Coco’s Love is Never Missing: a short story for human and animal love.
I’m Theo, a boy. I have red hair, long legs, blue eyes, and a dog. I love my family, friends, and mostly my dog (but don’t tell my mom that). Coco IS the world’s best friend, the universe’s best pet, and just plain-old-the-best-living-thing-ever. She has fur like a duck that seems to never stay wet and a soft hum that comes from her belly when you pet her after a long day away.
Coco’s love is never missing.
My siblings are the best. There is Bart, I never call him Bart the fart, but I think about it a lot. Bart is 17. He will leave for college next year, and I will miss him terribly. He DOES love me, I know it. But his love vanishes when we sneak up on him and his girlfriend. Coco, the world’s best dog, is always by my side when we peek.
Coco’s love is never missing. (as we run for our lives)
My dad loves his car, almost as much as I love Coco. My dad also has red hair but dark green eyes. My dad loves hockey too. We play hockey together, we talk about hockey, and we both love to play with Coco.
Usually, he is happy when we play hockey, but sometimes… Slapshot. Bang. The puck hits the car door. Quick as a wink, gone. Love vanishing. Where did the love go? His eyes get darker green, and his face gets darker red. Hair stays the same, Small dent.
Tears. Coco licks my face. Coco’s love is never missing.
Coco and I love to roam our back yard and explore.
Coco is a pirate, a secret agent, a princess, a hockey player, and mostly a baseball catcher.
She is an all-star athlete and a licker of tears.
Coco loves to chase rabbits, birds, and squirrels in our back yard. Sometimes we pretend they are part of our world. Our friends of nature that join us as we conquer our enemies! Mr. Squirrel and the birds help protect our land because they can see far far away from the treetops. Mrs. Bunny burrows around the yard, making tunnels for everyone to hide if there is an invasion. Coco and I keep watch from the tree fort and make plans for attacks, lunch, and skipping piano lessons.
Piano lessons. Ugh.
Why does mom think I should play the piano?
Oh, yea, my sister. I forgot to tell you about my sister. She is 13. Teen. My mom says, “TEEN” a lot. I am trying to figure out precisely what teen means. Stella is a fancy piano player.
She plays long, slow piano songs that make me sleepy. I like the piano; I wouldn’t say I like to practice. Ugh. My mom says I cannot be good at the piano unless I practice. Coco likes the piano. She lays under the piano; it is too loud under there for me.
I fall asleep when I practice. Something about the piano makes me tired — mom does not like it when I say that. Her love goes missing, and she gets the same look on her face.
Coco’s love is never missing. She makes a good pillow too.
I wish Coco could go with me to school, play on my soccer team, and come to piano lessons. My piano teacher has a dog, and they would get along great!
My mom says I should think about Coco when things go wrong. I try to do that.
I close my eyes and picture her by my side,
or her nose pressed on the front door glass,
or I think about her sleeping or lying peacefully by the chair.
I laugh, thinking about her chasing the squirrels or me.
It helps.
By the way, I know my family loves me, but humans seem to be missing love sometimes.
It is Good to know that Coco’s love is never missing.
VOCAB:
Siblings
Vanish
Roam
Conquer
