I looked out of the window, bored. The rain was coming down hard and I could hear it go ‘pitter patter, pitter patter’ outside, not stopping for even one moment. I sighed. This was not what I expected out of this Thursday morning. I was so sunny and cheery yesterday, that it hurt to stare too long. I sighed again. “I wished there was something, anything for me to do,” I thought drearily.

I continued to stare outside, and then I saw something in the midst of all the rain. It was coming closer and closer, and I could make out the shape of something small, brown, and furry. My eyes widened because I knew what it was. “What is a puppy doing out here in all the rain?” I thought, confused. I squinted at it, and watched its movements. I could see it getting closer and closer to the road. I looked up and down the road through the window swiftly, and I saw two bright lights coming nearer. My eyes widened. The puppy wasn’t stopping, clearly not noticing the car.

Without thinking, I shoved my boots and coat on, ran outside, and started yelling stop. The driver of the car didn’t hear me through all the rain, and the puppy was now crossing the road. I kept yelling, and the puppy finally noticed the car. It froze with terror in the middle of the road, quivering in fear. I then did something very stupid. I jumped out into the road. Luckily, the driver of the car saw me and slammed on the breaks. The car came to a stop quickly. I breathed with relief. I glanced behind me, and the puppy was there and safe. The driver of the car rolled down his window.

“Hey! What are you doing?! I could’ve hit you!” he yelled to me.

“Sorry! It’s just that you were going to hit this puppy!” I shouted to him through the rain.

“What puppy?” the driver asked. I moved to the side, and the puppy was still behind me.

“Aw. It’s cute. Well, don’t run out in the road again or else you might not be so lucky,” the driver said. I picked up the puppy, ran to the other side of the road, and the car continued on.

I set the puppy down. It barked at me, and wagged its tail. I went back inside the house, and I made sure the puppy followed. Once we were in, I took my boots off and hung my coat up, keeping the puppy in sight. I stepped out into the living room, and the puppy followed me, barking.

My mom and older sister came into the room. My mom and sister saw the puppy immediately.

“Uh, Claire, can you please explain why there’s a puppy in the room?” my mom asked, trying to sound casual. I looked at the floor. I never thought about what I was going to say to my mom when she saw the puppy.

“It was in trouble! I saved it from getting hit by a car!” I tried to explain.

“Well, that explains why your hair is soaking wet!” my older sister Andrea said, appearing to think it was funny. I glared at her.

“This isn’t about my hair, this is about me saving the puppy!” I spat at her. She moved her mouth in a mocking way, clearly to annoy me, and left the room. I glared after her, then turned back to my mom. When my mom knew she had my attention, we went back to our conversation.

“Well, what do plan to do with the puppy now?” my mom asked me. I looked down at the tiny, wet ball of fur next to me, then looked back at her.

“I want to take care of it until we find its owner,” I told her, looking her in the eyes. My mom sighed.

“As long as you know you’re responsible, very well. You may look after this puppy.” I hugged my mom.

“Thank you so much, Mom! You won’t regret it!  I promise”.

“We’ll see about that,” my mom said, and exited the room. I smiled at the puppy. It barked at me, and jumped up on my leg. I squatted down, and petted it's wet head. It licked my hand as I pulled it away.

“Now, where did Mom keep the dog food from when we were babysitting Nancy’s dog?” I muttered to myself. I wandered into the kitchen with the puppy following. I started looking in the cupboards and drawers and found two dog bowls. I put them on the counter and got some old newspapers. I spread the newspapers on a section of the floor and set one of the dog bowls on top. I took the other dog bowl and went over to the sink. I turned on the faucet and filled the dog bowl almost all the way to the brim. I carefully set the bowl filled with water next to the empty one on the newspapers. I brushed back a strand of hair that fell into my face, and went to search for the dog food. I searched in the cupboards that I had not yet checked. I soon found the dog food. I opened the bag of dog food and poured it into the empty dog bowl.

“Well there you go little puppy,” I said kindly. The puppy barked and ran to the dog bowls. The puppy begin eating the dog food.

“It's about time you got a name,” I said to the puppy. The puppy look up at me and barked. I smiled at it.

“I think your name should be Brownie,” I said to the puppy after some thought.

“To go with your fur color,” I added. The puppy barked and wagged its tail. I smiled at it. “I hope your owner doesn't come too soon. We’ll get to spend more time together,” I told the puppy while running my left hand down its damp back. The puppy barked. I smiled at it. I knew the days we’ll spend together will be good ones.