[ ~ ★ ~ ] ＴＥＲＡＬＹＮ - open for posting ^^

[elizabethhher]

Teralyn Bozikovic is the little girl who went from nothing to something. She was given up as a baby, adopted, given up again, bounced from one adoption agency to another, and finally, adopted for good. She'd been through the ringer, that's for sure. Teralyn's absolutely positive that the six-foot something, blue-eyed and blue-haired man who adopts her is going to be the best dad ever, and she knows that she will never be forgotten or abandoned again with him as her new dad.

Of course, Teralyn's completely right, until she isn't.

that's not my real name, by the way. it's a pseudonym.

[elizabethhher]

from yours truly

i. dog days are over
ii. secret
iii. night changes
iv. the driver
v. incredible
vi. good time pt. one
vii. good time pt. two

[elizabethhher]

I don't think I'll ever understand what went through my mind six years ago. I was young, stupid, and naive. I had this weird viewpoint of the world, and, to put it in layman terms, I was a spoiled little brat. I believed that the world was supposed to revolve around me, no if, ands, or buts about the matter. It had always been just Dad, Batman, and me traveling the world in one of Dad's cars, and that was the way I liked it. I didn't like staying in one city for more than a day or two, and I surely didn't like change. Change scared me in ways unimaginable. I had been through so much as a toddler, and later on any drastic change had frightened me. Moving into an apartment, being put in a school, not having my dad around me. Those are some of the few changes that did more harm to me then good. Everything was just too overwhelming.

But, I believe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, yeah?

[elizabethhher]

I was born in a house, near a lake, somewhere in Oklahoma on December 19, 2001 at approximately 4:23 in the morning, or at least, that's what I've heard. Who I was born to is a mystery that I don't care to solve. I wasn't with my biological parents long, because as I have been told, I was at an adoption center not a week after my birth.

I'm guessing that some humongous mix up happened and somehow, on January 3, 2002, I was all the way in the UK (look ma, I can rhyme!) with some other people who were not my parents. I wasn't even a full month old, but eh, stuff happens, I guess. I lived with them for a little over a year, later being moved back to an adoption center because the old man had died, and his wife wasn't able to look at me because he loved me so much and I reminded her of him. Well. A bit rude, I might say. I don't really remember much about them to say much.

After being bounced around from foster family to foster family from the age of one and a half to three, I was finally able to find home in an adoption center somewhere in Northern California. Well, not home, but I suppose you get the idea. It was there where I met the man I would call my dad. Finally, after being bounced around for years, someone finally sought interest in me and wanted me as their daughter.

Now, of course, when I first met Alex I was frightened by his presence. I was about two feet tall at the time, and then in walks this man, around six foot one, piercing blue eyes, and not dark blue, but midnight blue hair. At that point in time, I had no clue how old Alex was. All I knew was that he was no where close to the appropriate age to raise a kid, and boy, was I right.

The man -or shall I say, boy- sat down next to me while I was drawing what were supposed to be circles on the walls, he picked up a crayon and drew on the wall with me, talking. I have no clue what he said, one being because I was a toddler and didn't understand the complex words he said, and two because I simply wasn't listening. Yes, even at the mere age of three, I had already learned to drone people out.

I did hear him, however, when he asked if I was listening to him. I looked at him and shook my head no, then went straight back to my drawing. He chuckled, and returned drawing as well.

We stayed silent for a long time, just loving each others company. After a few hours, he got up, stretched his long limbs, dusted off his pants then smiled at me, saying “Well, I'll see you later, little one.”

“Bye-bye,” I waved in reply, to which he cooed. Apparently my speech was adorable. Little did I know, however, that he would be back, and that from this moment on, I would never be able to get rid of this man.

➳

He visited me about once a day, usually during the lunch hours. He would bring me food and we would sit in the little room for potential parents who wanted to meet the children. We would eat, and he would tell me about him. I seldom spoke, not because I couldn't, but because I liked his voice and I liked learning things about him. I was able to find out that he found out about me through one of the workers, Johnathan; his name was Alex, he had just turned nineteen years old, in university -though at that point in time I had no clue what that even was-, and had enough money to buy a large country if he wanted to. Okay, well maybe not that much, but close enough. It was all inheritance. He was the one of the two children his parents had, and his father had passed away, leaving money to him, Aunt Zohie, and Gramma.

From what I was told, he didn't like his dad much, and his dad didn't like him so much either. According to him, the whole not following his father's path thing got in the way of their father-son relationship.

He told me about his girlfriend, and how much his girlfriend would love me when she met me.

He told me he couldn't wait until I was able to go home with him and spend the rest of my life as his daughter. He swore he was going to spoil me by giving me whatever I wanted because I, and I quote, was 'too cute not to spoil'. Let me tell you, he wasn't lying.

He had visited me for four and a half months at the adoption center.

Then, came the home visits.

[elizabethhher]

Now, the home visits weren't bad, per se, it's just that we never actually went to his house. We always either walked to the town, around the park, or went somewhere to eat. At around the third month of never actually seeing his house, I asked him if he was homeless and lived in his car, well sort of. My exact words had been “Why do you live in a car?” I had seen it in a movie, so I knew it was possible. He just laughed at me, shaking his head and looking at me through the rear-view mirror of his car while he drove.

“I'm not homeless, if that's what you're asking. I can absolutely guarantee you that I indeed live in a house.” he replied, looking back at the road.

“Oh, okay.”

“Can I see it?” I asked him after the car was silent for a while.

“See what?”

I face-palmed. “Can I see your house?”

And here, I received my first sign that something major was off.
He was hesitant.

“Um, yeah, sure,” he stated, “First let’s get something to eat, okay?”

Of course, I agreed, because well, when someone offers you food, you do not turn that down.

Alex spent the whole day driving around and looking for a fancy restaurant. By the time we had finished eating, it was time for me to go back to the center.

I frowned when he dropped me off.

“What’s wrong?”

“You do not want me to see your house.”

“That's uh, oh hell, what sense does it make lying to you. Yeah, I guess I don't.”

“And why not?”

“...”

I stood there, crossed my arms, and looked at him.

I wasn't stupid. I knew something was up, and he wasn't telling me what it was.

"Tell me, please?" I asked, putting on my infamous puppy-dog eyes and sticking out my bottom lip. This was the pout that no one could ever resist, or so I hoped.

"Ughh, fine. I suppose I'll tell you." He said to me, groaning and rolling his eyes. He sat down in a chair and looked at me.

I was tapping my foot, waiting for him to tell me.

"Well, you know my girlfriend... She um.. She sorta-kinda-maybe doesn't want me to adopt a little kid, and she's always at the house during the time I get to take you. I don't want her freaking out or doing anything rash if I ever bring you over while she's there." He sighs, looking at me sadly.

"Oh." was my simple reply.

We stood -more, I stood, he sat- there in silence for a while, not really knowing what to say or do. It was awkward, to say the least, but hey, at the moment, my mind had gone off to some different topic, his girlfriend problems had left my thoughts the minute he had told me.

"Don't worry though. This'll all be over by the time I sign the papers to adopt you. By that time, I'm sure that I'll have convinced her that it'll be fine, and having you around will make our lives better. Yeah, in a few months, she'll be completely fine with the idea. It'll all turn out fine."

I didn't believe for one second that he was trying to convince me.

[elizabethhher]

A few months passed, and based on what had happened, I'm positive that all that false hope was for nothing. I had told the social workers that I liked the strange, tall, blue-haired man, and that I was cool with him becoming my dad. They talked with him, papers were signed, a bunch of other boring adult stuff happened, and it was time for him to take me home.

He was nervous. Really, really nervous.

I didn't know why at the time, but I found out later that night.

There was a carnival that had come to town the day he was going to take me home. Me being me, I wanted to go to the carnival before I went to his house, because I knew the carnival was going to be “so much better.” We packed all of my belongings (two suitcases containing a whole bunch of clothes and a few pairs of shoes) into the back of his SUV and then headed off to the carnival, all the while I was talking non-stop.

When we got to the parking lot, I threw off my seat belt and would have bolted out of the car if it wasn't for the stupid child safety lock. My new dad chuckled and got out of the car, walking around to open my door.

The second the door had opened, I had ran to the entrance, probably beating the world record for fastest hundred meter dash. I waited at the gate, rather impatiently, while my dad bought the tickets so we could actually enter the gates. I had a short conversation with one of the guards about the carnival, but I don't remember what was said. I just remember being really happy and excited, as I loved the idea of a carnival, and going to one made my happy meter explode.

When Alex got to me, I grabbed his arm and started tugging him inside the gates. The first thing we did was the bumper cars. I wanted to go by myself, but they wouldn't let me, seeing as I was only four. Apparently, four year olds can't operate vehicles by themselves.

They did not know me.

After the bumper cars, I made Alex go with me onto every ride that I was able to get on at only forty-inches tall.

It was almost midnight when I decided that it was time to go. My new dad was nonetheless ecstatic at my decision, and rushed me and all the stuff he had won for me to the car before I had any second thoughts.

➳

When we got to his house, I was still wide awake. You can blame that on the last minute funnel cake and cotton candy. While I sat in the back, singing parts of various Disney musicals, Alex opened up my car door, unbuckled me, and was carrying me to the front door of the house. He set me down and then looked at me, telling me to be quiet for a minute and listen to him.

“We're finally at my house,” He chuckled nervously. “Now Ter, I want you to wait out here for a moment, and try not to be loud, okay? My neighbors are sleeping and the last thing I need is a volume complaint. I'm going to go inside for a second and wake up my girlfriend and surprise her by telling her that you're here. Then, I'll come outside and get you, and if we can all stay awake, we'll watch the Lion King, alrighty?”

That plan never happened.

I obeyed him and stood outside the door like he told me to, and waited patiently for him to come outside and get me. Thank goodness it wasn't freezing outside, because I stood out there for a long time. (That's sarcasm, for those who don't know).

At first, there was no sound coming from the other side of the door. Then, there were angry, hushed whispers. Following the whispers was normal talking. At this point, I had stepped a bit away from the door, because the voices were getting louder, and I didn't like that at all. Of course, you can't have the people raising their voice without it resulting in yelling, and that's exactly what happened.

Keep in mind, it's like one in the morning now.

I'm sure the neighbors could hear them. He thought the volume complaint would come from me, hah.

That besides the point, I could now clearly hear them arguing from the other side of the front yard. If Alex hadn't told me, I would've been sure that his girlfriend was a sailor, based off of the way she spoke. My god, someone needed to wash his mouth out with soap.

I was very scared, because most of the yelling wasn't coming from Alex. Actually, if I can recall, none of it was. After about ten minutes of yelling, things were being thrown around the house, as I could hear things crashing.

“You never [bad word, very bad word] listen, do you! I told you not to bring a little brat home, but of course, you [again, bad word] do! What in the [world] is wrong with you? Are you [someone bring the soap] stupid? I can never get anything through that thick-[swear] skull of yours! Get the [blankity-blank] out of here, right now, and take the little [wow, rude] with you!”

Alex didn't come outside after his girlfriend finished her rant. It was quiet for a little while afterward, and I slowly started making my way over to the other side of the yard, closer to the door.

As I was nearing the door, it suddenly flew open, and my dad came rushing out with two suitcases, one in each hand.

“Come on Teralyn, we're leaving.” He said, picking me up and rushing me to the car. To my surprise, instead of opening the car and buckling me in, he opened up the driver's door, set down in the car with me in his lap, turned on the heater -it was freezing outside- and called someone. I had no idea who he was calling, but about thirty minutes later, a grey truck pulled up to the house. Alex got out of the car -with me still in it- and him and the other person went straight to taking out all of my belongings from the backseat and putting them into the bed of the truck.

Still, I had no clue what was going on. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?
After a while of my dad and his friend (I was guessing here) moving the stuff from Alex's SUV to the truck, Dad turned off the heat and picked me up, leaving his cellphone and keys in the car.

“We're gonna be going somewhere else, okay?”

“Your girlfriend?”

“I don't have a girlfriend anymore,” he mumbled quietly, then shut the car door, walking over to the truck.

He placed me between him and the guy, who once getting closer to him, I recognized him as Johnathan, one of the guys from the adoption center. I got scared for a moment, thinking that I was going back, thinking that once again, I wasn't good enough.

“No! I'm sorry, Alex! I don't wanna go!” I screamed and tried climbing out of the car, tears running down my face.

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down, it's okay. You're staying with me, calm down. We're just going to spend the night at Johnathan's house. I wouldn't take you back, not in a million years, okay?” Alex said to me, buckling me into the middle seat and sitting in the passenger’s seat.

“Promise?” I asked him, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt.

“I promise.” He told me and smiled, to which I smiled back.

Sometime during all this, Johnathan started the truck and we were heading to his house. I was already starting to dose off, but right before I did, Alex looked at me and said, “Hey, you know you can call me Daddy now, right?”

I lazily smiled at him and nodded, responding with a simple: “Sure, okay.”

[elizabethhher]

We only spent one day at Johnathan's house.

I woke up in the morning to the smell of bacon pancakes. After bolting off of the couch and to the kitchen, I drenched my pancakes in syrup, not caring that the plate that was on the table wasn't mine. Alex turned around from his place over the stove and saw me sitting at the table, eating his pancakes.

“Good morning to you too,” He chuckled then sat down next to me, with a plate that was supposed to be mine (I could tell, as it had smaller pancakes, and less of them).

“Where's Johnny?” I asked him, taking the last bite of my pancakes.

“He went to work.”

“Why?”

“Because it's Thursday and he works every day of the week.”

“Why?”

“So he can get paid.”

“Why?”

“So he can buy food and live in this house.”

“Why?”

“If he didn't have food or-- I'm not playing this, Ter,” Alex said, looking at me and frowning. He put my empty plate and fork on top of his and started walking to the kitchen.

“....Why?”

I ran out of the room before he reacted.

➳

I watched TV while Alex did the dishes, though I wasn't really paying attention to what was on screen. It wasn't that interesting, I guess. Alex walks out of the kitchen, wiping his hands off on a rag and tossing the rag into the trashcan.

“Daddy, what are we doing today?” I asked him, to which he looked at me surprised.

“Wow, you actually called me Dad. Anyways, today we're going to buy a car, and then we're going to go on a road trip. Sound fun?”

I frowned.

“What's wrong, Teralyn?” he asked me, concerned.

“You have a car.”

“But I'm buying a different one, and this one will be special because you get to pick it out, okay?” I could tell that he didn't really want me to pick out a car, probably because he was afraid that I'd pick out some neon pink Volkswagen Beetle or something, but he should have known that I had better taste than that. I just nodded and smiled at him.

“I'm gonna put on clothes now,” I said, jumping off the couch, going to my bag, getting out some clothes, and going to the bathroom to put them on.

➳

We left Johnathan's house and waited at the bus stop that would take us to the car dealership. Alex said that I had to take my suitcases because we weren't going back. I groaned as I held onto one of my suitcases, complaining that it was too heavy. Alex rolled his eyes and grabbed my suitcase and the other one (which I had thrown on the ground) and held them until the bus came.

When we got on the bus, a lot of people looked at us weird, probably because Alex had two suitcases in his hand but was riding the bus that went to the mall and not the airport. In fact, that's what one lady asked him.

“Sir, you do realize that this bus heads to the mall, right?”

“Oh, yes, I do, but I'm going to the auto-mall to buy a car,” Alex replied to the lady, smiling at her.

“Just making sure. Sometimes people get turned around with the buses,” she smiled back, and the conversation between them stopped.

When we reached the mall, I bolted out of the bus, not waiting for Alex. I stood outside of the bus, waiting for him to come climbing out. Finally, after waiting for what seemed like five minutes though it was only a few seconds, Alex comes out of the bus, chuckling.

“C'mon, let's go have you pick out a car,” He said, causing me to start running to where the car dealerships were. Once he caught up with me, he told me to look around. I walked up to a bright pink car and pointed to it, causing him to cringe.

“Do you really want that one?” He asked me, putting down the suitcases and scratching the back of his neck.

“Course not. Pink is yucky,” I said, giggling and looking around at the other cars and trucks. I came across a black SUV.

“Daddy, what kind of car is this one?” I asked him, looking around and trying to find the sign that said what car it was.

“That's a Hummer H3 SUV. Why, do you like it?” He asked me, to which I nodded vigorously. As he was inspecting the car, a man came over, and started talking to Alex about it, giving him the whole spiel in order to hopefully get him to buy the SUV. The two talked, and I ended up zoning out during their conversation. Suddenly, the salesman bent down and looked me in the face.

“Your dad here says that I have to confirm that you want the car. So, tell me, do you want this one, or no?” The man asked me in the whole 'I'm talking to a little kid' voice. I frowned at him.

“Do not talk to me like that, sir. I am not a baby. But yeah, I like the car.” I replied, putting him in his place.

“Well,” he said, standing up, “I guess you'll be getting the car then? Follow me so you can fill out the necessary papers...” The rest of what he said was unknown to me as I walked behind him and Alex, looking around the car place and all the balloons they had up. After Alex paid for the car and did everything adults do to buy a car, we walked over to where the car he bought was. I hopped in the backseat, Alex places the suitcases in the very back.

“Now, we're going to the mall, because Daddy needs some clothes, 'kay?” He asked, or more like told. “Oh, and you also need a booster seat.”

“No,” I groaned, slumping in my seat. He just chuckled and drove to the parking lot of the mall.

➳

I had to sit around the mall while Alex shopped for clothes. I groaned, flopped around in whatever seat I was sitting in for that store, and fell out.

“Daddy I'm bored.” I'd say for each store he was in for more than thirty seconds. At the fourth store, he started to ignore me saying this every minute or so. I eventually made a little song out of being bored. It went something like this:

“Bored, bored, bored-bored.
All I am is bored-bored.
Being bored is berry boring.
No more being bored-bored!”

I screeched this song with every store we went to, until Alex bought me a pretzel to shut me up as he did the rest of his shopping. After he had selected a bunch of clothes and bought them, we walked to the food court, where he ordered something to eat for the both of us. As I ate whatever sandwich he had gotten me, Alex was on the phone with someone. After talking to them for a while, he said goodbye and looked at me happily.

“Teralyn, guess what!” He exclaimed, excitedly.

“We're going to Disneyland!” I exclaimed back, with the same enthusiasm as he had.

“Uh, no, but you're going to meet your Aunt Zohie and your grandma!” Even though what he said wasn't the answer I wanted, I was still excited. Alex had talked about them a lot during his visits, and he also said that his sister loved to cook. I clapped my hands and giggled, yelling out, “YAYA!”

[elizabethhher]

Once we got in the car and on the road, I stared out of the window, excitedly looking at everything we passed. I jumped up and down in my booster seat, smiling like a fool. The whole thought of a road-trip was exciting to me, as I had never been on one before and knowing that I was going to see my new -or rather, first- grandmother and aunt made me want to burst with happiness.

After driving for an hour, Alex pulls off of the freeway and into some town/city-ish place. I pressed my face against the glass of the window and started jumping up and down more, screaming loudly.

“We're there! We're there! Yaya!”

“No, Teralyn, we're not there yet. Calm down, hon.” Alex chuckled and shook his head, completely shutting down my happiness. I frowned and crossed my arms, slumping in my seat. “I just have to use the bathroom, chill. We'll be on the road again in no time, okay?” At this I brightened up a little, but I was still angry that we were stopping.

Alex parked into a grocery store parking lot, quickly getting out and taking me out of my seat. As we're rushing into the grocery store, I see a lady sitting down outside the store with a box of pups.

“Oh my god! Daddy, look, puppies!” I squealed, letting go of his hand and going over to the lady, picking up one of the tan and black dogs.
“Daddy, daddy, can I have one?” I asked, looking up at him. He told me no, explaining that we couldn't have a dog. I pouted, stomping my foot and thrusting one of the puppies upwards, towards Alex.

“But Daddy, look at it!” I exclaimed, giving him a puppy-dog face.

“Yes Teralyn, I see the dog, but no means no.” He replied, taking the dog out of my hands and placing it in the box. “And even if I said yes, that dog is already almost bigger than you, I mean, you could barely pick it up! Imagine how big it would get,” He said looking at me.

“But Da-”

“Please, Teralyn, not now. I really have to go to the bathroom. We'll talk about it when I come out, okay? Now c'mon, let's go before Daddy pees his pants.” Alex cuts me off. I giggle at the last part, reluctantly nod okay and head into the store with him.

Alex told me to stand in front of the bathroom door and not to leave the door, until he came outside. It probably wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but then again, Alex wasn't -and still isn't- the smartest guy in the world. So, it fits, I guess.

People passed by me and some just looked as I stood there, gripping onto the bathroom handle. One man started walking towards me and I started screaming my head off (“STRANGER DANGER, STRANGER DANGER!”), telling him no and to leave me alone. This scene, of course, cause people to come over to stop the guy from doing whatever they thought he was doing, when in reality he was probably just trying to go to the restroom. I feel bad, now that I look back at the situation.

Anyways, during this whole fiasco that I had caused in literally one minute, Alex throws open the door of the bathroom, probably scared for me. What he didn't notice was oh, you know, the little girl he told to stay at the door who was holding the handle. When he flung the door open, it yanked me back, and my first instinct was to let go of the handle, meaning that I flew back about a foot or two into the men's restroom. Yum.

I don't remember landing on the ground and I don't remember everyone's reactions, but I do remember the pain and crying. No, more like sobbing. I can't really describe how the pain felt. It started in my lower back and steadily went upwards. Thankfully, I didn't hit my head on the ground.

Alex rushed over to me, freaking out. “Please be okay oh my god did I kill you? No of course not you're crying of course I didn't- OH MY GOD you're crying I'm so sorry dear lord what do I do and you're in the men's restroom this isn't good if anything you should be in the women's restroom oh dear Jesus I am so sorry for accidentally throwing my daughter three feet into the men's restroom please don't send me to hell for this ohmygod-”

Alex was cut off from his rambling by his lack of breathing and by a woman who shoved him away from where he was hovering over me. The lady, who I'm guessing was either a nurse, doctor, or a mother of ten who had incidents like this happen around the clock, gently poked around my body as I cried. She asked me if it hurt anywhere and I told her that my back hurt. The lady felt around my back, applying pressure to various areas. As she applied pressure to an area in the middle of my back, I cried out. The lady stood up and shook her head, and then started...chuckling?

“She's just bruised her back a bit, she really isn't all that hurt. She thinks she's super hurt and all because toddlers don't have that high of a pain tolerance, but don't worry. She's not badly hurt.” Nurse-lady said, turning to Alex, who was standing near the door anxiously. “Just get her something that she wants, like ice-cream or summat, and just like magic, the pain will disappear.” And then she walked out of the bathroom.

Alex walked over to me as I laid on the ground (still. I was very melodramatic, okay?)

“You okay Tera? Gave me a proper scare, dear lord. Now we have to change your clothes and-”

“Floor is yucky.”

“Yes, exactly, and then we have to-”

“Yo,” a voice shouted from near the door, “I'm glad your kid's okay and all, but I hav'ta piss.”

“Oh, yeah, okay,” Alex said, gently picking me up and walking out of the bathroom.

(P.S., Asking Dad about this whole ordeal was kind of weird because he kept laughing the whole time. I find it funny how he can laugh about it now, but when it happened he seemed so worried. I dunno, he's weird.)

We left the bathroom and Alex carried me outside and to the car, opening the back of the car and setting me down, going to one of my bags and opening it up, picking out a new outfit for me to wear.

“Daddy, can I have a puppy?” I asked as he started changing my clothes.

“No, I don't think so, Ter.”

I just looked at him. I didn't throw a tantrum or anything. I just stared at him.

“Ter?”

Still, I didn't say anything. I just gave him the death scare. I don't do puppy-dog faces in these situations. Alex stared at me for a little while, before shaking his head. He swore then shook his head.

“Never mind, go ahead and choose out one of those dogs. Just don't give me that face ever again, okay?” He told me.

“Yaya!” I screamed out, letting him finish putting on my shoes before I got up and hugged him. I then climbed out of the car and -rather dangerously- ran through the parking lot to the lady at the front of the store who was selling puppies. Alex called after me a few times, but I didn't turn around.


I reached the lady who was sitting down and picked up one of the all white puppies. It started licking my face and I giggled, wiping my face off.

“No, don't do that puppy,” I said, smiling.

Alex had finally caught up to me and turned me around, bending down to look me in the face, looking rather serious. “Teralyn Grace, you should never, and I mean never run in the parking lot, do you understand?”

“Grace?” I asked him, confused at where that name came from.

“When I adopted you I figured you needed a middle name because Teralyn Bozikovic sounded like it was missing something, and I always wanted to name my own daughter Grace. So yeah, you're Teralyn Grace Bozikovic now. But that's besides the point, don't run in the parking lot, okay?”

I shrugged, “Sure, okay. But daddydaddydaddy look at this puppy I want it.” I thrust the puppy in his face, jumping up and down with it.

“Ter, calm down,” he said, then looked at the lady, “What kind of dog are they?” Alex asked looking up at her, while petting the dogs that were still in the box.

“Well, they're purebred German Shepherd dogs, they are AKC registered, and they're one-hundred dollars,” the lady replied to him, smiling.

Alex stood up and curiously frowned at the lady. “Why are you selling them in front of a store then? Shouldn't you be selling them at a posh dog show or something and for like one thousand dollars?”

“I don't think that's how dog shows work, and I should but I just need whatever I can get to pay for my daughter's treatment.” At the word treatment, Alex raised his eyebrow, about to open his mouth but the lady was already replying. “My daughter is about the same age as yours and she had a brain tumor removed. It cost a lot and insurance covered a good amount of it, but there's still a lot that I need to pay myself, so I'm selling these dogs to people for as much as they're willing to buy them for, because in today's economy, not a lot of people are really able to afford one thousand dollar dogs.”

After that, all Alex said was “Oh.”

He turned away from the lady and down to me, asking if the dog in my hands was the one I wanted. I nodded yes and started squealing and jumping when he told me that I could get it. Alex nodded to the lady and asked her to hold the dog for us while we went inside and got the stuff for the dog, and he also asked her what kind of dog food it ate. I don't know why, but I remember her saying that the pups ate Blue Buffalo.

We walked inside the store -again- and bought a leash, collar, some food, two bowls, and a blanket for the dog. While we were in the checkout line, Alex looked at me and asked, “So, what are you going to name your little pup?”

“Batman,” was my immediate answer.

Alex stared at me and frowned, so confused. “Why in the world are you going to name that dog Batman of all names? For one, we don't even know if it's a girl or a boy, and two, it's all white. Batman's outfit is black, not white. I can't even begin to think of where you could have-”

“Daddy, be quiet now.”

“That was very rude and uncalled for, but fine, whatever, you lil brat,” he scrunched up his nose and stuck out his tongue, making a funny face, which made me giggle.

We once again walked out of the store and straight to the lady, who had kept her promise and saved the little white puppy-dog for us. I quickly had Alex rip the leash and collar off of the packaging they were on and put them both onto the dog, smiling and standing up. The lady handed Alex the papers and shot records for the dog, and then smiled at Alex, who shoved a stack of bills into the lady's hand and quickly had us rush off.

“Daddy, that was more than one-hundred dollars.” I said to him once he got us into the car.

“You're right. It was actually one thousand one-hundred dollars.” I gasped.

“Why so much?”

“Were you listening to the story that lady told me?” I nodded. “She really needed the money so I decided to give her some. I have a lot of money, anyways, and it's for a good cause. It's so she doesn't end up with having to work a lot to pay all the money she needs to get. And also hon, because there's this little thing called generosity.”

[noal]

Lovely! I like how you write it by her telling it when she was young, kinda like story-telling. Also, I really love the name "Teralyn", and I actually first say this story on wattpad, but I didn't have enough time to read it. Keep up the good work!

[AmitySoul]

Please post more. This story is very sweet and well written. My sister and I love it.