Naughty Puppies Get Hurt

            

 

            Sam was a beautiful girl. Playing was pretty much all she ever did. Sam’s best friend was her puppy, Rocko. They had so much fun when they played together. Sam’s favorite game to play with Rocko was hide-and-seek. Rocko always seemed to sniff Sam out.

            Sam was definitely a daddy’s girl. She loved her daddy a whole bunch. They had so much fun laughing, singing, and wrestling together. Daddy always took Sam to the movies. They even went fishing together a lot.

            Sam and her mommy had a whole bunch of fun, too. Sam’s mommy always did girly things with her. They did their hair and nails together all of the time. Mommy took Sam shopping to pick out her own clothes. That was Sam’s favorite. Sam wanted to be just like her mommy.

            Sam and Rocko played together the most, though. Sam would follow Rocko around all day. She loved her puppy just as much as she loved her parents. Sam loved having a puppy for her best friend. They did everything together.

When Sam would get lonely, she would pretend to be a puppy. She had so much fun being a puppy. She could bark, crawl around on all fours, and play fetch. She was a regular pooch. Sam even tried eating some of Rocko’s puppy snacks a few times. They didn’t taste very good.

Sometimes, Sam’s parents didn’t like her acting like a puppy. Daddy was always saying, “You don’t listen very good when you act like a puppy, Sam.” Daddy was probably right, but Sam’s favorite games to play were puppy games.

What was the big deal? Sure, Daddy wanted Sam to bark a little quieter. It was hard for Sam to play like a puppy and be quiet. Especially when she was busy howling at the moon. It was also hard to be a quiet puppy when Sam was barking at Rocko. Sam was probably a little too loud, sometimes.

Daddy didn’t like it when Sam would chew on his slippers, either. He would always yell, “That’s yucky, Sam!” At least Sam’s dad didn’t chase her around with his slipper when he caught her slobbering on it, like he did Rocko. Sam puppy was always getting in trouble.

Mommy was always telling Sam not to jump around when she was a puppy. Well, jumping was just something puppies had to do. Rocko got treats for jumping up and down. Mommy said, “Sam, you need to sit on your butt on the couch, or you might fall.” Puppies don’t sit on their butt, though.

Sam was being a puppy one day, and she accidentally fell off of her bed. “Ouchie!” cried Sam. “Mommy I think I hurt my arm.” It hurt Sam so badly. Mommy came running to help Sam, but she wasn’t very happy. Mommy looked quite mad.

“I told you not to jump around like a puppy, Sam. We don’t like it when you act like a puppy,” scolded Mommy. “I just knew you were going to get hurt one of these days.” Mommy was very upset. When Sam’s mom was upset, Sam was upset. They were both crying.

Sam and her mommy got in the car and drove to the hospital. Sam was very scared, and her arm was hurting a lot. Sam overheard her mom call her dad, and she told him that Sam may have broken her arm. Sam started sobbing in the back seat. She felt awful for not listening to her mom and dad.

Mommy looked back and said, “What’s the matter sweetheart?” It wasn’t her hurt arm that had Sam so upset. It was that she had let her parents down. Sam knew that acting like a puppy wasn’t a good game, after all.

“Mommy, will I ever be able to use my arm again?” Sam asked. She was scared that her arm would be broken forever. Sam couldn’t be a puppy anymore if she only had one arm left. Sam had never been so upset, and she could not stop crying.

“Honey, your arm will be just fine. It may not even be broke. We just have to go to the doctor’s office to see if it is,” Sam’s mommy said softly. She always made Sam feel better. Just hearing her mom tell her everything was going to be fine brought a smile to Sam’s face.

“Will I still be able to pretend like I’m a puppy?” Sam asked. “It would be terrible if I couldn’t play with Rocko.” The genuine worry in Sam’s eyes made her mother chuckle.

“Of course, you can still play like a puppy. But, you need to listen to Mommy and Daddy when we tell you to be careful. Puppies that don’t listen get hurt,” said Sam’s mom. That was such a relief for Sam to hear that she could still play with her best friend, Rocko.

Sam and her mom went to the doctor’s office. They put a bright pink cast on Sam’s arm. It was pretty, but Sam still wish she had never broke her arm. It hurt so much. Being a puppy was fun, but only as long as she listened to her mom and dad. Getting hurt isn’t worth being a naughty puppy.

           

No Biting!

Children's book written by Travis Newville. Part of the "Puppy Kids" series.

             Logan was an amazing little boy. He loved to play like puppies do. All of his favorite shows had puppies in them. Logan wanted to be a puppy very, very badly. Puppies were his favorite animal. Logan loved everything about puppies.

             Logan liked cats okay. Nothing that cats did interested Logan very much, though. Sometimes cats were grumpy, and they didn’t really cuddle that much. Cats made Logan sneeze a whole bunch, too. Logan’s grandma had a cat that slept all of the time. They just weren’t as cool to Logan as puppies were.

            Logan thought puppies were so awesome. He also thought puppies were the cutest animal ever. They could do tricks; play fetch, high five, and roll over. Puppies could run very, very fast. Logan loved the way puppies gave him kisses. Everything that puppies did made Logan smile.

            Logan thought it would be fun to act just like puppies do. He barked at his parents. Logan howled at the moon. He crawled around on all fours; just like puppies do. It was so much fun being a puppy. Logan thought he might be a puppy every day.

            Logan got a little out of control one day when he was pretending to be a puppy. He bit his little brother’s finger. Logan thought that was what a puppy would do. Boy, was Logan wrong! Logan’s little brother started to scream, and he was crying very loudly.

            Logan didn’t mean to hurt his little brother. He just wanted to play like a puppy. Something was terribly wrong with Logan’s little brother. Little brother just could not stop crying. Logan’s heart sunk down to his stomach.

            “I’m sorry, little brother!” cried Logan. He felt very bad for hurting his little brother. He loved his little brother a whole bunch. They were best friends. Still, little brother just kept crying and screaming.

            Mommy came in, and hugged little brother tight. She scolded Logan. Mommy said, “How dare you bite your little brother, Logan!” It made Logan feel even worse that his mom was so upset.

 Mommy grounded Logan to his bedroom for the rest of the night. Logan tried to apologize, but little brother just kept on crying. Mommy didn’t really want to hear his apologies, either. Logan felt terrible.

Daddy came in Logan’s room that night, but only to tell Logan he was very upset with him for biting his little brother. Even Daddy was upset with him. Logan felt very alone when he was grounded to his bedroom.

That night was so awful for Logan. He could hear everyone else laughing and playing. If only Logan would have thought more about what would happen, before his little brother had gotten hurt. Logan was so sad that he just sat in his room crying.

Being a puppy sure was tough. Logan just couldn’t understand what had happened. Why can he bark, but not bite? He didn’t understand. Logan did understand that it was lonely being grounded. Logan vowed never to be a puppy again.

The next day, Logan woke up to his little brother playing with his toys. He just smiled at Logan. He wasn’t mad at his big brother, at all. “Little brother, I’m so sorry!” Logan apologized. Logan hugged his little brother.

Mommy came in when she heard them playing. She asked, “Did you learn your lesson, Logan?” He nodded his head yes. Logan sure did learn his lesson. It was not fun to hurt his little brother.

“Oh yes, Mommy. I’m never going to be a puppy ever again!” he cried. Logan meant it, too. It was terrible for him to see his little brother so upset. Logan never wanted to see his little brother cry like that ever again.

“Logan, you didn’t get grounded for acting like a puppy. You got in trouble, because you bit your little brother and hurt him very badly!” Mommy explained. “Look. You gave your little brother quite a bad bruise.”

Mommy was right. It was a terrible bruise, on little brother’s arm. It looked just like a circle of Logan’s teeth. He didn’t know that biting his little brother would hurt him. Now, Logan understood what had happened.

Logan gave his little brother the bruise by biting him. It wasn’t because he was being a puppy. “I’m so sorry,” Logan told his little brother while he gave him a big hug. “I won’t ever bite you ever again. I promise,” Logan said.

The two boys, or puppies, were together ever since. The two had the most fun whenever they pretended to be puppies. Logan taught his little brother how to be the best puppy he could be. Logan and his little brother played many more little puppy games.

A Bunny Named Emily

My second book. For my daughter, Emily

Emily was a bunny, who was very, very funny. She loved to laugh and play. Emily went to see her grandma one day, but she ran into some rain on the way. “Oh no!” she said as she ran and hid. “Look at this mess I am in.” She found a bush that was quite thick, and sat and waited a bit.

“Hey over here,” said a voice that was weird. Where did that strange voice come from? Emily looked at the ground, and saw a turtle sitting down surrounded by daisies and mums.

 

“Want to play a game?!” the turtle exclaimed, and Emily just shook her head yes. “It’s not really a game, but it’s all just the same. It’s really more like a test. That fox, over there, was not playing fair, and got me into this mess.” 

 

The mess, it seems, was really quite messy. Emily never would have thought in her dreams. The turtle and the fox were brothers, no doubt, and Emily was stuck right in between! Their dad was lost in the woods and the turtle was blaming the fox. Emily will help the turtle out, and at the same time she’ll help the fox!

 

“I’ll help you find your daddy!,” Emily shouted. That made the fox’s ears perk up. It even made the turtle stop pouting. What a crazy day to go to Grandma’s and play. It was quite an excitable outing, even the sun was finally shining. “Follow me to the pond, that’s where all my friends play.  Your parents probably just stopped for a drink on the way.” Emily was practically shouting.

 

On the way, they laughed and played, and they all became close friends. They played tag, hide and seek, and ran all the way around a bend. Now they could see the pond. There were ducks, and geese, some turtles, some frogs, but the kids' dad was no where to be found. “Our home,” said the fox “Is underneath the ground.” 

 

Emily was thinking very hard, what kind of animal could he be? His kids are a turtle and a fox, but there was no resemblance to be seen. She took a step, and tripped on a log; out popped a chubby little groundhog! “I’ve been looking everywhere for my kids, come give Daddy a hug!”

 

How silly is that, a groundhog for a dad. Emily was chuckling and laughing.  “Thank you so much for finding my kids, but I guess that’s what I get for napping. I was so worried about my kids. You see, their both just so darn crafty. If I would have kept a better eye on them, this would never be happening!”

The fox and the turtle told Emily goodbye, and then they finished walking home. “Buh-bye, our friend, and what fun it has been!” the fox said with a nod and they were gone. Emily kept singing and playing all the way to Grandma’s. Emily had such a good day, she couldn’t wait to tell Grandma about her new friends.

 

Emily skipped and hopped past the pond. Then she ran all the way around the bend. Emily jumped over sticks and hopped over logs. Then there it was, a house in the fog. Emily made it to her Grandma’s house. She loved the walk here, and that she made a couple new friends to hold dear.

“Grandma! Grandma! I had such an amazing day. I met a turtle, who’s brother is a fox, along the way.” Grandma laughed and smiled, and gave Emily a hug. Nothing felt as good as Grandma’s hugs and loves. Grandma said, “That’s nice sweetheart. I’m glad you made new friends today. Hooray!”

 

Emily, the funny bunny, stayed with her grandma that night. They watched movies, played games, and they even had a pillow fight. Good things happen to those who help, and treat others nice. It feels so good to be a friend, because friendships are always right.