Lots of Love in a Little Package

It was a rainy day, and a little girl by the name of Kaila stared out the window of her family's luxurious cottage, watching the rain pour down. The water was so thick, the sun was blocked out, and it seemed to make the world sadder. Kaila sighed and traced the path a raindrop had taken down the window with her finger.

Kaila had no siblings, nor any pets. There was only her, her parents, and her babysitter, who also helped around the house with chores. Her babysitter was an elderly woman, though kind, and she spent much of her time working where nobody, not even Kaila, could see. It was times like this, when the weather was too terrible to go outside, and her parents were gone, running errands in the nearby town, that Kaila really got to being sad.

Suddenly, Kaila spotted a little white blob speeding across the soaked lawn towards the back door, where it stopped, and Kaila heard something scratching the door. The little girl called for the older woman, who called back, "Coming!" and there were thuds on the steps as the babysitter waddled down the stairs.

The little girl could wait no longer, so she slowly pulled open the back door to see a mostly white puppy sitting on the porch, though it was muddy and its fur was matted down due to the downpour outside. Kaila ushered the puppy inside, where it practically pranced in, then sat down on the mat in front of the door.

Kaila's babysitter had finally made it downstairs, where she gasped at seeing the puppy, and started to swat at it with a broom, before Kaila scooped up the puppy in her arms.

"Why, Kaila, your cute little dress is getting muddy!" Kaila's babysitter protested when the puppy snuggled into Kaila's embrace.

The little girl shrugged off the older woman's concern, and brought the puppy to the 1st floor bathroom, where she put the little dog in the sink, and started running cold water. The babysitter stepped in, turned on the hot water instead, and grabbed Kaila's shampoo and a few towels from the shelf.

Kaila and the elderly woman worked together to get the puppy clean, and they had it almost dry when the front door opened, and Kaila's parents called out for their daughter. The little girl scooped up the puppy, still swaddled in towels, and brought it to her parents, where they gazed at it in amazement. Kaila explained that it had run up to the door, and she and the babysitter had gotten it all cleaned up.

Kaila's parents frowned at the little puppy, which was contentedly chewing the corner of the entry room rug, before Kaila knelt down beside it and started playing with it.

The puppy was a little fluffball, with black ears and huge orange circles around its eyes. One of the puppy's rear legs was orange, with black topping off the orange patch, and there was a black circle on the side of the puppy's tail. The little girl and the puppy played well together, and the girl had never seemed happier.

Kaila's parents told the girl that she could keep the puppy for tonight, and they would bring it to town the next day to have it properly cared for until its owners came to pick it up. However, the puppy had no collar nor any identification for its owners, so it would be difficult to determine who truly owned this puppy.

That night, the puppy was offered table scraps and a fresh bowl of water. When Kaila was ready to be tucked in, the puppy was helped up onto Kaila's bed, where it curled up in the girl's lap and fell asleep with her.

Later in the night, Kaila's parents agreed to let the dog stay, for their daughter had never seemed more content before, and the two seemed to have a strong bond. Kaila slept well with the puppy by her side.

The next morning, Kaila fed the puppy some egg and bacon, and then played with it until her parents made her say goodbye. Kaila wept as the puppy was brought into her parent's car, and they drove away, leaving her alone in the sunshine outside the grand house.

Despite the fact that Kaila's parents hadn't been gone for more than two hours, it still felt like they had been gone forever, or so it seemed to Kaila. When her parents finally pulled back into the driveway, Kaila seemed sadder than ever. Until the little puppy jumped out of the car and ran straight for her. There was a new blue collar on the puppy, with a little gold bell attached to it that jingled every time the dog moved. Her mother stepped out of the passenger's seat holding a bag of puppy kibble and a blue leash that matched the collar.

"Now, you can keep the dog. We have everything it will need right here. Help us unload and then you can name it!" Kaila's father explained after he stepped out of the car too. Kaila cheered and rushed to the back of her parent's car, where she started pulling out new dog toys for her puppy.

After everything was brought in, and the puppy had settled down, Kaila announced to her family that she had decided on a name for the puppy. "His name will be Redemption, for we have saved his life, and have given him a family to stay with."