CHRISTMAS ON THE DOOR STEP by Clara Tibbetts

CHRISTMAS ON THE DOOR STEP

Each day it was the same routine, getting ready for school, going and coming back to an empty house with no cat or dog to meet Jody when she came home from school. Everyone else in her class had a pet. Every night Jody would ask her parents “Mom, Dad, may I get a dog or a cat?”

“No,” they would say, but today was different.

When Jody got home she went upstairs and took down her very long brown hair. She lay down on her soft bed. Jody was looking at the ceiling when she heard a noise at the door. Maybe, thought Jody, her mom was home early so she went down to greet her. But when she opened the door, on the doorstep sat a dirty small dog whimpering and scratching at the door. “Well, well, what have we here? Come in,” Jody said. As she led the dog in Jody noticed a splinter in the dog’s tail. “Come now and we’ll get you a bath.”

When the dog was clean and the two were curled up on the couch, Jody’s mom walked into the room. “Uh oh” thought Jody when her mom shouted, “JODY WHY ARE THERE MUDDY PAW PRINTS ALL OVER MY CLEAN CARPET?”

“Mom I couldn’t resist it. There was a dog on the doorstep and I had to let it in,” answered Jody.

“All right, but I’ll have to put up notices and call people to see if they have lost a dog,” said Mom.

Next morning Jody rushed to the basket where the dog had slept that night. “Good,” thought Jody, the dog was still there. Mom hadn’t found the owner yet.

Rosie, Jody’s best friend, rang the door bell. Jody, still in her pajamas, came to answer the door.

“Would you and your family like to come for Christmas at my house?” asked Rosie.

“I’d love to and I’m sure my parents would too,” said Jody. At that moment the dog came running up to Jody.

“Where did you get that dog?” asked Rosie.

“It turned up on the porch, and I brought it in but my mom is still looking for its owner. Bye, see you tomorrow,” waved Jody.

The next day Jody longed to play with Bella (Jody named the dog last night). When it was time to go to Rosie’s house, Jody asked if they could take Bella. Mom and Dad said she wasn’t trained enough to take out. When they got to Rosie’s house the girls played and they had supper. Then it was time for presents. Jody, being the youngest, went first. When her present was brought out from the cupboard, it gave a bark and then another bark. After Jody had ripped off the paper there sitting in a cage was Bella. “Mom, Dad! For me?” asked Jody.

“Yes” they said, “for you, Merry Christmas!”

By Clara Tibbetts

June, 2004

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