From Your Screen To Your School

Chapter 8

WOW... that's all I can say right now. How could a dog look exactly like Charlie. Any other dog could look like Charlie because he's not the only golden retriever in the world but this dog was different. Charlie was a cream colored golden retriever that was almost white with the warmest brown eyes and I always felt like my heart was going to die when I looked at Charlie. No other dog has ever done that to me other than Charlie, well until this dog.

"Uhh Hannah, can I see that one."

Hannah follows where my finger is pointing and then she smiles.

"Sure, his name is Teddy by the way"

I  could tell Hannah was happy by the look on her face. She pulled out a bundle of keys that were color coded. She pulled out the blue one that opened every kennel door in the dog room. As we walked towards Teddy's kennel he started to run in circles while wagging his tail. Hannah put the key in and opened the door, enough so that we could get in and Teddy couldn't get out.

As soon as I bent my knees, Teddy came jumping on my feet trying to get me to give him love.

"Hey boy. You're just a cute little teddy bear" I let him lick my face as I held him close. He was just like Charlie.

Flashback

"Charlie, wait for me!" I ran as fast as my little legs could go to catch up to Charlie. Mommy was back on top of the hill with the picnic. Charlie ran ahead on the dirt path as he looked back to see if I was behind him. "Charlie wait up!" I screamed as I started to giggle. My chest tightened as I fell to the ground. I felt a sharp pain in my knee but I didn't care. I struggled to breathe properly. I tried to catch my breath but I just couldn't. I started to panic as my chest started to tighten even more. I tried to scream for help but I just couldn't. Charlie came running back, faster than I've ever seen him run. He started to bark like a mad dog as he ran to my side. He whimpered as he put his head through my arm and tried to help me up.

"Mommy, mommy come quick! Hurry!" I heard my sister's cries as Austin ran down the hill and my mommy followed shortly behind. Suddenly, everything went black and I passed out.

Flashback over

That was when the doctors figured out that I had asthma and if it wasn't for Charlie, I would have died.

"Hey I got Teddy's papers if you wanna go through them."

I snapped out of my thoughts as I looked over at Hannah. She placed the papers on the kennel floor next to where I was petting Teddy. I opened the files and looked through them.

"Look at that. Wow! I never thought I'd see the day my sister would be holding a dog."

I looked up to see Austin next to Hannah, with the biggest smile. I grinned as he left the room with his phone, probably to check on mom. The little golden puppy curiously sniffed my jacket as I finally felt there was a piece of Charlie in this puppy.

Five Hours Later

"We're home little guy" I kiss the top of Teddy's soft golden fur as he yawns and shows his little white teeth. 

Let me explain. So apparently my whole family knew I was going to the shelter and was hoping I would see a dog that I liked. Everyone wanted a dog but they didn't get one because they weren't sure if I was ready to move on. And when Austin went out of the room, it was to call my mom and say that we found a dog. So, they knew I was ready to get one. We took Teddy home and stopped at the local pet store and bought some essentials. 

I lifted little Teddy and held him close to my body. The frigid air hit my bare arms as the front door opened. 

"Oh my gosh. Is that Teddy? Ahhh!!!"  

Kenzie came running outside, barefoot, and gently petted Teddy. She had the happiest look on her face as her green eyes lit up. She looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. A feeling of guilt hit me hard as I realized I was being really selfish. Kenzie loved Charlie as much as I did and all I thought about was how much I was hurting, that I never cared to think about her. I gave Teddy carefully to Kenzie.

"Here. He's yours too you know."

A huge smile lit up Kenzie's face as she gave me a huge hug, making sure not to crush Teddy. 

"Thanks Bells."

She grabbed my hand as we both walked into our home to introduce the rest of the family to Teddy.