Free A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron

angrily.
    The man crossed his arms. “I am taking the dog. We’ve had complaints, and it was running loose.”
    I yipped so she’d know I was right there waiting to be let out.
    “Complaints? Molly is just a puppy. Who complains about a puppy?” Clarity said. “What was she, making people too happy ?”
    “That’s not your business. If it is your dog, you can pick it up at the shelter anytime after noon tomorrow.” The man made to move away.
    “But wait! Wait! She’s just…” The tears were flowing down Clarity’s face now. I whimpered, wanting to kiss her sadness away. She put a hand to her mouth. “She won’t understand if you take her. She’s a rescue dog who has already been abandoned once. Please, please. I don’t know how she got out, but I promise you it won’t happen again. Promise, promise. Please?”
    The man’s shoulders slumped. He took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “Well … All right, look. Okay, but you need to get her chipped and vaccinated and in a few months spay her. Deal? And then get a license. It’s the law.”
    “I will. I promise.”
    The game of truck was over. The man opened the cage and Clarity reached in and pulled me out. She hugged me and I kissed her face, then looked at the man to see if he wanted a kiss, too.
    “All right,” the man said.
    “Thank you, thank you,” Clarity said.
    The truck drove off. Clarity stood and watched it go, still holding me. “Complaints,” she muttered.
    As she carried me to her house, I could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest. We went through the front door and she stooped, setting me down. A piece of paper was right in front of my nose on the floor and I sniffed it, smelling the woman who had been on the porch a little while ago. Clarity picked up the paper and looked at it.
    “Clarity? Is that you?”
    Gloria came around the corner and stopped, staring at me. I wagged and started to go to her to say hello, but Clarity reached down and picked me up.
    “ What ? What are you doing?” Gloria demanded.
    “This is Molly. She’s … she’s my dog.” Clarity’s hands were trembling.
    “No, she is not,” Gloria said.
    “Not which part? Not Molly? Or not a dog?” Clarity asked.
    “Out!” Gloria yelled.
    “No!” Clarity shouted back.
    “You cannot have a dog in my house!”
    “I am keeping her!”
    “You can’t say anything to me right now. Do you know what trouble you’re in? I had a visit from the delinquency officer. You’ve been missing so much school that they came out here to arrest you.”
    Clarity set me down.
    “No! Do not put that animal on my carpet.”
    With all the shouting, I shied away from Gloria.
    “It’s a dog. She won’t do anything, she just peed outside.”
    “A dog—are you sure it’s not a fox ?”
    “Why? Do you need another coat? ”
    I wandered over to the couch, but there was nothing underneath it but dusty smells. In fact, most of the odors in the house were coming from Gloria.
    “It’s going to lift its leg on the couch! I’m calling someone,” Gloria shrieked.
    “Did you even bother to read this?” Clarity said. She rattled the paper in her hand and I watched alertly, wondering if she was going to throw it. “This is a summons for you, you know. You have to appear in court, too.”
    “Well, I’m going to tell them you are completely out of control.”
    “And I’m going to tell them why.”
    “Why what?”
    “Why I was able to skip so much school. You go on trips all the time and leave me without any adults in the house, including when I was twelve years old. By myself !”
    “I don’t believe this. You asked to be left alone. You hated the babysitter.”
    “I hated her because she was a drunk! One time she fell asleep in her car in the driveway.”
    “We’re not having this conversation again. If you’re going to imply that I was in any way a negligent mother then I’ll just call Social Services and you can live in an orphanage.”
    I turned