Our Honda rolled slowly up the steep pass, sending small pebbles rolling off the edge of the cliff, skittering through the railing and falling down into the canyon. Clouds of dust obscured our view, and the Honda kept climbing up the winding road. Inside the car, I was bouncing excitedly around in my car seat. My brothers were sitting in the back, just as excited, horsing around with pent-up anticipation. My whole family was still arguing about names.
“C’mon, Hannah, give in,” said Alexander impatiently. “We all want the name Phoebe, you know we do, so give in!” He was right, but I didn’t like the name Phoebe at the time. It reminded me of the girl in the show The Magic School Bus, who was a total scaredy-cat and never wanted to go on adventures. She was called Phoebe. Whenever I thought that name, I thought coward. I loved the name Poppy, and I still preferred that. Any name was better than Phoebe. I looked back at my brother and scowled.
“No. I don’t like the name Phoebe. I don’t want our dog to be a scaredy-dog,” I reminded him. My mom turned around and frowned at us.
“Kids, stop fighting. Just hold tight, we’re almost there.”
And so we were. My dad was pulling into a long gravel driveway, steering us to the front of a big house. My parents got out and helped me unbuckle. As soon as I was out of the way, my brothers pushed the seat down and clambered out. I was so excited, it seemed like forever before we finally went up the path and knocked on the door. When it opened, a woman with brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and small rectangular glasses answered.
“Well well well, you must be the Conns! We’ve been expecting you. Come in, come in. The puppies will love to meet you!” she said as she led us into the living room.
“The puppies and their mother are outside on the patio. Come on out.” She showed us out onto the deck, and suddenly we were surrounded by a mass of small, warm bodies. The puppies were the cutest, sweetest things I had ever seen. They were a rust-brown color with soft little ears and huge, milky eyes. Each puppy had a piece of rickrack tied around its neck: yellow, pink, green, blue, a bunch of different colors to tell which puppy was which. All the puppies looked the same. I didn’t know which one was ours but I couldn’t care less. They were so cute, roughhousing with each other and fighting to get a drink of milk from their mother, Brandy. They were all falling over each other with little yips and cries, a mix of ears and wagging tails and fur. My brothers were down on the deck, playing with all the puppies swarming around them. I was still a little hesitant.
“Yours
has purple rickrack,” said the lady, breaking the trance I had been in watching
the puppies. I looked around for the telltale sign of wavy purple ribbon. And
then, I saw it. The puppy. Our puppy, tousling with a different little dog with
yellow rickrack. I just looked at her and felt an extreme love for her.
“See her, Hannah?” asked my dad, drawing my attention away from our puppy. I could only nod at him and turn my attention back to the dogs. Suddenly, my dad had gently picked her up and was holding her like a baby. That broke the spell. I ran over to my dad with my brothers close on my heels. The puppy looked a little bewildered, lying in strange arms. I reached my arm out to pet her. She was soft and warm, her big eyes looking up at me, confused. I traced the outline of her soft brown ears with a little fringe of fur on the edges. My brothers were excited too. They were all over her, asking to hold her and trying to pet her. My dad set her down again so she could play a little longer before saying goodbye to her mother and all her siblings forever. She ran over to Brandy and pushed the puppy with green rickrack over to have a last go at a drink. The yellow rickrack puppy trotted over and pushed our puppy out of the way. The breeder wove through all the little dogs to ours and picked her up again.
“I think it might be time soon to take her home, don’t you think?” I was fine with this. I was eager to get back to my house and show our puppy her new home. We had it all set up for her. We all went back through the living room and to the front door.
“Thank you so much for coming. I’m sure your puppy will have a great home.” She bid us goodbye and closed the door. We piled back into the car and got the puppy settled in the back with my brothers. I couldn’t help looking back and watching her every few seconds. When everyone was all buckled, my dad started up the car and turned out of the driveway, spraying up gravel, pulling back onto the long road, this time with a puppy in the back seat. Something came to me suddenly.
“Hey guys, I’ve changed my mind. Let’s call her Phoebe.”
kristian (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 4:13 PM
omg brilient story it was the best. I liked your description and every thing else. Those puppies are sooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am not kidding. The puppies are so small and fat ish. any way really good job and HAPPY BIRTHDAY
griffin (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 4:48 PM
that is a very discriptive blog i like the compairsons
-grif
Blair (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 5:58 PM
AWWWW! Phoebe is sooo cute . It makes me want to get another dog. Good jobb Hannah
Blair
Parker Jones (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 6:05 PM
Nice story Hannah, I really liked how you titled the story "The Dog with the Purple Rickrack" and when you described your dog.
Ounce agian nice job!!!!!!
Evan (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 6:28 PM
nice! i think that is a great name for a dog! anyways, i think that the story is pretty cool and i am suprised that you could rember all of that.
Evan
Nico (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 6:43 PM
Hannah,
that was a great story. Your puppy looks adorable and your descriptions of her were very good.
nico
Jay (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 7:21 PM
Your descriptions were very good and how you said rusty colored fur and milky eyes that is exactually how they look. you are wright those are the cutist things ever. HAPPY BIRTH DAY HANNAH
Keegan Whitelaw (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 7:36 PM
Hannah, (A.K.A Birthday girl)
That story was great! I loved how you explained the car ride, and you arguing with your brothers for which name Phoebe. I thought
that was very funny. I loved how you said "I don’t want our dog to be a scaredy-dog." I thought that was also pretty funny. You described
Phoebe really well when you first got her. You explained everything really well. I really liked how you said
"They were a rust-brown color with soft little ears and huge, milky eyes." That was a very good describion. Great story and keep up the good work.
-Your bro, Keegan
ryan (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 8:05 PM
Hannah-
That story was amazing! The descriptive words helped paint a picture in my mind, and you didn't need the pictures to tell what the puppy looked like (although the photos were so cute I'm glad you did put them on!). The last sentence was my favorite because it added mystery. Great job and keep it up.
-Ryan
carson (unauthenticated)
Apr 26, 2010 9:02 PM
hannah
that is such a good story i loved the disciption and the pics were so cute
carson
Olivia (unauthenticated)
Apr 27, 2010 8:06 AM
Hi Hannah,
I loved your story! Your story was written incredibly! You had amazing descriptions that gave me a clear picture in my head. I could picture everything perfectly and I loved the way you ended your story! That story was my favorite story of the year! Keep writing, Hannah!
-Olivia
Emily (unauthenticated)
Apr 27, 2010 8:19 AM
Hannah-
That is such amazing story I wish i could have seen all the dogs. The words showed a story in my head. Nice job and keep it up
Darby (unauthenticated)
Apr 27, 2010 8:20 AM
Hannah,
You had an AMAZING story. You made a great picture in my mind too. Phoebe was adorable the and she still is now! great job and keep up the good work!!!!!
-Darby
Thomas (the kiwi) Gillespie (unauthenticated)
Apr 27, 2010 8:51 AM
the story was great and your dog looks so awesome and cute. the description was great to and the last sentence was great to
Alex (unauthenticated)
Apr 27, 2010 3:48 PM
Hannah-
Great job keep it up
Eliza (unauthenticated)
Apr 27, 2010 5:07 PM
Hannah,
Of course it was AMAZING. The description was so great I felt like I was actually there. I loved that the name Phoebe reminded you of that magic school bus girl. It was really funny. Your ending was my favorite part. I would of never thought of ending a story like that it was really cool. Hannah Awesome job!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eliza (<E)
Sarah (unauthenticated)
Apr 27, 2010 7:13 PM
GREAT STORY!!! I found myself anticipating your change of heat on the name since I already know Pheobe those puppies were ADORABLE and tubby and they looked very soft. How did you remember all the details?? I loved the discription in the beggining about going up the pass and the description about the puppies and all the other discriptions all i can say is WOW!! you story was truly amazing keep up the good no great work!!!
-Sarah
henry (unauthenticated)
Apr 28, 2010 12:25 PM
great detailes
i think the puppies are so cool
Lilly (unauthenticated)
Apr 28, 2010 4:17 PM
Hannah,
Awesome story! Thanks for sharing it with us. I loved all the description and how at the beginning you didn't tell us what you were talking about. Nice story. Phoebe looks so cute as a puppy!
Lilly
Braden (unauthenticated)
Apr 28, 2010 6:12 PM
WOW! That hit me like a bulit. Bam! anyways those dogs are soooooooo cute they looked like my dog jojo when she was little. Great story and it had lots of details.
Dane (unauthenticated)
Apr 28, 2010 6:43 PM
I loved your story. Im surprised you did change the name. Your puppy is so cute. Very discrptive
lukas (unauthenticated)
Apr 28, 2010 7:00 PM
Hannah - that was a amazing story! You explained every thing really well and the puppy was so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really liked the descriptions in the beginning when you were driving over to get the puppy. When I was reading it I could picture a really good picture in my mind.
great job & keep up the good work
-Lukas
Lexi (unauthenticated)
Apr 28, 2010 8:37 PM
That was sooo great and sooooooooo cute! Getting a new puppy is so exciting... it is the best! I love how you tied the begining to the end, and how you argued about the name Pheobe and how you described the girl from magic school bus.
That was great!
-Lexi
Tripp (unauthenticated)
Apr 29, 2010 8:36 AM
great story hannah you had great vocabulary and description. your story was awesome and kept me super interested. overall great story
colby wright (unauthenticated)
Apr 29, 2010 8:46 PM
i really liked the story. i remember when i got my first dog, and it was amazing. good work
pierson (unauthenticated)
Apr 29, 2010 9:07 PM
wow hannah, great story that was amazing how you descibed everything so well i loved it
nice story, pierson
Garrett Rawlings (unauthenticated)
May 1, 2010 8:04 PM
Hannah,
That was an amazing story. You described it so well i remember when i got my pupping an i felt the same way. i thought it was funny how at the end you decided to name it Phoebe. Good job.
Garrett
sean (unauthenticated)
May 10, 2010 4:48 PM
OH MY GOD that was awesome great descrition i love that name phoebe great gob hannah
sean
Hope Perkins (unauthenticated)
May 10, 2010 8:27 PM
WOW Hannah that was a great story! You were very discriptive and the pictures were REALLY cute! Keep it up Hannah!
-Hope
Jack Goodwin (unauthenticated)
May 11, 2010 8:07 AM
Hannah nice job, you discribed the story amzinlgly. your puppy is so cute.
NIce going
Jack
max tanous (unauthenticated)
May 13, 2010 2:28 PM
Great details hannah. This is the first time i have seen phoebe as a puppy. It is awsome. Great story.
Max
samie (unauthenticated)
May 29, 2010 8:21 PM
hannah,
that was so good, phoebe was so cute. Great deatails
Samie