Loving Secret

Our childhood dog was missing. We had gotten him when I was only three years old. His name was Champ, and he followed me everywhere. Once my brother and sister moved out, he started sleeping with me every night. I walked through the door to find mom sobbing on the couch. "We can't find Champ, we've looked everywhere, and it's so cold out," she cried. Dad and I bundled up and went out looking for him.

We found some footprints in the snow and followed them to the edge of a pond down the road. The tracks led right up to a hole about the size of Champ. We never told mom.