Safe and warm(Darrell Case) He watched the flakes of snow drift down. His eyes filled with tears. He shivered, his body shaking. If he had been home, he would have snuggled up to his mother. Her legs would have curled around him, protecting her puppy from the cold. He looked out the hole from the old abandoned house. Hungry alone, he wondered why the man was so angry with him. Why did he throw him away? What did he do wrong? The man had snatched him from his mother’s side. His mother moaned. This had happened before. Yet she was powerless to stop it.

He heard a growl. A black nose pushed into the hole where he hid. The pup whimpered. The wolf opened its mouth. Its teeth looked as sharp as knives. The puppy shook. He turned, trying to burrow deeper into the foundation of the old house. The wolf bit his tail. Howling in agony, the dog dug his claws in. The pup’s tail in its teeth, the wolf drug him out. The pup would make a nice meal.

Suddenly, the wolf howled. It let go of the pup’s tail and struggled out of the hole. Another stone hit the wolf in the side. “Get out of here. Leave him alone.” The boy yelled. The wolf glanced at the child. The next stone hit him right between the eyes. The wolf ran more stones, hitting it. The boy kept throwing until the wolf was too far away. Cautiously, the puppy glanced out of the hole at his rescuer.

The little boy looked at the puppy. He smiled. With tender hands, he picked up the pup. “Your safe now.”

 Talking softly to him, the boy carried the puppy home. There, he tenderly cared for his tail. Then he bathed, brushed, and fed the pup. That night, with his parent’s permission, the boy took the pup to bed with him. The pup, whose name now was Andrew, Andy for short, snuggled up against the little boy, safe and warm.

 

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