I hear the gravel under the tires, as my stomach tightens. The car stops suddenly. I open my door and let the night air pour into the car. After two hours of driving around, it feels good to finally stand up and stretch! I run as fast as I can to meet the van that has pulled up in front of us, even though it is pouring rain. The door swings open, and as I get closer, I see my dream.

I am very cautious at first, because I am afraid he is asleep. As I approach, I can see his fur, golden brown with shades of different brown, and black. He looks so small, cuddled in the arms of his former owner, Liz. I walk closer and see that he isn’t sleeping after all. This makes me feel less nervous, and not afraid of waking him up.

“Would you like to hold him?” says Liz.
I am startled by the question.

“Can I?” I hear myself say.

“Of course! He is your new puppy!” says Liz.

“Thank you!” I say, as I take the warm sleepy puppy from her arms.

I feel a stream of happiness run through me. I had never known just a small little puppy could make that much happiness in someone’s life.

After my mom and Liz finish talking about when to take our puppy to the doctor, we start walking towards our car. I am so excited to add another dog to our family!

"What should we name him, Gertie?” my mom says.

“I thought we were going to name him Ranger?”

“I know, I just thought you might have come up with another name!”

“No, I still like Ranger the best, how about you?”

“Ranger is fine with me!”

“Ranger it is then!” I say. I feel happy to have finally found a name for him!

We all got back into the car and started heading back home. I realize how much this dog, my pets at home, and all other animals mean to me. I can’t believe how some people don’t like animals, and especially dogs. I know that there is not one animal that I would let die, of starvation, disease, or even just from not having an owner to take care of them.