Travis's Friend

“You have to make a choice,” she said.

The little boy stood and looked at his mother. He never realized how hard this would be. He had been taken to his uncle’s farm to pick out a puppy for his fourth birthday and was faced with the hardest decision yet.

“I don’t know. Why can’t we take them all,” he asked.
“We can’t take them all, Travis,” his mother said softly.
“Why? I would take care of them all. I promise.”
“Don’t you realize how big they are going to be?”
“We can put them in the backyard,” he begged.
“If we put them all five of them in the backyard, you can’t go and play outside with your friends anymore,” she explained.
“Alright. I’ll just pick one then.”

As he began to walk around the barn and small brown puppy followed, biting at his shoelaces. He slowly bent down, letting him curl into his lap.

“I want this one, mom,” he said.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yeah. I think this one would be good.”
“Once we leave here it’s a done deal. You need to be sure,” she said sternly.
“I know. This is the one I want.”
“Alright then. Let’s go to the car if you’re ready.”

As they climbed into the car, Travis babbled about names. He was so excited to have what he always wanted. Travis had always wanted someone to play with. Now he just wanted to get home and play with his new pet.