Rez Dog

At night Rez Dog curled up to sleep in the woods near the gas station. He wondered if he would ever find a family.

Rez Dog ate scraps of food he dug from the big trash can.

“Here you go, little Rez Dog,” the store manager Mr. Thompson said handing the little scruffy pup a hot dog with lots of pickles. “Eat this instead.”

Rez Dog sat in the woods near the gas station watching the people and cars come and go. There were noisy cars and smelly trucks. There were grumpy people. He saw loud teenagers and big families. He’d lived with all of those types before. Not this time!

There were also quiet cars with friendly people. One truck already had a puppy riding in the front seat with them. And one car had a couple that looked like they were getting ready to go on a trip out of town.

He didn’t see anyone who seemed just right.

Then he thought he saw someone who might be just right. There was a small child peeking out the window of a pickup truck. She had brown hair and big brown eyes. She was with her mom. And the girl, Sammy, spotted him. “Look, a dog! Can we take him home?”

“Let’s go to the store manager, Mr. Thompson, to see if he knows anything about this little rez dog.”

“Sammy, that’s just a rez dog, nobody owns him,” said Mr. Thompson. “But if you want to take him home, I’ll give you some stuff.”