Never Grow Up

by Karen Kingsbury

  Dad looked around. “Dogs are a lot of work. They need to go on walks every day.”

  “I love walks.” Brooke perked up. “I could help with that.” For the first time all night, she seemed truly happy.

  Dad nodded. “That’s nice, Brooke. Thank you. But they also need to be fed.”

  “That’s my job.” Luke raised his hand.

  Mom shook her head. “You’re talking like we already have a dog.” She looked at their dad. “What do you think, John?”

  “Well, Kari.” Dad looked at her. “I’m glad you were honest.” He smiled. “Very impressive presentation.” Dad clapped his hands together. “Maybe you should be a lawyer.”

  “Thank you.” Kari took a bow. “Case dismissed.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Kari was dreaming about puppies when she heard Dad’s voice. “Kids. Get dressed.” He sounded very chipper. “Mom and I have a surprise for you.”

  In record time Kari, Brooke, Ashley, Erin and Luke were up and at the breakfast table. Mom and Dad couldn’t stop smiling, which Kari took as a good sign. Even still, none of the kids dared to guess.

  Would this be the day? Was a puppy going to be theirs?

  After they ate, they piled into the van and ten minutes later they parked in front of a building. The sign out front read: Animal Adoption Agency.

  “Is this really happening?” Kari screamed. “We’re getting a dog?” Kari unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned forward. “Are we, Dad? Are we?”

  Dad turned off the car and looked back at Kari and her siblings. “Yes. We are.” He laughed. “Your mother and I had already discussed it before we moved. And when you gave your presentation last night, we figured today was the perfect time.”

  “Plus it’s fun.” Erin grinned from the backseat.

  “Sure.” Dad winked at Erin. “That, too. We think you kids are ready for the challenge.”

  “Like what kind of challenge?” Kari leaned forward.

  “Like feeding the dog twice a day. Walking it. Cleaning up after it.” Dad nodded. “Are you up for the challenge?”

  “Yes!” Brooke clasped her hands together.

  Ashley nodded. “Yes. One hundred million percent yes.”

  “I’m in.” Luke bounced a few times. “I’ll do whatever it takes. Two thumbs up.”

  “I’m in, too!” Erin squealed, and Kari said the same thing.

  “Let’s go, then!” Dad shouted as they made their way into the building. “We decided to adopt a dog. A puppy without a home.”

  “Ms. Nan talked about that last week.” Kari could hardly wait to get inside. “Lots of dogs need adopting.”

  Inside, they walked up and down several rows of dogs. Old dogs with white beards and young, hoppy dogs with extra energy. They saw tall dogs with spots and squatty dogs with wrinkles. At every cage, they stopped and said hello. But none of them seemed like the right one.

  Until the very last cage.

  There behind the bars was a brown furry puppy with big eyes and a waggy tail. He wasn’t barking like some of the dogs and he wasn’t crying like others. Kari thought the puppy almost seemed like he was smiling.

  “Awww, he looks happy.” Luke bent down. “Hello, boy! Do you like us?”

  The puppy walked over and licked Luke’s finger.

  “I think that’s a yes!” Dad lowered himself near Luke. He petted the puppy’s cute head and then looked back at Kari. “What do you think?”

  Kari’s feet were dancing before she could answer. “Yes! He’s our puppy! I love him already.”

  The others gathered around and Brooke looked at the sign on the cage. “It says his name is Bo!” She reached in and patted the puppy. “He’s perfect. I feel happier already!”

  Everyone laughed and the adoption worker unlocked Bo’s cage. “He’s a sweet puppy.” The girl didn’t look much older than Brooke. “Golden retriever and Rhodesian ridgeback mix.” She opened the cage door. “Someone left him on the side of the road. No family. No collar.”

  Kari’s heart broke at that news. “Well, he has a family now!”

  The worker put the puppy down. His tail swished back and forth while he went around the circle of Kari’s family.

  “It’s like he already knows.” Mom was last to pet the little dog. “He sure is cute.”

  “That settles it!” Dad swept the puppy into his arms and, after a few minutes of paperwork, Kari’s family and their new pet were back in the van.

  “He’s so precious.” Kari rubbed noses with their new dog. She and her siblings took turns holding the puppy on the way home.

  Ashley put her face against his. “Bo Baxter!” She looked around. “What could be more perfect?”

  Back at home everyone spent the rest of the day playing outside with Bo. But he was an inside dog, too. Dad and Mom said so. Which meant this was the actual best Saturday in the Baxter family history. The kids all agreed.

  Before dinner Kari found her journal and turned to the first blank page.

  I can’t believe it! We have a new puppy! He had a rough start. Someone left him on the side of the road. And that’s not very nice because God made puppies to be in families. Not in cages or on lonely highways. But I’m not going to be sad about Bo’s old life. He’s our dog now!

  Which could only mean one thing: Kari’s presentation had worked! The Baxters had a new puppy, Brooke had a reason to smile, and Dad had a best friend. But most of all their little brown dog would never be alone again.

  Bo was home.

  6 Last of the Toads

  ASHLEY

  Sunday school was almost over and Ashley was running out of time. She was painting a red barn for the top of Noah’s Ark, something Noah should’ve done. Somewhere for the horses to sleep. One more brush of red across the side of the barn and it would be perfect.

  In a rush, Ashley dabbed her paintbrush deep into the red jar, but she pulled it out too fast, and the jar tipped hard on its side. Red paint poured out like the flood in Noah’s story. It flowed across the table and then over Ashley’s painting of the Ark and the red barn.

  It didn’t stop there.

  “Hey!” Natalie used a piece of paper to shield her drawing of Noah and a pair of zebras from the red spill, but it was too late. “This was my best painting!”

  “Yikes.” Ashley spoke the word very softly. One simple mistake and the whole art table was on the edge of destruction. “I’m sorry, Natalie!”

  Paint moved like a red river across the rest of Natalie’s picture and then over Landon’s drawing of what looked like a submarine-type ark. Landon laughed as his drawing disappeared in red. Clearly his picture wasn’t the greatest loss of the moment.

  “Someone, help!” Natalie grabbed a paper towel and tried to wipe the red paint off her drawing, but it only made things worse. The more she wiped, the more her work disappeared.

  “It’s a real-life flood!” Ashley jumped around and waved her arms. “Teacher! Help!”

  They had a substitute Sunday school teacher that day. Substitute meant the normally nice and helpful Miss Diane had been replaced by a girl who must not have known how to put paint in a flat dish.

  Tall jars were never a good idea. At least around Ashley.

  Suddenly the new teacher sprinted into action. She found a roll of paper towels and began wiping up the floodwaters of red.

  “Sort of like the Red Sea.” Ashley tried to sound hopeful. She pointed to the red-covered table. “This is perhaps the whole point of the story.”

  The new teacher gave her a glance. As if to say perhaps not.

  Natalie was still cleaning up her painting and Landon was still laughing. He threw his artwork in the trash. Then he grinned at her. “You’re the funniest girl I know, Ashley Baxter.”

  For a few seconds, Ashley didn’t move. Didn’t say anything. Because those words were not her favorite. Before she could say so, Landon was off with the other boys and Natalie held her red-covered painting up by the soggy corner. “A complete ruin.
” She dropped it in the trash.

  It was time for Ashley to take responsibility for this Sunday school disaster. Something her mom and dad had always taught her. Accept the blame for your mistakes.

  Some of the kids had already gone, but that didn’t matter. She stood on the closest plastic chair. “Hello, everyone. I have an announcement.”

  Natalie and Landon looked at her.

  Ashley crossed her arms. “I’m very sorry for the red sea on Noah’s Ark day.” She did a slight bow. “It was all my fault.”

  As she stepped off the chair, Landon clapped for her. Like this was, maybe, her best performance. “At least we’ll remember the story.”

  On the way home, Ashley thought about Landon’s comment. You’re the funniest girl I know. What if she didn’t want to be the funniest? Maybe she wanted to be the most talented girl or the prettiest girl. Or the smartest. Possibly the most unique.

  She looked at her hands. They still had dried red paint on them. She was definitely unique. But funny meant people were laughing at her. All the time. Wherever she went. And right now that didn’t feel very much like a compliment.

  As they walked into the house, Ashley caught up with her dad. “Do you think everyone expects me to be a disaster? First at school and now at church?” She had already told her parents about the red paint flood.

  Dad put his arm around her shoulders. “No, honey. Not at all.”

  Ashley nodded. “You think they’re surprised, then? When I’m a disaster? Each time it happens?”

  “You’re not a disaster, Ashley. You’re perfect just the way you are.” He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t forget that.”

  “Thank you.” Her daddy always knew what to say. Even so, there was just one thing she wanted to do now that they were home.

  Ashley ran up to her room, washed her hands in her bathroom and found her art supplies. Down in the kitchen, her three sisters were helping Mom with brunch. Ashley stepped up to her mother. “I don’t believe my kitchen skills will add anything to the meal this morning.” She held up her sketchbook and colored pencils. “May I have a pass to the outdoors?”

  “Yes, Ash.” Mom patted her shoulder. “You can do cleanup.”

  She headed out back with Bo. This would be her first drawing of the new puppy. But as Ashley sat on the bench next to the big tree, Bo began to run around the yard, bouncing and hopping and sprinting every which way.

  Like he was having his own personal Field Day.

  This was a problem. Bo had to sit still if she was going to draw him.

  “Bo!” Ashley tried to whistle. “Come here!”

  He was chasing a fly, trying to catch it in his mouth as it flew around his nose.

  “Yoo-hoo! Bo!” Ashley snapped her fingers a couple of times. “Sit, Bo.”

  The fly flew away, so Bo sniffed the grass. Then he found a leaf. Ashley gave up. If the puppy wasn’t going to sit still she would have to guess a little. She started with his paws and legs and then his body.

  “Hmm.” Ashley studied her sketch. Bo’s legs were much too long and his paws looked huge. Maybe she could bring it all together when she drew his face.

  “Bo, a little help over here, please.” If only she could get a steady look at his eyes and nose. “Come on, boy!”

  Finally, Bo stopped sniffing and running and looked at her. He tilted his head to one side, and then the other. Ashley moved her pencil over the paper as fast as she could. She was about to draw his ears when Luke stepped onto the back porch with his basketball.

  He dribbled it a few times, and in a flash Bo was off.

  Bo liked hoops, apparently.

  “Luke! I was drawing him!” Ashley was on her feet. “Send him back.”

  “Sorry!” Her brother jogged to the basketball hoop near the garage. “Bo! Go back to Ashley!” Instead the puppy ran three circles around Luke. Her brother shrugged. “He said he wants to play.”

  Ashley dropped back to the bench and stared at her drawing. “Fine.” She added the ears and studied her work again. Extra-long legs, gigantic feet, long droopy ears halfway to the ground. A crooked, happy smile.

  This Bo looked more like an alien. Something Elliot might find on one of his pretend adventures to Mars. She closed her sketchbook and scowled.

  Dark clouds gathered in her brain. This day was turning from bad to very bad. Bo had barked and cried all night, which meant almost no sleep. Then there was the red paint flood, and now she’d drawn the worst-looking dog in the history of drawing.

  Her frustrated thoughts grew louder as the day played out.

  Brooke was too busy with homework to join Ashley, her siblings and Bo at their giant rock near the stream at the back of the house. Brooke had never missed a meeting at the rock. “I’m growing up.” Brooke shrugged. “It’ll happen to all of you one day.”

  And that night when they walked into the house for dinner, the whole place smelled like dirty socks.

  Ashley plugged her nose as she took her spot at the table. “Who has their shoes off?”

  “Hey.” Her dad sat down and grinned. “That’s your mother’s dinner. She made my favorite. Beef stroganoff and creamed spinach.”

  “Wonderful.” Ashley leaned back in her chair. “The worst food in the history of the world.” She raised her hands and let them fall on her lap. “Why would anyone want that?” Her siblings were all in place around the table. “Well? People? Tell me you agree here.”

  Silence. Not one of her sisters… not even Luke agreed with her. They had all teamed up against her, and now she was on an island of not liking the dinner choice all by herself.

  “Here we are!” Mom walked in with a casserole dish and set it on the table. She had a proud look on her face. “The perfect dinner.”

  Ashley stared at the goopy mess. Apparently her mother hadn’t heard her comments. “May I have a pass please?”

  Mom settled into her seat and gave Ashley a funny look. “A pass?”

  “Yes. A pass.” In the corner of her eye, Ashley saw her dad take a deep breath. Think fast, she told herself. “A bathroom pass… A hall pass… You know… a way out. That sort of thing.” She looked once more around the table for support. Again there was none. Her eyes found Mom. “So… yes. A pass. Please.”

  Dad set his napkin down a little harder than usual. “There is no way out, Ashley. No pass tonight. And please be kind. Mom worked very hard on this dinner.”

  No one understood her. “I’m trying to be kind.” Ashley’s thoughts buzzed around in her brain like flies at a summer picnic. “I’m just hopeful that maybe I can sit this one out.” That was something Brooke sometimes said when they played a family kickball game. I’ll sit this one out, she would say. And she would get a pass to the sidelines.

  But there was none of that for Ashley tonight.

  Mom seemed to finally understand that her dinner was the problem. “You don’t like beef stroganoff and creamed spinach, Ash?”

  Ashley blinked a few times. “Do you?” She fanned the air near her face. “That smell… like the trash can after—”

  “That’s enough.” Dad was very serious. “No more complaining, Ashley.” He looked at the others. “Let’s thank God for our food.”

  After the prayer Dad smiled at their mother. “Tell us about your day, my love.”

  “Well…” She put her hand over her mouth, the way she sometimes did when she was trying not to laugh. “I spent the last few hours cooking.”

  Everyone was taking big sloopy scoops of the dinner, which only stirred up the smell and made the room feel heavy. Like the smelly food was moving through the actual air now.

  Ashley took a small bit of the dish and tried to breathe through her mouth.

  “Hey!” Erin raised her fork in the air. “I really like this dinner!” She grinned at their mom. “We haven’t had it in years.”

  “It’s been a long time.” Mom smiled. “Thank you, Erin.”

  That did it. Ashley crossed her arms and stared at her p
late. This was the worst day. She had failed at Sunday school art, failed at drawing Bo, and now her whole family had turned on her.

  Kari chimed in next, telling Mom how great the dinner was… as if beef stroganoff and creamed spinach was better than pizza. Brooke was eating her plateful just fine, and so was Luke.

  Only Ashley was the outsider.

  “Ashley.” Her mom handed her a piece of bread from the basket at the middle of the table. “Here.” Kindness warmed her mother’s eyes. “You don’t have to eat the dinner. Not everyone has to like it. I understand.”

  The first good bit of news all day! Her mom understood. Ashley took the bread and slathered it with more butter than usual. Tears stung her eyes as she took a bite. The rest of dinner she looked only at her bread. Not at her family or the yucky dinner or Mom’s nice eyes.

  Better to keep to herself. Before something else happened.

  After dinner, Luke cleared his plate and announced that he was going out back to catch toads. “Unless they’re gone for the fall.”

  Brooke went to the front room to read her history book and the other girls followed Luke outside. Dad, too.

  Only Mom stayed. “Would you like more bread?”

  Ashley shook her head. “I don’t want this piece, actually.”

  “I didn’t think so.” Mom moved to the spot next to Ashley. “Not the best day, huh?”

  “Everyone thinks I’m a disaster. They laugh at me and don’t stick up for me and sometimes they leave me out.” Ashley’s eyes grew watery. “Plus I think I’ve lost my skills as an artist, Mother. You should see my terrible drawing of Bo.” She rested her forehead on the table for a few seconds and then she sat straight again. “Everything in my head is sad.”

  Mom took hold of Ashley’s hand. “Thoughts can be like that.”

  “Yes. My thoughts are all grouchy and frustrated.”

  “Hmm.” Mom was quiet for a minute. “Sometimes thoughts are like autumn toads. Hard to catch.”

  Ashley looked at her mother. “What do you mean?”

  “The Bible says we should think about what’s good and true. Beautiful things and things we admire.” Mom’s voice was kind. “When sad thoughts fill our hearts, we can talk about them, of course. But eventually we should think about happier things instead. It’s our choice.”