Paloma

by Cynthia Lord

  I even loved Jemma’s funny stories about her backyard chipmunks. “They especially like trail mix,” she said. “I have a little doll’s picnic table, so I set it up on a stump outside and put trail mix on it. A chipmunk sat on top of the picnic table and filled up his cheeks with trail mix! He looked like this!” Jemma puffed out her cheeks as big as she could. “Another time, a chipmunk was trying to stuff a pinecone down his burrow, but the pinecone was too big and it got stuck in the opening. It looked like a pinecone was growing out of the ground! Even though they aren’t pets,” Jemma finished, “they’re fun to watch.”

  “Thank you, Jemma,” Ms. Cole said. “That was wonderful. Suzannah, it’s your turn now.”

  I got my poster from the coatroom. The class said, “Aww,” when I turned it around and they saw the photo of Paloma and me.

  I picked up my story and began to read, “I don’t have any real pets, but I’m surrounded by animals. At home, I have lots of stuffed animals. Every Saturday morning, I also volunteer at the Maplewood Animal Shelter and help the real animals there. Since I started volunteering —”

  “OH!” the class gasped.

  I looked up. Even Ms. Cole was looking at something behind me.

  I turned around. I could not believe what I saw! Ms. Kim was standing in the doorway to our classroom with Paloma in her arms!

  “I’m glad I’m not too late!” Ms. Kim said. “Suzannah, we took a nice photo of you with Paloma. But I knew you’d rather show your classmates the real thing.”

  I grinned. “Thank you!” What a great surprise! I could share my Shelter Pet Squad experience with my whole class!

  Ms. Kim set Paloma down. She ran from one kid to another, her tiny tail wagging.

  “Oh, she’s great!” said Henry as Paloma grabbed his shoelace in her teeth.

  Then Paloma jumped up against Claire’s leg. Claire leaned down so Paloma could give her a kiss. “Suzannah, she’s adorable!”

  “She’s my favorite,” I said. Paloma wasn’t mine for keeps, though. I needed to make sure everyone else knew it, too. “She came all the way from Puerto Rico,” I explained. “And she’s available for adoption at the Maplewood Animal Shelter. Right, Ms. Kim?”

  “Yes,” Ms. Kim said.

  “So if your family is looking for a puppy, Paloma needs a home,” I said. “She’d be a great —”

  Paloma squatted.

  “Oh, no!” I yelled, but it was too late. Suddenly, there was a little puddle on the floor.

  Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did! My yelling scared Paloma. She turned and ran right between Henry and Ms. Cole. She darted under desks and between the table and the trash can. Before I could even move to grab her, she ran through the classroom doorway and into the hall!

  We couldn’t lose her! “Paloma!” I called, hurrying after her. “Come back!”

  She ran down the hallway, past the cafeteria doors. Her feet slid on the shiny floors, but that didn’t slow her down enough for me to grab her. My heart was thumping almost as loudly as the footsteps behind me.

  I turned to peek. Ms. Kim, Ms. Cole, and my whole class were running down the hallway with me. Everyone was trying to catch the puppy!

  Ahead, the kindergartners were lining up to go outside. “Watch out! Runaway puppy!” I called to them as I passed.

  A group of first graders crowded in their classroom doorway to see what was going on. “No running in the hallway!” one called.

  “Even the teacher is running!” another said.

  It looked like Paloma was going into the art room, but then she turned a corner.

  Now she was heading toward the front door! What if someone opened the door and she got out? We might never catch her! My breath stuck in my throat. She’d lived as a stray before she came to us. I couldn’t let that happen again.

  I ran as fast as I could around the corner. The hallway ahead was empty. Where did she go? I stopped and looked in all directions. Ms. Kim, Ms. Cole, and the kids in my class spread out to look for her, too. But we didn’t see her anywhere. She was gone!

  Then we heard a deep voice. “What’s going on here? Ms. Cole, is this one of your students?”

  I gasped. Principal Viera appeared in the doorway to his office.

  He was holding Paloma.

  Paloma chewed on Principal Viera’s tie. “Hey!” he said, pulling it out of her mouth. “Is this your puppy, Suzannah?”

  I shook my head. “She’s from the Maplewood Animal Shelter. I volunteer there. Ms. Kim brought her to Pet Day for me.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Ms. Kim held out her hand, but Principal Viera’s hands were full with Paloma so they just nodded at each other instead. “I’m sorry,” Ms. Kim said. “I forgot to shut the classroom door when I came in.”

  “No, it was my fault,” I said. “Paloma is just a puppy and she peed. I yelled and it scared her. That’s why she ran.” I looked at Principal Viera. “Paloma came to us all the way from Puerto Rico. She didn’t have a home there. The rescuers found her living in a tire.”

  “In a tire?” Principal Viera patted Paloma in his arms. “Poor little pup.”

  “She rode on a plane and in a van with five other puppies to our shelter. On Saturday, all the puppies except Maya and Paloma got adopted. Then Maya was adopted yesterday. Paloma is the only one left.” I paused. I knew I could stop the story there, but I’d learned my lesson with Whiskers. It’s best to tell the whole truth right away — even when it’s hard. “It was my fault Paloma didn’t get a home. A lady liked Paloma, but I talked her into adopting Gigi instead. I wanted more time with Paloma because I wasn’t ready to give her up. But I didn’t mean this much time.”

  I peeked at Ms. Kim, afraid she’d look disappointed in me.

  She smiled. “Gigi needed a home, too,” Ms. Kim said kindly. “You helped her get one. We’ll find Paloma a home. You know that sometimes it just takes a while for us to find the right match.”

  I nodded.

  “Paloma, you came all the way from Puerto Rico?” I heard Principal Viera ask. “That is such a long way.”

  Paloma licked Principal Viera’s chin.

  “Paloma, do you know that my parents came from Mexico?” Principal Viera asked. “That’s a long way, too. I was only a baby when my parents first arrived here. It was very hard for my family, because everything was new. Some people helped us, just like Suzannah is helping you.”

  I didn’t know that about Principal Viera. He was in charge of everything at school. It was hard to imagine him as a baby. Or needing help with anything.

  Paloma yawned and nuzzled against Principal Viera’s neck. He sighed. “My kids have been asking for a puppy, but we live in a small house. How big will Paloma be when she’s all grown up?” he asked Ms. Kim.

  My heart jumped.

  “We can tell that she’s part Chihuahua,” Ms. Kim said. “And at least one other breed mixed in. Since we don’t know for sure, we can only guess.”

  “She’s a surprise package!” I said. “Isn’t that right, Ms. Kim?”

  Ms. Kim nodded. “A puppy surprise package.”

  Principal Viera tipped his head, like he was thinking. I slid my hands behind my back, crossed my fingers, and wished hard. Please!

  “I do like surprises,” he said. “Ms. Kim, can I bring my family by the shelter tomorrow morning so they can meet her?”

  “Of course!” said Ms. Kim.

  “The shelter opens at ten o’clock on Saturdays!” I added.

  Paloma licked Principal Viera’s ear, making him laugh. “I already know what my kids will say when they meet her. They will say, ‘Can we bring her home?’ ” He smiled, handing Paloma to Ms. Kim. “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” He winked at me. “At ten.”

  “Suzannah, let’s bring Paloma back to the classroom so you can finish reading us your story,” Ms. Cole said. “We stopped in the middle.”

  I’d forgotten all about my story!

  Back in the classroom, I read
every word, all the way to the end: “On the day she was ready to be adopted, lots of people came to the shelter. Isabella went home with a police officer. A lady adopted Gigi. Paz went to a family with kids. A man took Osito. Only Maya and Paloma were left. Then Maya found a home.

  “Paloma is still waiting for hers.”

  I looked up from my story. “But maybe not for too long,” I added with a grin.

  When it was time for Ms. Kim to leave, I asked if I could hold Paloma.

  Paloma licked my cheek. “Be really cute when Principal Viera brings his family to meet you,” I whispered into her little ear. “A home will be better than you can even imagine, Paloma. You’ll have your own toys and your own yard and your own people who will love you. It’ll be worth everything you had to do to get here. I promise.”

  Paloma looked into my eyes and wagged her tail.

  I think she understood.

  On Saturday, I woke up extra early, got dressed right away, and made breakfast for my parents.

  “Wow,” Dad said. “Thank you for the toast and bananas. What’s the occasion?”

  “I want to be at the shelter right when it opens,” I told him. “Principal Viera said he might bring his family to meet Paloma. If they like her, she might get adopted right away!”

  I put on my coat and sat at the breakfast table, watching Dad eat. “Okay, come on,” he finally said.

  When Dad pulled into the shelter parking lot, I saw Principal Viera, his wife, and his little kids already there waiting for the shelter to open. I was so glad I was there in time!

  “Hi!” I yelled to them.

  “We’re getting a puppy!” his daughter said.

  “Maybe,” Mrs. Viera cautioned. “Let’s meet her first.”

  “You’re going to love her!” I called to her, because I knew they would. “Paloma is the best puppy ever!”

  I knocked on the shelter door and Ms. Kim came to unlock it. “Hi, Suzannah! You’re early today,” she said.

  “Principal Viera and his family are here to meet Paloma!” I said.

  Ms. Kim smiled. “That’s great!” She waved to them. “Come on in!”

  As soon as I stepped into the waiting room, Paloma wagged her tail and stood up on her hind legs, her paws against the side of the pen. I knelt down and held out my hand so she could lick my fingers. “Be yourself,” I whispered to her. “You’re perfect for them. They just don’t know it yet.”

  “So nice to see you again, Principal Viera,” said Ms. Kim.

  Two kids, a girl and a boy, ran up beside me.

  “Would you like to meet Paloma?” I asked the children. “Sit down on the floor, crisscross applesauce. Then hold your hand out with your palm up.” I showed them how. “So she can sniff you. Let her come to you, okay?”

  They both sat down, and I opened the pen. Paloma came right to me, but I turned her around gently, so she’d face the children. She sniffed and licked the little girl’s hand and then climbed into the little boy’s lap.

  “She likes us!” he said.

  “And we love her!” the little girl said. “Can we keep her? I’ve always wanted a puppy, and she’s my dream come true! Please?”

  “Please! Please!” the little boy said.

  “Well, what do you think?” Principal Viera asked his wife.

  She smiled. “I think we have a dog!”

  I knew this family would love her and take good care of her. “I made Paloma a fleece bed,” I told Principal Viera. “You can take it home with you. So she’ll have something familiar.”

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Viera said.

  “And if she has a nightmare, just speak softly to her and tell her it’ll be okay. That will make her feel better,” I told the children.

  “I’ll say, ‘Don’t be sad, Paloma,’ ” the little boy said, patting her gently.

  The rest of the Shelter Pet Squad kids arrived while Principal Viera was filling out the adoption paperwork. I told them the story. “And then, right in the middle of my reading at school, Ms. Kim came in with Paloma!”

  “Wow!” Jada said.

  “But that wasn’t the biggest surprise,” I continued. “Ms. Kim put Paloma down and she peed! I yelled and it scared her. That’s when she ran out of the classroom!”

  “We forgot to shut the door,” Ms. Kim added.

  “We all tried to catch her, but Paloma ran down the hall — right into Principal Viera’s office.” I grinned. “Paloma made her own match!”

  “I’ll bring her to school to visit your class again, Suzannah,” Principal Viera said. “After she’s housebroken, that is!”

  My heart felt like a balloon, full almost to popping. Paloma had a family now, and sometimes she’d have a whole classroom full of kids to play with — including me.

  As Principal Viera carried Paloma to his car, I stood at the shelter window and watched his kids skipping across the parking lot. I felt only a tiny drop of sad. The sort of sad when something wonderful happens for a good friend, and you have to let her go.

  Through the window, I saw Principal Viera wave to someone as he climbed into his car. I looked over and said the first thing that came to my brain. “It’s my teacher!”

  What was she doing here? I hurried to open the front door for Ms. Cole.

  She smiled. “Suzannah, you’ve inspired me. Every Monday morning, I love hearing your good news about the shelter animals. So I had an idea. It will be my good news on Monday.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Some of the other teachers at school have classroom pets,” Ms. Cole said. “Since no one has allergies in our class, I thought maybe we could have one, too. It has to be a small pet, though. Something that’s not too noisy. Something that will be easy for us to care for as a class. What do you suggest?”

  “I know just the pet!” I said. “Come with me!” Ms. Cole, Ms. Kim, and the kids in Shelter Pet Squad all followed me into the small-animal room.

  Ms. Cole liked the bunny, but when she got to the tank of girl mice, she laughed out loud. Dora had climbed on top of the wheel and was rocking back and forth. Blizzard was hiding in a nest of shredded paper, with just her tail sticking out. Whiskers came right over to see us, her nose in the air.

  “Mice are mostly quiet,” Levi said, behind us.

  “They aren’t hard to take care of,” Allie said. “You just have to clean the tank and make sure they have food and water and safe toys to play with.”

  “I can show our class how to make fun things to keep them happy and busy,” I added.

  Ms. Cole smiled. “That sounds perfect. How much do they cost?”

  “The adoption fee is five dollars for each mouse,” Ms. Kim said. “But if you take all three, I’ll throw in the tank and everything inside it.”

  “It’s a deal!” Ms. Cole said.

  I grinned as Ms. Cole went into the waiting room to sign the adoption paperwork. A classroom pet was almost as good as having one of my own! And three classroom pets would be amazing!

  I reached into my pocket. I had two mice named Whiskers now — a stuffed toy at home and a real mouse pet at school.

  That was the best surprise of all.

  • There are hundreds of breeds of dogs.

  • The smallest dog breed is the Chihuahua, and the Irish wolfhound is the tallest.

  • Over one-third of all American families have a dog living with them.

  • In 2014, the most popular dog breed in the United States was the Labrador retriever, and the most popular names for dogs were Max and Bella.

  • Dogs are nicknamed Man’s Best Friend because they can form a very strong bond with the people they love. Dogs can also be trained to do jobs to help people. Some of the people who use trained dogs are: hunters, police officers, farmers, and people with disabilities.

  • All dogs are direct descendants of wolves.

  • Dogs have a sense of smell and hearing that is much stronger than ours.

  • George Washington had many dogs, including one called Sw
eetlips!

  • In their first weeks, puppies sleep 90 percent of the day.

  • Puppies are born with their eyes closed. Their eyes open at about three weeks old.

  • When a puppy turns one year old, he is considered an adult dog.

  • The expression “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” isn’t true! Dogs can learn new things at any age.

  You can learn more about dogs at the library and online.

  • Have a penny drive and compete with another class to see which class can collect the most. Maybe there could be a prize for the winning class, and all the money collected could be donated to your local shelter.

  • Decorate a plain T-shirt with fabric pens, with drawings and slogans about shelter animals. When you wear it, people may comment or ask you about it. That will give you the chance to explain about the importance of adopting animals.

  • Check your local shelter’s wish list or ask if they use old newspapers to line cages. If they do, hold a neighborhood newspaper drive.

  • Decorate Ping-Pong balls with nontoxic permanent markers to make fun toys for shelter cats.

  • Research how to interact with dogs safely and how to read their body language. Most people know that when a dog growls, he is feeling angry or upset. Did you know that any of these signals can also mean a dog feels stressed or threatened?

  • A stiff tail and/or a tensed body

  • Ears pulled back

  • Furrowed brow

  • Yawning

  • Backing away

  • Eyes moved back so you see the white parts of his eyes

  • An intense stare

  • Make posters for your school to teach others how to approach dogs and read their body language, too. You just may save another student from a dog bite! Before you hang up your posters, be sure to ask permission.

  • Suggest to your teacher or club leader that a veterinarian, dog trainer, or groomer could come in and talk to your class about how to safely interact with dogs and other animals.