Nicole and Fluffy at Thanksgiving, a children's story

Once upon a long winding street, in a white house with a big grassy yard, there lived a dog named Fluffy.  He was a brown dog with a long nose that was pointed so that he looked just like a fox.  And he was very, very little.  fluffy liked to sit in his yard and watch the people and animals go by, and he loved to bark at them.

     Fluffy had lots of friends.  Even though there were a lot of other dogs in the neighborhood, everyone just seemed to like Fluffy the best.  Ladies with tiny babies in strollers would stop and pet him through the fence and the babies would reach their fingers through and laugh when he licked them.  Fluffy probably had more friends than anyone else on his street.

     Fluffy even had friends in other states.  His best friend was named Nicole, and she was then four years old.  Nicole was a very smart girl who could draw pictures and was even going to school. And, of course, Fluffy was her best friend too.

     Fluffy and Nicole hadn’t seen each other for a while, but they always talked on the phone, and sometimes they sent each other cards and letters in the mail.  And they hoped that soon they would be able to see each other in person.

     One day Nicole’s mother said that they would be going to California to see some other their family for Thanksgiving.  So Nicole and her mommy and daddy got in the car and drove for a very long time across the desert.  They passed the cacti and jack rabbits and the Colorado River, and Nicole waved at all of them and smiled.  For the whole trip the laughed and smiled, because she was going to see her very best friend in all the world, Fluffy the dog.

     After a whole day of driving, when it was starting to get dark, Nicole’s mother said that they were almost there.  Nicole saw that they weren’t in the desert anymore, and her mother said that they were in San Bernardino, and that was very close to Los Angeles. By now Nicole was starting to get a little sleepy, so she didn’t notice when the passed Pomona and West Covina and all of the other towns along the way.  In fact, the next thing she knew, they were climbing the hill that led to the winding street where Fluffy lived with Nicole’s aunt.

     As soon as the car stopped, Nicole jumped out onto the sidewalk and listened.  She could hear Fluffy barking, just like on the phone.  She ran to his gate and opened it up and they played and played.  They played until nighttime, when Nicole’s mother made her go to sleep.  And they played all the next day, and the next, until it was time for Nicole to go back to Arizona.

     Then they were a little sad, but Nicole knew that they would see each other again soon, and she told Fluffy that it would be all right.  Then everybody kissed goodbye and Nicole and her family got back in their car and drove all that long way back through West Covina and Pomona, and across the long desert.  Past the cacti and jack rabbits and the Colorado river, until they got to Nicole’s house.  But Nicole did not see any of the scenery this time.  She was sound asleep with a big smile on her face, dreaming about the next time she would see her friend.