It was a question of which of the two she preferred.

On the one hand, the choice

seemed simple. The more expensive one with a brand name would be the choice of
most. It was the easy choice. The safe choice. But she wasn't sure she actually
preferred it.
Puppies are soft, cute, funny, and make a big mess. Every month or two our family
fosters 6-12 week old puppies for a puppy rescue nonprofit organization. We all
enjoy cuddling their furry bodies after a clean bath. Fresh puppy smell is great.
The puppies play with each other and our adult dog. They look so funny when they
lay on top of each other and sleep. While puppies can be great fun, they also can
make big messes. 4-6 puppies can make a lot of puppy pee and poop. It's a challenge
to keep the puppies and the puppy pen clean.
There was something in the tree. It was difficult to tell from the ground, but
Rachael could see movement. She squinted her eyes and peered in the direction of
the movement, trying to decipher exactly what she had spied. The more she peered,
however, the more she thought it might be a figment of her imagination. Nothing
seemed to move until the moment she began to take her eyes off the tree. Then in
the corner of her eye, she would see the movement again and begin the process of
staring again.
His parents continued to question him. He didn't know what to say to them since
they refused to believe the truth. He explained again and again, and they dismissed
his explanation as a figment of his imagination. There was no way that grandpa, who
had been dead for five years, could have told him where the treasure had been
hidden. Of course, it didn't help that grandpa was roaring with laughter in the
chair next to him as he tried to explain once again how he'd found it.
She looked at her little girl who was about to become a teen. She tried to think
back to when the girl had been younger but failed to pinpoint the exact moment when
she had become a little too big to pick up and carry. It hit her all at once. She
was no longer a little girl and she stood there speechless with fear, sadness, and
pride all running through her at the same time.
Sarah watched the whirlpool mesmerized. She couldn't take her eyes off the water
swirling around and around. She stuck in small twigs and leaves to watch the
whirlpool catch them and then suck them down. It bothered her more than a little
bit that this could also be used as a metaphor for her life.
What if dogs were racist? Would they care about fur color….. “son, only play with
other tan dogs”? Or maybe it would depend on breed, “honey, only play with other
German Shepards, never poodles”. Better yet it could depend on occupation. “I’m a
sled dog while you’re only a running companion, leave me alone”. Maybe the
neighborhood they live in could be the way they choose which dogs to associate with
and which to shun? Size could be the determining factor, “see how tall that dog is,
they are probably dumb”. Luckily dogs don’t discriminate. Just watch at a dog park.
Big black and white dogs wag their tails and play with tiny tan dogs. A service dog
chases after the same ball as the off-duty police dog. So if dogs don’t
discriminate then why do we?
With six children in tow, Catherine raced to the airport departing gate. This
wasn't an easy task as the children had other priorities than to get to the gate.
She knew that she was tight on time and the frustration came out as she yelled at
the kids to keep up. They continued to test her, pretending not to listen and to
move in directions that only slowed them down. They had no idea the wrath they were
about to receive when Catherine made it to the gate only to be informed that they
had all missed the plane.
The song came from the bathroom belting over the sound of the shower's running
water. It was the same way each day began since he could remember. It listened
intently and concluded that the singing today was as terrible as it had ever been.
There was something beautiful in his hate. It wasn't the hate itself as it was a
disgusting display of racism and intolerance. It was what propelled the hate and
the fact that although he had this hate, he didn't understand where it came from.
It was at that moment that she realized that there was hope in changing him.
Life isn't always beautiful. That was a lesson that Dan was learning. He also
realized that life wasn't easy. This had come as a shock since he had lived a
charmed life. He hated that this was the truth and he struggled to be happy knowing
that his assumptions weren't correct. He wouldn't realize until much later in life
that the difficult obstacles he was facing that were taking away the beauty in his
life at this moment would ultimately make his life much more beautiful. All he knew
was that at this moment was that life isn't always beautiful.
He had done everything right. There had been no mistakes throughout the entire
process. It had been perfection and he knew it without a doubt, but the results
still stared back at him with the fact that he had lost.
Betty was a creature of habit and she thought she liked it that way. That was until
Dave showed up in her life. She now had a choice to make and it would determine
whether her lie remained the same or if it would change forever.
She asked the question even though she didn't really want to hear the answer. It
was a no-win situation since she already knew. If he told the truth, she'd get
confirmation of her worst fears. If he lied, she'd know that he wasn't who she
thought he was which would be almost as bad. Yet she asked the question anyway and
waited for his answer.
There wasn't a whole lot more that could be done. It had become a wait-and-see
situation with the final results no longer in her control. That didn't stop her
from trying to control the situation. She demanded that things be done as she
desperately tried to control what couldn't be.