Mission Impawsible by Daphne Maple

Author:Daphne Maple
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-03-07T05:00:00+00:00

9

I was nearly skipping as I walked into the Rox, the smell of coffee, fresh apple pie, and the famous Rox sweet potato fries wafting around me as I headed in. The after-school crowd was already getting started and I waved to Stephan and Gillian, the two servers working.

“Hey, Kim,” Stephan said as he swept by, plates of food in both hands. “What’s got you smiling?”

“I have a plan,” I said happily.

“There’s nothing like a good plan,” he said cheerfully as he went on to his table.

I headed back to the kitchen, where my mom was working with Alana, the line cook, and my dad was shredding lettuce for dinner salads. The big dishwasher hummed behind them and Colin, one of the guys who worked in the back, gave me a salute as he pulled a steaming tray of dishes out of the machine. Everyone at the Rox was like family.

“Hi, sweetie,” my mom said, leaning over to kiss me. She had a light dusting of flour across her cheeks and her curly hair was held back with the polka-dotted chef’s hat I got her when I was five. “How was your day?”

“Um, mixed,” I said, remembering the pop quiz. I’d tell them about that later. “But I had this really great idea.”

“Let’s hear it,” my mom said, giving me her full attention.

My dad nodded, listening as well. So I started with the shelter needing more money and the Cronins needing someone to walk Humphrey in the afternoon, since my dad didn’t know about that. And then I explained the big idea I’d had after running into Coco. As I went on I saw my mom’s eyes widen and my dad slowly start nodding his head.

“Honey, that is a fantastic idea,” my mom said. “A smart solution to two pretty serious problems.”

“It sounds like the perfect fix,” my dad agreed. “A real humdinger of an idea.”

“Yesterday I said it was too big a problem for kids,” my mom said, shaking her head with a smile. “But I think you proved me wrong.”

“Way to take charge, Kim,” my dad added proudly.

I ducked my head, suddenly feeling self-conscious. But their praise wrapped around me, snug and warm.

Now I just had to find a way to make my plan work.

That night I texted both Sasha and Taylor—I knew I couldn’t do this without them. And the next morning in homeroom, I told them my plan.

“We’re going to start a doggy after-school program,” I whispered excitedly as we stood at the back of the room before the final bell. I couldn’t worry about Mrs. Benson’s “no talking in the classroom” policy at a time like this. “Families like the Cronins, whose dogs need exercise when they’re at work, can sign up to have us pick up their dogs after school. We’ll walk them over to the shelter, where they can run around and play with the other dogs until their owners come pick them up at the end of the day.”

Sasha’s eyes were sparkling and Taylor was beaming.

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