The Lost Puppy

I'm not ashamed to say that I only just emptied the kids' backpacks from the last day of school. Well, actually, I am. I just thought that if I used a lot of bravado you wouldn't judge me. You should judge me. There were things in there... I had to throw away a lunchbox because... well... it was better that way.

But, I was rewarded for my efforts by finding this little gem.

The Lost Puppy

By: Spencer

(translations follow each page)

There was a dog with its owner and its owner was
talking to some people. And the dog got free.

Should we be worried that the dog was evidently in captivity and yearning to break "free"?

And the dog is gone. And after the owner
turned around the dog was not there.

I'm sad to say that this scenario is probably a representation of some of Spencer's real-life experiences in public places; wherein he plays the poorly supervised dog and I play the easily distracted, talking pet owner.

Anyway. Who are they all waving at? The long lost dog? Bye, dog.

Have you seen my puppy? she asked a man.

I'm starting to think the dog was trying to escape from the trick leash the woman was using. Or she's swinging it in the man's face to prove that she actually has lost a dog. Either way.

And she looked high and low.
But she could not find her puppy!

Notice the exclamation point that escaped from the previous page. This is a very emphatic story!!

Notice, also, the illustrations for searching "high and low." Evidently, when you search high, you grow significantly. Conversely, while searching "low," you get teeny tiny. You should probably carefully consider your surroundings before you decide to search in this manner.

Then she went to the park to play. She saw
a group of puppies. She counted them.

And she took them home. The End.

So the moral of the story seems to be: When you lose something, just find another one somewhere else. And take more than you lost. Because more is better.

Ed note: There was one page of completely erased words. Evidently, there was an initial version that had the girl "earning" one of the dogs. But, the other dogs didn't have a home either. The girl didn't want to take them all, but she did. It seems it was originally a much more altruistic story. I'm guessing it got the Reader's Digest condensed version because all of those words were too tricky to write. That's okay. It's way better this way. I like the thieving, bad pet owner. She's gritty and real.