Paloma by Cynthia Lord

Author:Cynthia Lord
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2016-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Lipstick, tissues, and a cell phone fell out. The lady patted Gigi with one hand and tried to repack her purse with her other hand.

Paloma squatted down.

“Watch out!” I said, but it was too late. Paloma peed right next to the lady’s purse.

“Oh!” she said. I was sure the lady would never adopt her now.

When Ms. Kim opened the pen door, I noticed something. The lady’s arms were full. She was carrying her purse and the things that had fallen out. Plus, she was carrying Gigi!

“I’m sorry about that,” said Ms. Kim. “The puppies aren’t housebroken yet.”

“No problem. All puppies need to learn,” the lady said. “Gigi is just precious. I’d like to take her home.”

“That’s wonderful!” Ms. Kim said, smiling. “Suzannah, would you carry Gigi’s bed and walk this lady out to the waiting room? Ms. Flores will take it from there.”

The lady had picked Gigi. It had happened just the way I wanted it to. So why did I feel bad? “Can someone else do it?” I asked quietly.

Ms. Kim looked surprised. “Um, okay. Levi, would you walk this lady out to the waiting room?”

“Sure!” Levi said, grabbing Gigi’s bed. “Come with me.”

After the lady had gone, Ms. Kim turned to me. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“I want to see who gets Paloma,” I said. “I need to know for my story. I don’t want her to get adopted while I’m gone.”

Ms. Kim nodded. “I see,” she said. “Okay. Would you get me a towel so I can clean this pen?”

As I walked slowly to the towels, I felt relieved. As long as Paloma was here, she was partly mine. It would be all over when she got adopted. I was glad that Gigi would be getting a good home and that Paloma would stay at the shelter just a little longer.

I held Paloma while Ms. Kim cleaned up her pen, but she was wiggly and wanted to get off my lap. When Ms. Kim was done, I gave Paloma her stuffed puppy toy. I wanted to play, but she sat down and yawned.

“She’s had enough excitement for now,” Ms. Kim said. “Come out of the pen, Suzannah. Paloma needs a rest.”

I sighed as I stepped out of the pen. I didn’t want to leave Paloma, but Ms. Kim was right. She looked tired.

Paz was adopted by a family, including the boy with the red T-shirt who had asked about Paloma. He and his brother both wanted to carry Paz to the waiting room. “I’ll hold him for now,” the dad said. “But he can sit between you in the car on the way home.

“We have a puppy! We have a puppy!” the kids kept singing.

Next it was Osito’s turn. “I had two dogs and one died a few months ago,” said a man with a beard, scratching Osito behind the ears. “My dog at home needs a new friend to play with. Would you like to come home with me, Osito?”

Osito licked his beard.

“I think that means yes!” said Matt.

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