The Dog's Meow by Michelle Schusterman

Author:Michelle Schusterman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Niko greeted Mina in her usual frenzy when she got home from school on Friday. As she knelt down to hug the husky, she heard Mom half laughing, half groaning in the next room.

“Nukka, stop! Come on … how am I supposed to get any work done?”

Mina hurried into the living room with Niko. They found Mom sitting cross-legged on the couch, her laptop open in her lap. “What’s going on?”

Instead of responding, Mom simply pointed down at her laptop. Mina walked around the sofa and burst out laughing. Nukka was sitting right in the middle of the keyboard, looking very pleased with herself.

“It’s been like this all afternoon,” Mom told Mina, shaking her head. “Watch.” She picked the kitten up and set her on the floor, then started typing. But Nukka immediately hopped up onto the couch, crawled into Mom’s lap, and slithered between her arms. On the screen, Mina could see dozens of random letters appear as the kitten’s tiny paws pressed the keyboard buttons.

“What does she want?” Mina asked, still giggling as Mom scratched Nukka under her chin. Niko tilted her head, clearly baffled by the kitten’s antics.

“Oh, nothing in particular. My cat used to do this kind of thing all the time. When I wanted to cuddle, she’d have none of it. But as soon as I started doing something else, she just had to have my full attention.” Mom smiled as she picked the kitten up and handed her to Mina. “Maybe Nukka finally realized she’s a cat, not a husky.”

Mina gave Nukka a kiss on the head as she headed to her room, Niko trotting along next to her. “Do you know you’re a kitty now?” she asked, holding Nukka up so they were eye to eye. The thought actually made her a little sad. It was so funny to watch Nukka act like a puppy. Mina always had new videos to show Emily and the others at lunch, and the whole table would shriek with laughter at the sight of the kitten chewing bones or frolicking with the husky pups, tail wagging and tongue lolling. The one of Nukka during dragline practice was the unanimous favorite so far.

“She’s so clever!” Emily had said, staring in amazement at the video of the kitten racing around the yard, dragging the rawhide along behind her. “Did any of the other pups get it right on the first try?”

“Nope,” Mina replied proudly. “Just Nukka.”

Emily shook her head. “It’s too bad she can’t actually go on runs with the other huskies. She might not be as strong as they are, but she’s definitely super smart.”

“You have got to put this on Instagram,” Fiona had added. She said the same thing pretty much every time she saw a Nukka video.

Mina set Nukka down on her bed, then headed over to her desk and opened her laptop. She stroked the top of Niko’s head as the laptop powered on. Overall, her first week of adapting to the pack had been a big success.

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