Your dedication message

This book is specially created for Luke!

A birthday brings new dreams...

new thoughts...

new things to try...

... you’re just the girl to do it!

Happy Birthday!

Love, mom and dad.

Once upon a time, there lived a handsome young little boy named Luke. One sunnyday he took his favorite rabbit and a bright red car and went outside to play. Luke spread his blanket on the grass, set all his toys in a circle, and was about to give them a lesson on how to be kind to other kids. All of a sudden, he heard a quiet weeping. Luke got up, looked around, and saw a small muddy puppy sitting under the tree. He was shivering as the tears were coming down his little nose.

“Oh, you poor puppy! What happened to you? Who do you belong to?” Luke asked with a worried look on his face.

“I don’t belong to anybody,” said the puppy sadly, as he lowered his head.“Would you like to be my puppy?” Luke smiled, lifting the puppy in his arms.“Yes!” he nodded joyfully and wiggled his tail.

Luke picked up his toys, wrapped the puppy into a blanket and tookhim home. The puppy was so tiny, that he fit in the boy’s pocket withplenty of space left.

At home, the puppy sniffed very cautiously dad’s large shoes in the hallway. Then he left a trail of dirty markings as he went into the kitchen.

“Oh what a muddy puppy!” Mother exclaimed.

“Phew...” Father looked at the puppy through his eyeglasses and didn’t say anything else.

So puppy was left to live with Luke.

First of all, Luke and his mother gave the puppy a nice,warm, and soapy bubble bath. In no time, he was spotless.

“Look, Mom, he is really a golden color. His fur no longerhas the brownish tinge.” Luke realized the puppy isbright orange and not dirty brown like he originallythought.

“I am even beginning to like you, puppy,” Mother saidpleased.

“Let’s name the puppy,” Father suggested.

Luke thought that puppy is cute and fuzzy. His colorreminds Luke of his favorite caramel candy, “Let’s call him Caramel.”

Everyone fell in love with the puppy. Caramel loved sleeping inside Father’slarge slipper. That’s why every morning Father had a warm right slipper and a cold left slipper. In the morning, Father went to the kitchen and gave Caramel milk. He loved his warm, delicious milk and in return, Caramel would bring newspapers for Father.

Mother was the goddess of cooking meatballs. Caramel could sit under the table the entire day and wait until the meatballs were ready to eat. Shewould give him a huge bowl of meatballs. Caramel had never had such adelicious meal. He licked the bowl clean enough to see his own reflection.

“What an appetite!” Mother exclaimed. She knows you love her cookingwhen you lick your plate clean.

From now on, Caramel had a very important chore to do. He had to take Luketo the playground for a walk every day. Caramel loved Luke and not for the crackersor meatballs, but just because he was the most kind and sweet boy he ever met. Caramel and Luke loved to play ball together. That was their favorite game. Luke tried tothrow a ball as far as he could and Caramel was very good at catching it. In fact, he was so good, he could jump high up and catch it in mid air. Luke laughed and giggled, throwing the ball over and over again.

“Here Caramel, go catch this one!” Luke picked up his ball and threw it in the air again.The ball bounced off the tree and flew into the bushes. Caramel jumped up in the air andrushed after the ball through the grass as fast as he could.

“Sorry, Caramel, I didn’t mean to throw the ball that far!” Luke rushed after him.

“Caramel, where are you?” Luke looked behind the bush. The ball was hiding right under the tree but he could not see Caramel anywhere.

“Caramel, come back, please!” Luke was calling over and over again, but Caramel was nowhere to be found. Luke looked under the bench where they used to playand inside the sandbox and on the swing..... the puppy was missing. Somebody took Caramel.

Back at home, Mother sighed, “Oh, Dear! What are we going to do?” And Father said, “Phew....” As you already understood, Father was a man of few words. He did not say anything else, got dressed, and went somewhere.

Luke was sitting in his room very sad. The tears were coming down his face. “Where is Caramel? What happened to him?”

All of a sudden, Luke heard a helicopter noise outside. He looked up and saw a ladderthat was coming down from the helicopter right to his window sill. He saw his father inthe helicopter, who was yelling, “Come on, Luke, hurry up! Climb the ladder!”

Luke is a very brave little boy! He climbed the ladder all the way into the cabin. Inside,he found his father and a pilot, who was ready to take off.

“Welcome aboard!” said the Pilot. “We are going on a search mission to find our Caramel!” Father smiled. “Oh, Father,” Luke exclaimed. “You are the best!”

The entire day, the helicopter flew circles around the city. Luke, Father and the pilot flew over every playground, every park, every tree and bush.... but there was no sign of Caramel.

The night came down over the city again. It became very dark. The pilot had to returnthe helicopter back home. Luke was lying in his bed and could not fall asleep. “Weare going to find you, Caramel. I promise. I have a feeling Caramel is somewhere very close by,” Luke

The moon appeared shining brightly in the sky. “Hello, moon!” Luke waved. “I am looking for my little puppy, Caramel. Please help me and shine the way so I can see where to go.” “Okay. It will be my pleasure to help you”..... and the moon started to shine so bright, you could find a needle in a haystack.

Suddenly, Luke saw a cat crossing a road. “Hello kitty cat. What is your name?” “My name is Mi-Mi. What are you doing walking at night here all by yourself?” “My name is Luke. I am looking for my puppy.” Luke replied. “Would you like to come with me?”

Luke went back to the place where Caramel had disappeared and Mi-Mi followedhim. Luke looked around, turned and stopped. He had no idea where to go fromhere, where to look and who to ask for help.

Mi-Mi thought for a second and asked, “Tell me about your puppy?”

“He is a very cute, tiny, sweet puppy, orange in color with a big heart,” said Luke. “He is the kindest and joyful puppy I have ever met. He could play with me all day long.”

“He is a very lucky little puppy. Nobody would ever describe me that way,” Mi-Mi saidsadly. She paused for a second and then continued, “I think I saw a puppy just like that.After my dinner, I went for a walk but a large dog scared me. I had to climb a very talltree so that loud, evil dog wouldn’t reach me. Once I climbed to the very top, I saw a man who was carrying an orange puppy in a bag. I thought to myself, ”This person looksangry and mean, and the puppy looked very sad, too.”

“That’s him! I’m sure,” Luke exclaimed. “Did you happen to see where they went?”“Yes,” purred Mi-Mi. “I saw the evil man go inside that house.” Mi-Mi pointed toward thelarge, gloomy house. “I saw the man locking your puppy upstairs through the bedroomwindow. The evil man was screaming and yelling at the puppy. I would not want to beanywhere near that house.”

Luke thanked Mi-Mi for the priceless information, promised her a large bowl of milk and rushed to the tree that was growing right next to that large, gloomy house.

Luke was able to climb the tree all the way to the window that Mi-Mi showed him. Luke shined the flashlight into the window. He could not believe his eyes! Caramel was tied up to the leg of the table. Luke quietly opened the window and freed the puppy. Caramel was so happy, licking Luke’s face, gave him kisses and jumped for joy. The little boy and the puppy tippy-toed back to the window. They climbed back down and rushed back home.

Caramel was thrilled to return back home with Luke. His tail was wagging a milea minute. Caramel was happy to see Mother and Father. His large dinner of meatballs was already waiting for him.

Caramel told Luke how the evil man took and hid him inside the bag and carriedhim somewhere. There were lots of puppies in his house. He did not feed them and did not take them for a walk. Puppies were crying all day long. Police arrested the man. He was locked up in a zoo. He was ordered to spend three years looking after the animals, learning how to feed them, how to groom them, and how to walk them. The man got what he deserved.

All of a sudden, the door bell rang. Luke opened thedoor and saw Mi-Mi. She came in to get some milk thatLuke promised her.

Luke thought for a moment. “Would you like to live here?” With a huge smile, Mi-Mi said, “Yes, I would love to have a home.”

“Oh, you are so thin,” Mother sighed. “Here, let me give you some milk.”

Father said, “Phew.....” and nothing else, just smiled.Father is often a man of few words.

That evening, the large, happy family had a huge partywith cake, milk and meatballs. They all lived happilyever after.