Once there was a small King Charles Spaniel named Taco. He lived at an animal shelter in California. He was very shy. His only friends were his brothers, who already were adopted, so actually Taco didn’t have any friends. All Taco really wanted was for a nice little girl to come and adopt him, so they could live on a farm together. Across from Taco there was a big Great Dane. Taco was very scared of the big Great Dane. In fact, he was terrified of the big Great Dane. The really bad thing was the big Great Dane thought Taco was cool which meant he was always trying to talk to Taco, which made him even more terrified. Next to Taco was a super cute Golden Retriever puppy that came to the shelter only two days ago. The Retriever puppy sometimes liked to play with Taco. Another thing about Taco was that he loved to chase things. Whenever Taco was bored he would chase his tail, and he was usually bored.

One Sunday morning at 8:00, Taco was about to start chasing his tail. He stood up, but then he stopped. He heard the door open. He saw a bunch of kids come in. They came and toured Taco’s aisle. Taco saw the kids turn the corner. Taco started wagging his tail. All the kids looked at the super cute Golden Retriever puppy. They all ran over to the small Golden Retriever. Taco stopped wagging his tail and sat down and tilted his head staring at the kids. A little girl came out of the crowd and came to Taco. She bent down in front of him. Taco stood up and started wagging his tail again but this time even harder. She was about to say something to Taco. He could tell. But then out of nowhere there was a big, loud, deep bark. The girl jumped. She looked behind her. It was the Great Dane. (By the way, the little girl’s name was Sophie.) Sophie forgot about Taco and went to look at a different dog. Taco stopped wagging his tail and frowned. He laid down and fell asleep.

When Taco woke up, he was not in his cage anymore. He was in a small moving box (also known as a car). Sophie was sitting next to Taco. Taco didn’t know what was happening, but he walked onto Sophie’s lap and licked her face.

Hi, what is your name? Do you want to be friends? You smell good. Can I chew on your hair?

Sophie giggled. Sophie’s mom said, “We’re here.”

Taco and Sophie hopped out of the car.

“Come on, Taco,” said Sophie.

As she ran Taco followed her. They were in a big yard in front of a barn. Taco ran as fast as he could, his ears flopping behind him. Taco was so happy. Sophie was too.