Read an Excerpt
Little Luke Leaves Home
By Malinda Kitchin Boren AuthorHouse LLC
Copyright © 2014 Malinda Kitchin Boren
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4969-3088-0
CHAPTER 1
A baby red bird sat on the feeder in the back yard until it saw Luke standing at the laundry room door. Luke could not stand still as he watched the little bird and waited his turn at his own food bowl. Having his mother taken away two days ago, he needed to learn to share one food bowl with his litter mates. He was the smallest, so he usually got pushed away from the food until the larger puppies had their fill. By the time he got to the bowl there was never enough food to satisfy him, so he was always hungry when he returned to his safe place under the bench in the corner.
After eating, the others played and wrestled for a while, but Luke just watched them from under his bench. Being small limited his fun, but it allowed him to go places the others could not fit, like behind the big washing machine when the children came into the room. They were loud, moved quickly and that frightened him.
Chihuahuas were usually little dogs, but being the smallest one in this family really made him extra cute and special, or so he thought. His new black hair grew longer every day and he looked more like his mother with a long black coat, white hair on his throat and chest and tan hair on his legs and feet. A single tan spot above each of his big black eyes made him look smart. Those tan spots are said to belong to very smart dogs.
As he slept under the bench his black coat shinned in the warm sunlight from the window. Being so small, Luke became almost anti-social as he avoided playing with his litter mates. All he wanted to do was get to the food bowl sooner. Hearing the sound of the food being poured in the bowl in the next room, he anxiously anticipated his success at reaching the food bowl before his litter mates. He raced to the bowl and grabbed a mouth full of dry dog food which he immediately took back to his corner. He dropped it and began eating one small piece at a time while he watched the others eat. This plan worked well for him, helped satisfy his hunger and provided him a full belly every day thereafter.
Luke continued to grow. He had gained three pounds in the past four months since he mastered his race to the food bowl to grab a mouth full of dry dog food. Being faster to get to the food before his larger litter mates taught him a good lesson and gave him the extra food he needed to thrive.
Every day all the puppies went outside to the fenced back yard which had many interesting smells to snoop and places to explore. The back yard also became a fun place to run and chase each other. One afternoon, a grey squirrel appeared and was chased to the tall wood fence in their back yard where he disappeared through a small hole behind an azalea bush. Luke was the only one small enough to wiggle his little body through the hole. He chased the squirrel to the nearby woods where the little fluffy critter simply scooted up the first tree and out of Luke's reach. Luke watched the squirrel climb to a high limb where the squirrel stopped, turned and looked down at Luke with his squirrel smile. A loud squeaky chirp followed that smile and the squirrel shook his fuzzy tail with excitement from the chase.
Exhausted and alone in a strange place with very different smells and sounds, Luke walked away from the tree and the unfriendly squirrel. His way home was not to be found. He was lost, alone and frightened. The sounds of water running in the distance made him realize he was thirsty. He headed in that direction and soon came to a stream with cold fresh water to drink. Still looking for his own back yard, he walked along the edge of the stream getting more weeds and briars in his long black hair. Being so small made it hard to see far in the tall weeds. The further he walked the more he wished he was back in his own back yard.
The sun was low in the sky and it would be dark soon. The woods were behind him and the field in front seemed to go forever. Suddenly the sound of an animal approaching, instinctively made him crouch down to hide as the same squirrel he had chased ran passed him. He turned and ran to follow the squirrel as fast as his little legs would move. The weeds were hitting him in his nose and face, but he kept running and finally came to a clearing with a tree where the squirrel lived. He was not far away from his wood fence with the little hole and his own back yard. His squirrel friend had brought him back home.
CHAPTER 2
Luke's world in Cannon, South Carolina was dramatically changed when he and his four litter mates were taken to a shelter for homeless animals. The home he had known as a young Chihuahua puppy was over and he did not know why. He was in a large fenced area with siblings who ran to the door and wagged their tails anytime someone walked by. Being afraid in a new place, Luke never left the back corner of that cage while his siblings played as if they were happy to be there.
Occasionally some nice people came to their cage and adopted a sister or brother and took them away. Soon Luke was the only one left, when finally two kind men came to the cage and took him in their arms. They seemed to like him, talked nicely to him then carried him to their car along with three other small dogs from the shelter.
Luke had learned to fend for himself being the smallest in his litter and he again found himself the smallest of this new family. This home was different because now he had his own bed and was given his own food and water bowls. "Wow, he thought to himself, he did not have to race to get his food or wait for the larger dogs to eat first. This was dog paradise!"
This new house was big and the outside back yard was not fenced near the house, but there were horses behind fences further away from the house. Luke quickly learned to stay away from the horses big feet and their fenced yard. They had a very interesting house of their own, called a barn, where he loved to explore and quickly made friends with the cat who lived in the tack room.
Luke was in a real home with people who were kind and nice to him. He slept and waited patiently all day for the two kind men to come home from work so he could be a lap dog after dinner when he got to be in the main living area with the two kind men. His bed was still in the laundry room with his own food bowl which automatically filled itself when it became empty.
Several weeks later Luke was surprised to be loaded in the truck which pulled the horses in their trailer. They all drove to a horse show many hours away. Arriving at the horse show, all the horses were put in separate stalls and Luke shared a stall with the four other dogs. Each dog had their bed in their own hard carrier with their own food and water bowls too.
The dogs watched and got to ride around the show grounds in a golf cart with their favorite kind men. The other people with horses at the show seemed glad to see them and sometimes held them and said nice works to Luke. Gradually every one of the other dogs went home with these horse show people.
Luke met another Chihuahua at the horse show named Momo who told Luke about the same kind men that rescued him from hurricane Katrina. Momo had no hair, weighed 3 pounds and was blind in one eye from an injury he suffered during the hurricane. Momo still did not like the rain and it has been years since hurricane Katrina. Momo and Luke became friends. Luke had never had a friend so small. It was good to be the bigger dog for a change. Momo's adopted mother called her sister- in-law and soon she came to the horse show and was glad to see Momo and Luke.
Again, Luke saw his family change. The sister-in-law lady came to the golf cart and held Luke for a long time. They watched the horses show in the ring and walked around the show grounds with Momo too. Luke was sad being away from his favorite kind men, but he liked his new friend Momo.
This lady took Luke in her car to a store with lots of dog food, treats and toys. He especially liked a fuzzy yellow duck that squeaked like the grey squirrel he met a long time ago. He left the store with another new bed, new food bowls and the fuzzy yellow duck.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Little Luke Leaves Home by Malinda Kitchin Boren. Copyright © 2014 Malinda Kitchin Boren. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
