“Sara, can we talk about something?” Mom said in a soft, low voice.
         I hope this is not going to be another talk about being less shy and getting more friends. I’m good with the one I already have; even though she bosses me around a lot. I thought as I cracked the door open so I could peek out.
        “Talk about what?” I asked a little scared.
        “I was just wondering why you are so shy,” she said.
        “I don’t know. I just am. I’ll probably be like this… forever,” I replied.
       “Oh, okay. Well, I have to go make dinner,” she said knowing that she wouldn’t get anymore than that answer.
       A little while later I opened my door and sat down for dinner. Bang! The door flew open and hit the door stopper at full speed. Dad walked through the door with a huge grin on his face. He put his computer bag down and came up to Mom.
      “I went to the Human Society and looked at the different kind of dogs they had. You might not believe it, but I saw a yellow lab in the Society’s kennels. Her name is Dandy, but we can name her Andi,” he said excitedly. “I thought how it might solve a problem that you have been working to solve,” He explained as he glanced at me.
She paused and thought. She looked at Dad. Then she looked at me.                                                                                                “Alright, we can go look at it tomorrow,” she said.
       The next day we got in the car and drove to the Human Society. I didn’t say anything on the way there. I never really talked during car rides anyway.
       I wonder what a yellow lab looks like. Dad and I always wanted a dog. Wait a minute, Mom never really wanted to have a dog. Why did she give in without a fight? She would never give in so easily. Weird.
        We arrived and walked into the building. A lady greeted us and brought Mom and Dad to another room so they could meet with the dog before they showed her to us. A few minutes later Mom came out.
       “Come on kids. I want you to meet the dog to see what you think. Dad took her into a larger room to calm her down a bit.” she explained.
       We walked down the hallway into a large room. It had windows, but it wasn’t finished. The walls and floor were concrete. The light that came through the windows was the only light there was. Apparently it was a room for training the dogs. I’d hate to see this place at night.                                                      A few yards away was Dad playing with the dog. She was a bright gold color with a wet, pink nose and brown eyes that shined like a gemstone. She was fluffy around the neck so it looked like lion’s mane. How cute is that puppy! I walked up to Dad and the dog and held my hand out. I heard somewhere that you have to hold your hand out to a dog so they can sniff it and get used to your smell. Then she stop sniffing me and wagged her tail so hard it was like a whip. She must be as happy as I am. I played with her for 5 minutes. I had a huge grin and was laughing so hard. Steven also joined in the fun while Mom and Dad talked. The dog ran around, barked, made everyone laugh, and made a few minutes feel like an hour of fun. After those few minutes Dad got someone to put her back in the kennel. The party ended and I returned to normal: meaning I was as silent as a mouse again.

We walked out of the building and got into the car. We drove for about 15 minutes in silence until we arrived at the pet store.
     “Why are we here?” I asked.
     “I thought maybe our new dog would like a collar and a tag with her name on it,” Mom said.
     “You mean we are actually going to get her!” I said as happy as I could be. I can’t wait for her to come home!
      The next day Dad brought her home and I changed forever. As I played with her and I became almost the complete opposite.I talked to her and opened up to everyone and everything-instead of staying in my own world. I could be myself with Andi and she couldn’t judge me. I felt safe for once. I got more friends and I opened up to the friend I already had, instead of cold, icy silence. I knew that as long as I had Andi, I would continue to feel safe. If I ever got hurt, I could rub her ears and talk to her and I would feel better. It’s kind of like a house. You need a foundation, or the building will topple over. Andi is my foundation and without her, I would topple over. My life would be pretty quiet if it weren’t for her.