Ringo was a dog. He was a shaggy husky. Unlike most dogs, he did not trust humans, he growled whenever one passed by. He did not like them because of his sad story. It went like this. It started when he was a
puppy, he was waiting at the pet store for someone to look at him
and buy him. Many had stopped by his cage, looked, and walked away. Finally one family took him. They were a family of four, a mom, a dad, a boy at the age of nine, and a girl at the age of seven. Ringo was happy they adopted him at first but when they got at the house they set him down on the floor and then went off to do other things without showing him around the new place or even welcoming him to the house. This went on for weeks. The only attention the family gave Ringo was an occasional glance, to give him food or water, or to let him outside. So Ringo decided the best thing to do was just to leave. Ringo found his new home with the wolves. He lived on hunted meat instead of dog food. And he slept in a den with other wolves. Life was different but Ringo soon got used to it.
Now it had been about six months since Ringo had run away from his home and he still didn’t trust humans, until Ringo had his afternoon walk. He was walking around the forest when he found himself somewhere where he had never been before. It was little patch with small yellow house in the middle of it. Ringo was just about to walk away from that place when a little boy (around the age of eight) came outside “A dog!” The boy exclaimed. His mother came out of the little yellow house “What’s all the commotion about?” Asked the boy’s mother. “A dog! Can I please keep him, Please!” Said the boy. “Well, I guess a dog might be fun to have in the house.” Answered the boy’s mother. “Yes!” Cheered The little boy. His mother laughed “But, he’s your responsibility.” Said the boy’s mother. But the boy was not listening “look here, the dog has a tag, (Ringo indeed did still have his tag on that his other owners gave him) it says "R-I-N-G-O Ringo.”
“Yes I see” said the mother carelessly “You can play with the dog while I go in and fix dinner” said the boy’s mother. And she went in to fix dinner.
“You can be my new friend. I’ve always wanted a friend. It’s so lonesome out here in the woods.” Said the boy happily. Ringo barked. He was beginning to enjoy himself a little. “My name is John” continued the the boy. Ringo was starting to think that that humans might not be so bad after all. “Lets play in the stream behind my house.” Said John. Ringo barked again and the two ran off to play.
“Time for dinner!” Called John’s mom. Ringo and John started to walk into the house when John’s mother stopped them “whoa, that dog will need to stay outside on the porch. “Oh sorry Ringo.” Said John to Ringo as he laid out newspaper, a water dish, and a food dish and then went inside to have his dinner.
Ringo started eating from his food dish but something felt wrong. Usually Ringo would eat with a huge appetite but today it was different. He had a sandy feeling in his tummy and did not feel like eating much. Ringo thought it might be eating alone. Ringo did not like eating alone at all, it reminded him of his owners who always shut him up in a closet with his food dish full of dog food and go off to eat their own dinner.
But suddenly John burst through the door carrying his plate of food and said to Ringo, “If you can’t eat with me then I’ll eat with you.” Ringo barked a short happy bark and finished eating in
happy silence with his new friend.
John then said that his mother said that if it meant John eating outside, then Ringo could live inside. So John led Ringo inside there, Ringo looked around. It was a one floor house with four rooms. A living room with a television set, a kitchen, A bathroom ( of course ) and finally, a bedroom that had a bunkbed that John and his mother slept in. While Ringo was doing this John was getting ready for bed. When Ringo had observed everything John was sitting on his bed ( The top one in the bunk bed because Johns mother was afraid of heights. ) waiting for Ringo to jump into bed with him. Ringo understood and came to the bottom of the bunk and then John lifted him up into the bed. Then the two cuddled together and went right to sleep.
That morning when Ringo and John woke up it was 7:00 John was still sleepy but Ringo gave a solemn bark which was a sign that they should get up. So John reluctantly got out of bed and changed into his jeans and T-shirt. John opened the door to the kitchen Johns mother was at the stove stirring oatmeal. “Hello you two, have a good sleep?” greeted Johns mother warmly. John, still feeling sleepy mumbled an answer. “You need to go get ready for school right now.” Said Johns mother handing him a red lunchbox. John stalked off to brush his teeth and make his bed.
When John came back he was feeling more cheerful. And ate his breakfast with Ringo eating his bowl of dogwood below his chair. “Oh! It’s 7:30! Time to go to school!” Said John. “ can Ringo come?” “Yes that dog can come with you to the bus stop and then come back home” answered John’s mother “Got it!” Said John. Then grabbed his lunch box and ran out the door with Ringo behind him.
When they reached the bus stop John stopped and clambered on the bus which had just pulled up at the curb. When Ringo walked back to the little house in the woods he wondered why John had to go to this place called school. Reading the impression on Ringo’s face John’s mom said “John goes to school every day to learn things” then Ringo understood.
Ringo went outside. Then a plan came to him. Ringo ran happily with his tongue flapping and his tail wagging all the way to the bus stop. Then he followed the bus tracks on the sandy dirt road until he got to the place called school. There he sat until school was out. John was curious for a moment until he found out what happened “good dog” he said and then John rode the bus with Ringo running happily by his side.
This strategy went on for lots of days until one day came when John did not go to school. Ringo gave a curious ruff to John. John giggled. “Today is Saturday I don’t have school” said John “But you know what that means?” Without waiting for an answer John said “It means I can play with you!” Ringo, who was not curious anymore, ran to the door with a tennis ball that John had saved up his allowance and bought for Ringo. John hopped up from the chair he was sitting on came to the door, opened it for Ringo, and went outside to play with him. John threw the ball and Ringo retrieved it for quite some time but one time Ringo did not retrieve it John stood there waiting and then finally went to check on Ringo. John found Ringo sitting by a big dead thorn bush. With the ball at the bottom of the thorn bush.
“Yikes I’ll get it out” said John without thinking and dove into the big thorn bush. His legs were not touching the ground at all they were dangling with the rest of his body in the thorn bush. After a little bit there was a snap. And then a squeal. John came out of the thorn bush with the tennis ball in his hand but the other hand dangling limply. He sat sobbing and yowling. John had reached the bottom of the bush so suddenly that he had broken his arm. Ringo knew that John was hurt and ran barking to tell John’s mother. He ran barking to the little yellow house and then tapped his paw on the window. That got John’s mom to look so she looked out the window and saw John sitting and sobbing so she ran out with her apron still on and (since they did not have a car) set John down in a wooden wagon and took up the handle and went to the Hospital with Ringo trailing beside it looking worried. The doctor wasn’t to far away it was just outside the forest so they didn’t have to walk to long before they got there. When they did get there John was still in pain but was not crying or screaming anymore. The three went inside of the room. It was nothing like Ringo had ever seen before It had a tall ceiling with people running around in what looked like white pajamas. One young women came up to them and said kindly, “I’m sorry but that dog will have to stay outside by the door. As for that boy he can come with Doctor Crumb into the emergency room.” Ringo did not know what the emergency room was or who Doctor Crumb was but he followed the young woman in white pajamas outside. She pulled a bit of rope out of her pocket and then tied one end of it to Ringo’s collar and the other end to a lamppost that was right beside the hospital. Then went back inside of the hospital.
When John came to of the hospital he was wearing a cast on his arm. Ringo did not know what it was, he barked at it and then sniffed. It smelled a little bit like plaster. John giggled and hopped into the wagon for the ride home. They started going home and John told Ringo that it was something called a cast. For the rest of the weekend Ringo was still curious. And kept sniffing John. But Ringo noticed something that was strangest of all. John hardly ever played with him anymore. Ringo thought that maybe John would go back to playing with him when that thing called a cast got took off.
On Monday John still went to school and Ringo followed as usual. By now Ringo was getting used to the cast and thought of it as a normal day. But Ringo noticed that when John came out of the school to board the bus everybody crowded around him with small cylinders called pens and when John got home his cast was all full of scribbles from the pens. Ringo barked, he thought that the people with pens had hurt John but when John smiled at Ringo he knew that John was alright.
The thing called a cast was still a mystery until two weeks later when John, John’s mom, and Ringo went to the hospital again. Ringo wondered why they had to go there again. Wasn’t John already past that part? But Ringo still obediently waited by the hospital for John to come out. When John did come out he was not wearing the cast anymore Ringo gave a happy bark and then they all went home together happily.
At first Ringo had to get used to John having a cast on but now he had to get used to John not having a cast on. Ringo and John thought that it was funny how things changed like that. Because, of course, John had to get used to having the cast on and not having the cast on too.
But John and Ringo would have to get used to a lot more excitement later on. Here is what I mean by more excitement.
A couple days later on a rainy Saturday afternoon John was sitting on the living room couch reading with Ringo silently napping at his feet. John’s mom was sitting at the kitchen table writing something down on a piece of paper. “I’m planning out your birthday party next week and I want you to tell me what you want. Lets start with the question, What flavor do you want your birthday cake to be?” Asked Johns mother looking at John. John popped up from the couch, walked over and sat down at the table with his mother, and answered “I would like a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and nine birthday candles.” Ringo who had woken up and had came over to the table barked to see what the commotion was about. John lifted him up on a chair. “And I would like a party outside. I heard on the weather report that it will be sunny that day.” Added John. “Okay” Said Johns mother writing those two things down on her list. “Would you like to invite anybody?” She asked “Yes, I would like to invite Christopher, Dan, and Denny.” John’s mom wrote that down on her list. “Anything else?” She asked “No John said and went back to the couch to read. Ringo went back too but couldn’t finish his nap he was to curious about this party thing.
The party thing was true. Because next Friday after John got home from school ( The day before John’s birthday party ) John’s mom was in the kitchen making John’s birthday cake and John and Ringo were sitting on a stool by John’s mom waiting to lick the spoon. Yesterday John’s mom had gone on an errand by herself. She said that it was a secret errand and John and Ringo couldn’t come along. John told Ringo that he thought that she was going birthday shopping. Because of these little hints Ringo had started to kind of understand what a birthday party was. From what Ringo thought, a party was when people came together and ate cake together. Which was basically what a party was.
The next day was the day of the party and Ringo and John’s mom hardly got any sleep because John woke up at 6:00 chanting “Today is a great day It is my birthday” and shouting “Wake up! Today I’m having my birthday party. He was certainly excited for his birthday that day.
Eventually Ringo and John’s mom got up. John’s mom put some toast in the toaster. Once it was ready John heard the Bing and got it out. He buttered it and gave one slice to his mom, one slice for himself and one slice for Ringo. After that the cold misty November morning had turned into a sunny day and John’s mom started getting ready outside for the party that day while Ringo and John were playing fetch near by. When it was finished the party table was a wonderful sight. There was a plastic fold up table with two presents on it one from John’s mom and one sent from John’s dad who by the way was on a long business trip in the city of New York. Right beside the table there was a cooler with a pack of water bottles for everyone and the chocolate cake that John’s mother had made.
The guests soon started arriving first came Christopher holding an envelope in his hand which he set on the table. Soon after came Denny and Dan who were twins they both helped hold a lumpy package that they too set down on the table. The guests then surrounded John and told him happy birthday. But when Ringo shimmied into the circle of friends all of the people surrounded Ringo in fits of petting and ‘Good dog’. This kept going on until Christopher said “How ‘bout let’s go play in that creek o’er there.” And everybody agreed so everybody spent the rest of their time making little leaf boats and putting tiny figures made of sticks in the boats and sending them downstream while Ringo watched.
Later, John’s mom brought out a cake with nine striped birthday candles. Dan, Denny, and Christopher sang happy birthday too John while Ringo howled along with tail wagging happily John blew out the candles and made a wish and everybody, even Ringo got a slice of cake.
After that John opened his presents. From his dad in New York he got a tiny toy car. From his mom he got an action figure that talked when you pressed a button on the back. From Dan and Denny and he got a small bag of caramel candy. from Christopher he got a birthday card.
John said that it was the best birthday he had ever had. And Ringo loved it and was looking forward to more parties. Unfortunately, There weren’t more parties. Instead, Ringo got something else.
Fall had now passed and winter was coming on. Most days John and Ringo had to stay inside because of frost. One day there was a knock at the door ( as most dogs do ) Ringo ran barking to the door. Johns mom opened it. It was John’s dad. He had come home to spend Christmas with his family. Ringo looked suspicious he had not yet met John’s father. He was a short man with the top part of his head shaved and the sides with two clumps of light brown hair. When John ran over to hug his dad Ringo knew he was friendly and then barked.
One day John’s father took John and Ringo to the store. There, they bought colored paper, pens, and crayons. “What are these for?” Asked John. “We have to have Christmas decorations don’t we?” Replied John’s father “Of course” said John happily.
When Ringo, John, and John’s dad got home from the store the three of them sat down at the table to make Christmas decorations while John’s mom made things for their Christmas dinner in ten days. John made a green and red paper chain and a paper Christmas ornament. John’s dad made little origami Christmas trees to put around the house. Ringo just made a paper full of muddy paw prints but to Ringo it was a work of art.
Christmas Eve was all excitement. John’s mom was busy baking cookies to lay out for Santa Claus that night, John’s dad was busy wrapping presents and setting up the Christmas tree and stockings, And John and Ringo were busy playing outside all day in the snow. Everyone was excited for Christmas the next day. Eventually that day came.
John and Ringo cuddled close and almost immediately fell asleep because they wanted Santa Claus to come. When John and Ringo woke up after what seemed like a year of sleep they crept down the hall. John looked at the clock it was 7:00. When John turned his head away from the clock his parents were standing behind him in their nightgown and pajamas. “Merry Christmas!” They said.
Then they all went into the living room together to open presents. If you don’t know, the sight of a Christmas tree with presents under it and lumpy stockings is glorious to a child. So Ringo and John ran to the Christmas tree happily. John got a box of candy and a little bag of salted peanuts in his stocking. In Ringo’s stocking there was a rubber chew toy. John and Ringo didn’t get any individual presents under the tree there was only one present for both of them. It was a jar with floating things inside that looked like sparkles. Attached to it there was a note. It said,
Dear Ringo & John,
This present that I give you is the gift of friendship magic. You are some of the few that have earned it. To keep it strong and healthy you simply keep your special bond with each other.
Sincerely,
Santa Claus
So Ringo and John did keep their friendship together strong. In fact they made it stronger. Ringo and John stayed friends for their entire lives and the magic stayed healthy. And this Christmas was looked back on by Ringo and John as the best Christmas of their life.
The End
