Walking home alone from school today Janie felt particularly sad for some reason and as she walked along, she hung her head lower than usual. See, Janie was an orphan. She had lived all of her twelve years in an orphanage, provided by Mr. and Mrs. Thyme, an older couple who owned a rambling old farmhouse on the outskirts of town. They were the only family she knew, and they were not truly hers.

Suddenly, Janie felt something warm jumping at her heels. She turned quickly to see what it was, and discovered a frisky, fuzzy puppy. Instantly she bent down to the bouncing bundle of energy, scooping him up into her arms, and talking excitedly to him. He licked her face and squirmed so fiercely in his excitement that Janie almost lost her hold on him. Sitting down on the hard packed red dirt, she held her new friend and rubbed his soft fur. She knew this little fellow was an orphan too, and they immediately bonded together. Returning to her senses after the original excitement of her discovery, she realized that this puppy would not be a welcome guest in Mr. and Mrs. Thyme’s home. There would be no state subsidies to support this little fellow, so Janie needed a plan.

She thought about her many private places out in the woods surrounding the farmhouse, and remembered a large tree with a hole in its trunk that she used regularly as her playhouse. She decided to take her friend there where he would be safe. She went to this tree daily anyway, because it was here that she spent hours each day, writing. In this place of her own, Janie filled lonely hours with poetry and short stories, often reading them aloud to herself. Now thanks to “Boy” she would have an audience to listen to her words and she would no longer be alone. Standing up straight once more, Janie placed Boy down at her feet, and instructed him to follow her. He didn’t need much encouragement from her, however, because he too seemed to realize that he would no longer be alone.

As she approached the tree “home,” she continued to talk happily to Boy. She placed him inside, and then fashioned a gate out of some bushy limbs she had found nearby. That would keep Boy inside, safe from harm until she could return tomorrow with some food for him. As she turned to depart she told Boy she loved him and tried to assure him of her return. His broken heart cried out in shrill whimpers and his once twinkling eyes told Janie of the sadness he felt at their separation. Janie bent down once more, reaching through the bushy gate and rubbed Boy’s soft velvety ears. “ Shhhh,” she whispered softly to him, “ I will be back, I promise.” Tears now moistened her eyes as she turned from Boy, walking quietly toward the house.