It was a Tuesday. The day I got my letter, I remember the day because it was the day Jesse died. It was Tuesday 18th June when she was put down. I loved Jesse, her long blonde fur was so comforting and her cute little nose that she always wiped on me was all wet and soggy. My mum never told me why she had to leave, she kept taking Jesse to the vet but she would never tell me what was wrong. Dad was pretty quiet about it too, for most of the time anyway. I remember, the day before I got my letter, my parents had a huge fight about whether she should be put down or not, Dad said she was in pain and needed to go but mum loved her so much I'm sure she would have paid a million pounds to save her.
Anyway, I could ramble on for ages about Jesse, she was the best dog anyone could have ever asked for! But thats not why they asked me to write this, first I need to talk about the letter. The letter. I was screaming the second I saw who it was from, my friends and I all decided it would be a laugh to apply for it back in January, we were all hopeful for a couple of months, somehow coming to the conclusion that if 7 of us applied the chances of at least one of getting in was 1 in 5! Don't ask where the logic in that is... considering there are probably over a million kids in England trying to get in as well as us.
I guess the odds paid off as I somehow managed to get it. I mean, I didn't know at the time but as there are so many people applying, the chances of them all receiving a letter just to say thanks for applying but you didn't get in were very unlikely. I was about to tear open the crisp envelope when my mum came down the stairs, it looked like she had been crying because there were red bulges underneath her bright blue eyes. Oblivious of her emotions, I was jumping up and down in her face screaming and crying with happiness, but when I showed her the letter she just grunted and went back upstairs. She loved the show almost as much as I did, so why wouldn't she be happy?
Dad came down a few minutes later and explained what had happened with Jesse. He wasn't crying but he looked really upset about it, and I'd never seen my Dad this sad before, not even when Grandma had to go to hospital (she's ok now though.) He told me Jesse had to be put down because she had a problem with her lungs, and that she was in constant pain and it would have been wrong to keep her alive. I started to cry, at that moment I no longer cared about my letter, I just wanted Jesse back. When Mum came down I gave her the biggest hug my chubby little arms possible could. Dad joined in too and we all stayed there silently. We decided to open the envelope the next day instead, and just before I went to sleep I popped it under my pillow and hoped that it said what I thought it said.
