24” name come from my birthday being on Month Number Two and Day Number Four. February four. And that’s still a very, very, very, very long ways away. I promise.
And now you get why there’s a mystery.
I open the door to our hall closet. Only I can’t reach the light switch. But I am a lucky detective anyways. ‘Cause that big, flat box Daddy hid in this closet is open. And I’m guessing Mommy peeked at it before me.
I reach inside the box and feel strings in there.Plus, there are bars holding those strings. I pull as hard as I can. It comes out a little bit. This big stringy bar thing looks like a big, funny cage. We have one of those in kindergarten for Ham the Hamster.
This stringy bar cage is a big, fat clue. Only I don’t know why.
From the kitchen comes a very loud laugh from my mom. “No! We haven’t told her! We thought we had months yet. I can’t even imagine what she’ll say.”
I think I’m the “her” nobody’s told yet, and I’m the “she” in “I can’t even imagine what she’ll say.” So I close the hall closet and sneak on tiptoes up to the kitchen door.
Now I can hear everything my mom says.
Mom uses her softer voice. Only I am close enough to hear those soft words. “I don’t even know if Nat understands what it means to adopt,” she says.
Clue: Adopt.
I do kind of know this word. My bestest friend who is a boy, Jason, got a cat from a place called Adopt-A-Pet. Only they wouldn’t give him another one when that one ran away from home.
“I think she’ll be as excited as we are!” Mommy says louder to the phone.
Clue: I will be excited about this mystery.
“Are you kidding?” Mom laughs her head off. “Can you just imagine the kinds of names Nat would come up with?”
Clue: The mystery is something that needs a name.
I am a good namer. I didn’t name Percy. But I named all of my stuffed animals myself. Like Brownie. And Blackie. And Whitey. And Bunny, which is my stuffed bunny. Plus also, Steg-O my dinosaur.
“Right!” Mom laughs another head off. “Or Fido or Spot, or—” Only she doesn’t finish that one ‘cause she’s still laughing too much.
And I don’t even need her to finish or talk anymore. On account of my head is adding up all of these clues. Like that I will be excited. And that Mom and Dad didn’t tell me this surprise yet. And that there is a string cage in our closet. And I know that word adopt. And that I am going to name something. Plus, especially this last clue:
I would name this something Fido or Spot.
And guess what! Those are my dog names!
So even if you’re not a detective like me, you ought to have this mystery solved by now.
I’m getting a puppy!
Chapter 2
Talk, Talk, Talk…
“Mom! Mommy!” my mouth yells, and my feet run to the kitchen instead of staying hiding.
“Natalie, please. I’m on the phone,” Mom says. “I thought you were taking a nap.”
I let her think that so I could be a detective better. “I need to talk to you now!” I shout. This feels like a true thing. I have to tell her I know this secret. I have a gazillion questions about my new puppy.
“Well, you’re going to have to wait, Natalie,” Mom says. “I’m on the phone with your grandmother.”
“Granny won’t care!” I know that my granny would want me to know all about my puppy.
“Nat, I’m talking to your California grandmother. This is long distance. Please wait until I’m finished.”
Regular Granny is my dad’s mom. She lives in our same town. My mom is talking to Different Granny, who is my mom’s mom. And that can get mixed up in your head.
“Sorry, Mom,” my mom says to the phone. “Go ahead. What were you saying?”
I start to tell Mommy why I have to tell her something. But she shakes her head at me. It is really much hard not talking about my puppy. My heart is thumpy. Inside, I am talking about my puppy over and over: I’m getting a puppy! I’m getting a puppy!
“She’s right here,” my mom says to
And now you get why there’s a mystery.
I open the door to our hall closet. Only I can’t reach the light switch. But I am a lucky detective anyways. ‘Cause that big, flat box Daddy hid in this closet is open. And I’m guessing Mommy peeked at it before me.
I reach inside the box and feel strings in there.Plus, there are bars holding those strings. I pull as hard as I can. It comes out a little bit. This big stringy bar thing looks like a big, funny cage. We have one of those in kindergarten for Ham the Hamster.
This stringy bar cage is a big, fat clue. Only I don’t know why.
From the kitchen comes a very loud laugh from my mom. “No! We haven’t told her! We thought we had months yet. I can’t even imagine what she’ll say.”
I think I’m the “her” nobody’s told yet, and I’m the “she” in “I can’t even imagine what she’ll say.” So I close the hall closet and sneak on tiptoes up to the kitchen door.
Now I can hear everything my mom says.
Mom uses her softer voice. Only I am close enough to hear those soft words. “I don’t even know if Nat understands what it means to adopt,” she says.
Clue: Adopt.
I do kind of know this word. My bestest friend who is a boy, Jason, got a cat from a place called Adopt-A-Pet. Only they wouldn’t give him another one when that one ran away from home.
“I think she’ll be as excited as we are!” Mommy says louder to the phone.
Clue: I will be excited about this mystery.
“Are you kidding?” Mom laughs her head off. “Can you just imagine the kinds of names Nat would come up with?”
Clue: The mystery is something that needs a name.
I am a good namer. I didn’t name Percy. But I named all of my stuffed animals myself. Like Brownie. And Blackie. And Whitey. And Bunny, which is my stuffed bunny. Plus also, Steg-O my dinosaur.
“Right!” Mom laughs another head off. “Or Fido or Spot, or—” Only she doesn’t finish that one ‘cause she’s still laughing too much.
And I don’t even need her to finish or talk anymore. On account of my head is adding up all of these clues. Like that I will be excited. And that Mom and Dad didn’t tell me this surprise yet. And that there is a string cage in our closet. And I know that word adopt. And that I am going to name something. Plus, especially this last clue:
I would name this something Fido or Spot.
And guess what! Those are my dog names!
So even if you’re not a detective like me, you ought to have this mystery solved by now.
I’m getting a puppy!
Chapter 2
Talk, Talk, Talk…
“Mom! Mommy!” my mouth yells, and my feet run to the kitchen instead of staying hiding.
“Natalie, please. I’m on the phone,” Mom says. “I thought you were taking a nap.”
I let her think that so I could be a detective better. “I need to talk to you now!” I shout. This feels like a true thing. I have to tell her I know this secret. I have a gazillion questions about my new puppy.
“Well, you’re going to have to wait, Natalie,” Mom says. “I’m on the phone with your grandmother.”
“Granny won’t care!” I know that my granny would want me to know all about my puppy.
“Nat, I’m talking to your California grandmother. This is long distance. Please wait until I’m finished.”
Regular Granny is my dad’s mom. She lives in our same town. My mom is talking to Different Granny, who is my mom’s mom. And that can get mixed up in your head.
“Sorry, Mom,” my mom says to the phone. “Go ahead. What were you saying?”
I start to tell Mommy why I have to tell her something. But she shakes her head at me. It is really much hard not talking about my puppy. My heart is thumpy. Inside, I am talking about my puppy over and over: I’m getting a puppy! I’m getting a puppy!
“She’s right here,” my mom says to
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