[Critique Group 1] April Submission

[Deanna Noriega]

A                     An Unexpected Gift

 

            Lisa Swan snuggled into the beautiful capote her mother had made
for her Christmas gift.  She looked out of the bedroom window onto a white
world of snow laden cedar trees and brilliant sun dazzled snow drifts.  She
watched as Dan Trabu stepped out of his back door and waded out in to the
deep pristine snow of his yard.  He held something small cupped in his
hands.  He bent and placed it in a drift against the fence between his
garden and the side yard of her home.  Lisa drew in a gasp of surprise.  She
spun around to race down the hall and out the kitchen door and around to the
side of the house.  She reached through the fence to lift a small black and
white ball of downy fur from where it shivered in the snowbank.  A tiny
spotted Beegle pup trembled in her hands and gave out a faint whine.  She
tucked him inside her new coat against her heart.  The puppy snuggled into
the warmth of her body and slowly his shivers diminished.

            Elijah Wind crossed the road from his house to that of his
eldest daughter.  He spotted his granddaughter Lisa crouched in the snow
beside the house.

"What are you doing out in the cold Blossom?" he called.

            "Grandpa, Officer Trabu just threw away a puppy out into the
snow!  Do you think mama will let me keep it?"

            "Let's go inside and see what you have there, little one,"
Elijah replied.

Lisa and her grandfather turned to retrace the path Lisa had made to enter
the warmth of the kitchen where Mary Swan stood pouring a cup of coffee. Her
two younger children, Mike and Ryan scampered into the room through the
inner door. Lisa's words tumbled out in an excited flood as she filled in
the story of finding the puppy.   

            "Can I keep him?" she begged, holding the tiny ball of fur out
toward her mother.

            "Oh honey, he is too little to live without his mother," Mary
said as she examined the puppy cupped in her daughter's hands.  "His eyes
aren't even open.  Dan's dog Belle must have had her litter last night."

            "Why would he throw away a puppy?" asked Mike.

            ""I'm not sure, but Belle is a champion and this puppy looks a
bit funny with his odd markings.  Sometimes people don't want puppies that
aren't perfect or that are too small.  They call them runts and don't keep
them," sighed Mary.

            "Dan Trabu is a hard man," commented Elijah. "I guess working as
a tribal police officer for twenty years can do that to a fella.  They see
too much of the bad side of folks and their hearts have to grow a hard shell
like a turtle to keep from feeling too much."

            "But mama, I have an old baby doll bottle and if I feed him milk
from it until he gets bigger, he could grow big enough to keep.  Please
mama, please, please.  I promise I will take good care of him!"

            "Ryan and I can help her mom!  You won't even know he is here,"
offered Mike.

            "That would work fine for a while, but what would you do when
school starts up again after the Christmas break?" asked Mary.

            "I could take care of the pup while the children are in school,"
offered Elijah.  "He might not make it even so, but looking after him will
teach the children the meaning of responsibility."

            "Oh papa, it will be so hard on them if he dies in spite of all
they can do."

            "Not as hard girl, as putting that poor little scrap back out in
the snow."

            "I guess you're right," sighed Mary.  "I'll heat some milk.  Go
find that doll bottle and let's see what we can do.  Papa, you'd better go
let Dan know so he won't get mad if this puppy survives."

"Will do, I'll ask him and his wife to come across for some breakfast fry
bread too.  You and the young'uns come across soon as you tend to the puppy.
Your ma has got everything about ready to set down for a big Christmas
breakfast," said Elijah.

                                                

            

 

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