Hit and Run Retriever

Chapter OneStella Sullivan was grumpy. Somehow, summer was already over.It was the first day of school.Stella liked school-that wasn't the problem. The problem was Rufus, Stellas puppy. She couldn't stand the idea of leaving him alone all day.So Stella was sitting on the kitchen floor, hiding her face in Rufus's fur and trying to pretend it was June-not September.Rufus knew Stella was unhappy. He kept twisting around and licking her face with his tiny pink tongue. Getting licked made Stella giggle, but it didn't stop her from feeling grumpy.Rufus was a small dog-about the size of a Maltese or a miniature poodle. Nobody was exctly sure what breed he was because he had been abandoned at a rest stop when he was just two weeks old.Stella had adopted Rufus right around the time school let out that spring. They had spent practically the whole summer together. Over the summer, Rufus had grown into a sleek, healthy dog."Come eat your cereal, Muffin," Stellas mom, Norma, saidfrom her spot at the kitchen table. "You don't want to be late.""Why not?" asked Cora, Stella's big sister. "I want to be late.""I'm not going to school," Stella said. "Rufus will die of loneliness without me."Norma sighed and yawned. "Don't be so dramatic so early in the morning," she said. "Come on, Stella. Get a move on. You only have ten minutes to eat.""What about Rufus?""He'll be fine for a few hours while you're at school," Norma said."Cereal," StCostello, Emily is the author of 'Hit and Run Retriever' with ISBN 9780380816002 and ISBN 0380816008.