone pick out cat food.

  Luna wiggled and sniffed Lexi’s neck. Lexi giggled and reached up to scratch the puppy. At once, Luna stopped squirming and her pink tongue fell out of the side of her mouth.

  Lexi didn’t even notice that Mr. Power had come back.

  “You must have the magic touch,” Mr. Power said. “Luna has a lot of energy. She doesn’t calm down like that very often.”

  Lexi looked at the pet store owner. He sounded very serious.

  He watched her thoughtfully. “Do you want to see her special trick?”

  Of course Lexi did! She placed the puppy on the floor and waited.

  That’s when she heard her name. “Lexi! There you are!” It was her mom.

  “Hey, sweetheart.” And her dad.

  Lexi took a deep breath, wondering if they would use that tone — the tone that meant she was in trouble. She was supposed to meet them on the sidewalk, but she had lost track of time.

  “You must be Lexi’s parents,” Mr. Power said. He reached out and shook both of her parents’ hands.

  Lexi watched as her parents made small talk with the owner of the pet store. Luna jumped up and put her front paws on Lexi’s leg. Rrruff, ruff, the puppy begged.

  Lexi kneeled down. “I didn’t mean to ignore you,” she said. Lexi put both hands behind the puppy’s ears and scratched. Immediately, the puppy’s tongue dropped out the side of her mouth. It was so silly, Lexi had to laugh, but she also felt sad. She already loved Luna so much. She didn’t want to say good-bye.

  “Lexi, we need to head home,” her mom reminded her.

  Lexi looked at her mom with pleading eyes. She hadn’t even seen Luna’s trick yet!

  “Before you go, could I show you Luna’s special trick?” Mr. Power asked in a calm voice. “I promised Lexi I would.”

  It was as if Mr. Power had read her mind. Lexi looked hopefully at her parents. She crossed her fingers and held her breath.

  “We can stay a bit longer,” Mrs. Torres said to Mr. Power. Mr. Torres squeezed Lexi’s shoulder.

  “Great, you’re going to love this trick!” Mr. Power said, kneeling down. He held up his finger to get the puppy’s attention. Her bright eyes stared at the man’s face. “Luna, sit.”

  The puppy tucked her back legs under her. Her ears pricked forward, but one of them flopped down. The pet store owner held up his finger again. “Luna, roll over three times,” Mr. Power said, and he drew three circles in the air with his finger.

  The puppy hunched down, pushed off, and did one perfect roll, followed by another. Halfway through the third roll, she stopped on her back and showed off her fuzzy brown belly.

  “Come on, girl,” Mr. Power encouraged her. “You can do it. This is important.”

  Still upside down, Luna turned her gaze from Mr. Power to Lexi. The puppy seemed to smile at her before finishing the third roll with a quick twist.

  At once, Lexi felt something unexpected. Everything looked shimmery, as if sparkles were swimming all around her.

  “What did you think?” Mr. Power asked quickly.

  “She’s the best,” Lexi answered. She glanced up at her parents. They both looked dazed.

  “You know what I think?” Mr. Torres blurted out.

  “Yes, dear?” Mrs. Torres said.

  “I think it’s time for Lexi to get a dog.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” Lexi’s mom responded.

  Lexi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She blinked several times, trying to clear the sparkles from her vision.

  “Really?” Lexi asked.

  “Yes, definitely,” Mrs. Torres answered.

  At that moment, Lexi heard a high, popping sound. The glitter effect immediately disappeared. Lexi’s vision cleared again, and she realized Luna had crawled up into her lap.

  “That’s great news!” Mr. Power exclaimed. “I think Lexi will be an excellent dog owner. And what do you think about Luna? Is she the puppy for you?”

  The puppy wiped her long, pink tongue across Lexi’s chin.

  “Oh, yes,” Lexi said. “As long as my parents say it is okay.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Torres appeared stunned.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Luna is the perfect puppy for you,” Mrs. Torres said.

  Luna’s ears pricked forward at the sound of her name. She toddled out of Lexi’s lap and nibbled at the strap on Mr. Torres’s sport sandal.

  “We’ll have to get you some chew toys, Luna,” Lexi’s dad said.

  Lexi couldn’t stop grinning. It was really happening!

  “Lexi,” Mr. Power said, sounding serious again. “I need to show you how to get Luna to do her special trick.” The store owner talked her through all the steps. He ended with the most important rule. “Luna should not do her special trick too many times. She’s still a puppy. It will wear her out.”

  Lexi promised to follow all of the rules. She didn’t want to do anything that would harm her puppy. Her puppy! It was still too good to be true. She couldn’t wait to tell everyone about Luna. That’s when the truth set in. She couldn’t share her excitement with the one person she most wanted to tell, because that person wasn’t talking to her.

  Once they arrived home, Lexi was so full of glee she forgot about Simon. Luna was hilarious, darting around the house. She ran at full speed down the hallway and then stopped short to smell the sofa, and the newspaper, and a dirty sock.

  “Oh, Luna,” Lexi exclaimed. “That’s Reed’s sock. Gross.”

  “Is someone saying something mean about my socks?” Lexi’s big brother came out of his bedroom, blinking in the sunlight-filled living room. “What? You got a dog?” Reed stared at the puppy in disbelief at first, then kneeled down and gave Luna a ferocious belly rub, wrapping his hands around her little body. The puppy dropped to the floor and rolled on her back for more.

  “She really likes you,” Lexi said.

  “Everyone likes me,” Reed said. Lexi rolled her eyes.

  Mr. Torres walked in carrying a bag of brand-new dog toys. “That’s so you don’t chew on my shoes,” he said in a stern tone to the puppy with the large, floppy ear. “Or my slippers,” he added for good measure.

  Luna trotted over to the pile of toys and began sniffing around. Lexi quickly started ripping open the packages and holding each one out for Luna to investigate.

  Luna gave each toy a quick sniff and then seemed bored. The green-and-yellow braided rope. The blue bone. The squeaky turtle. All boring. She took off down the hallway again, her head bobbing up and down with each joyful stride.

  Lexi stood up, ready to chase after her. Before she could follow the puppy down the hallway, Luna was back with a filthy tennis ball in her mouth.

  “Give me that,” Lexi insisted. “Come on, Luna.”

  Lexi grabbed at the ball and tugged, but Luna wouldn’t let go. The puppy let out a playful growl. Her sharp white baby teeth dug into the ball.<
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  “Come on, girl. Why don’t you play with these other toys? How about this purple octopus?” Lexi begged.

  “But she likes that one,” Reed insisted.

  Lexi couldn’t believe it. Of all the toys in the house, why did she have to like that scuzzy old ball?

  Lexi wanted her to drop it. She wanted her to play with something else. That old tennis ball belonged to Bandit, and it reminded Lexi of Simon all over again.

  The next morning, Lexi awoke to Luna’s happy Rrruff, ruff, rufff. The puppy’s first bark was always extra long. It sounded like she was revving up. Luna was sitting next to Lexi’s bed, her soft brown eyes focused on Lexi.

  “Good morning, girl,” Lexi said, half wondering if this was all still a dream. As soon as Lexi leaned over to pet the puppy, Luna stood on her hind paws and gave Lexi’s hand a juicy lick. That warm, wet tongue felt real enough! The puppy’s tail whipped back and forth. “I could get used to this,” Lexi said and hurried out of bed. Luna ran in excited circles around her feet as she made her way to the kitchen.

  “This is early for you,” Lexi’s mom said from her usual spot at the breakfast bar. “But your puppy’s been awake for hours.”

  Lexi searched her mom’s face. Was Luna already in trouble for being an early riser? Since it was the weekend, she guessed her dad and brother were still asleep. How long had her mom been up? “You can put her crate in my room, and then she won’t wake you,” Lexi suggested.

  Luna, like many puppies, was trained to sleep in a special cage. Luna’s crate was in a corner of the family room. She seemed to like her crate a lot. Mr. Power had explained that wild dogs used to take shelter in dens, and modern dogs still like to have a safe place to rest.

  “She wasn’t that much trouble,” Lexi’s mom said with a warm smile. “She kept me company while I did my yoga. Didn’t you, girl?” Luna trotted over to the bar. She looked up at Mrs. Torres with her head tilted to one side.

  Lexi smiled at the thought. She could picture her mom doing various stretches, and the puppy weaving herself around one posed leg, then the other. Lexi suspected Luna was very smart. The puppy knew that she needed to make friends with Mrs. Torres, and she had figured out just the way to do it.

  Still, Lexi was worried. Something odd had happened at Power’s Pets the day before. She didn’t understand how her parents had changed their minds so quickly. That morning, her mom had declared that pets were too big a responsibility. Then, just a couple of hours later, she had said the opposite.

  Lexi was concerned that her parents might change their minds again. She had waited so long for a puppy, and having Luna was even better than she had hoped. What if she had to take her back?

  As Luna looked from Mrs. Torres to Lexi, her left ear flopped forward while her right ear stayed pricked. The puppy seemed to raise her eyebrows, trying to figure out what everyone was thinking.

  “Luna was begging all morning, so I went ahead and fed her. She was so cute I couldn’t take it,” Mrs. Torres said. “But I think you should be in charge of feeding her from now on, Lex. It can be a new Family Rule.” Of course! Lexi knew there would be lots of new Family Rules with a puppy in the house. Lexi also remembered that Mr. Power had given them a bunch of handouts on feeding and caring for a puppy. Lexi had been so excited, she had not read all the papers yet. But she already knew that puppies required special food.

  “Did you know that puppies need twice the nutrients of full-grown dogs?” she asked her mom.

  “I did,” her mom responded. “It’s because they are growing, just like kids.” Mrs. Torres tousled Lexi’s hair as she headed to the kitchen counter. “So don’t you forget to eat, little lady. And give that puppy some water while you’re at it.”

  Lexi gave her mom a quick, thankful hug. “You heard Mom,” Lexi called to Luna, slapping her leg. “Let’s get you a drink.” The puppy bounded after Lexi, her tiny nails clacking against the tile floor. As soon as Lexi placed the full metal bowl next to the new food dish, the puppy plunged her black nose into the water and sneezed. Lexi attempted to resist the cuteness long enough to make toast.

  Lexi had been so happy playing with Luna that she didn’t remember the puppy’s special trick until late afternoon, while she was talking to Reed.

  Lexi was trying to learn all about her new teacher, Mr. Harvey. She had found a letter from Mr. Harvey inside the envelope that had magically flown into Power’s Pets. “He sounds great,” Lexi told her brother.

  “Yeah, I had him,” Reed said, “but that was forever ago.”

  “Come on, Reed,” Lexi said. “It was only five years ago. You’ve got to remember something.”

  “Well, Mr. Harvey’s the best, but he’s not going to like you,” Reed said in a typical, teasing tone.

  “Why not?”

  “Because he doesn’t like students who do their homework, and raise their hands in class, and volunteer to help.” Lexi’s brother flashed his usual sly smile when he looked at her. “And he hates kids who bite their nails.”

  Lexi flinched and yanked her hand away from her mouth. Reed was, of course, describing her. Lexi scowled.

  “Most important,” Reed added, “is that he definitely doesn’t like reports on dogs, the kind with lots of interesting canine facts.”

  “I don’t think any of that is true,” Lexi insisted. She was sure she remembered that Mr. Harvey had a big Bernese mountain dog. She had seen him walking it on the other side of Castleton. And what teacher didn’t like reports filled with facts?

  “Believe what you want.” Reed snorted and pretended to tune his guitar, but Lexi knew the guitar was missing a string. He wasn’t going to play much of anything.

  Sometimes it bugged her that her brother was always joking. She could never get a serious answer from him.

  Lexi decided to ignore what Reed had said. She had written a lot of reports about dogs, and she wasn’t going to stop now. If Mr. Harvey had them craft an essay on what they did over the summer, she would write about getting Luna. She knew she could write a good story about her fabulous new puppy. That’s when she remembered Luna’s trick.

  “Want to see something?” she asked Reed.

  He shrugged.

  Lexi took that as a yes. She knelt down and called Luna, trying to remember the right commands. The puppy trotted up to Lexi and sat down.

  “Luna,” Lexi said, holding up one finger. “Roll over three times.” Then she made three circles in the air.

  Luna’s eyebrow whiskers went up, and she quickly got down on her haunches. Without a pause, the puppy rolled over once, twice, and a third time.

  Lexi immediately gave Luna a treat. She was so happy that at first she didn’t notice the sparkles gathering in the air. The same thing had happened at the pet store, where everything had looked shinier than usual. Lexi glanced over at Reed, wondering if her big brother noticed anything unusual. Reed was staring straight at Lexi.

  “Don’t you just love her?” Lexi said, giving Luna a hug.

  “Well, I guess so,” Reed replied. “But not as much as I love you.”

  Lexi laughed through her nose. “What did you say?”

  “I said that I love you.” Reed’s tone was earnest. “I know it’s been hard with Simon moving. You know you can count on me, right?”

  Reed stayed focused on her, his hazel eyes intent on her face.

  “Um, thanks,” Lexi said, trying to hide her smirk. She couldn’t help it. Her brother was trying to be nice, and it was hilarious! Reed was never funnier than when he was trying to be serious. She had to tell her mom!

  “Mom!” She jumped up and bolted toward the kitchen with Luna at her heels. The sparkles seemed to follow them. “Mom! You’ll never believe this,” she yelled. “Reed told me he loves me.” Lexi was out of breath when she arrived at the end of the long kitchen. The sparkles floated around the room, looking purple in the afternoon sun. She stopped just behind her mom. From the back, Lexi could tell her mom was cradling a bowl in one arm. In the othe
r hand, she held a spoon.

  When Mrs. Torres turned around, she had a guilty expression on her face.

  “Mom, what are you doing?” Lexi asked. Lexi knew what it looked like — the mixer was out; flour dusted the countertop. She could smell the cinnamon. Her mom was making cookies.

  “Um,” Mrs. Torres started. “I’m eating some cookie dough.”

  Lexi’s jaw dropped. It was a Family Rule: No eating raw cookie dough! She had caught her mom in this same position before, with the bowl of dough held close to her side and the spoon nearly dangling from her mouth. Even when Lexi had asked, her mom had never admitted she was sneaking samples of unbaked yumminess before.

  At that moment, Lexi heard a popping sound. It was just like the one she had heard in the pet store. The sparkles instantly disappeared, and her mom was still there with a sheepish half smile on her face.

  Lexi had an odd feeling. Her skin tingled, and her mind was racing through all the possibilities. She was certain something was happening: sparkles, bizarre popping sounds, weird confessions. Lexi planned to figure out just what that something was. She was going to need Luna’s help, but the puppy was already curled up in a tidy ball in her crate. Puppies needed their sleep, so Lexi would have to wait.

  “Oh, Lexi,” Sadie cooed. “You are just the luckiest. Luna is so sweet.” Sadie sat cross-legged on the ground. The puppy was stumbling in and out of her lap, trying to nip at the red beads at the ends of Sadie’s braids.

  Lexi’s face lit up with the smile of a proud parent. She was still so thrilled to be a pet owner, especially of a puppy like Luna.

  “I can’t believe your parents let you get a dog,” Max said. “They won’t even let you play in the sprinkler in your own backyard.”

  “My dad worries that a sprinkler is bad for the grass,” Lexi explained. The Torres’ yard was an even carpet of lush green grass. Her dad mowed it every weekend.