The sound of the alarm to go to school makes me wish I was dead. I try to go back to sleep but then I hear my mom say, ”Eric, get out of bed and get your lazy butt over here!”

I beg for 5 more minutes but the answer is no. My little brother, Ryan comes in and starts jumping on my bed to get me up. I throw a pillow at him but I miss. My mom comes in and says”, Pick up that pillow right now, Eric James Falk!”

Started a day of misery. To start, I miss the bus and late for school. When I got to school, I wish I just could just go home. The teacher rage and ask why I am late! I said nothing. Then my teacher gave me a detention for not saying why I was late. She started saying that in high school, they would never expect this. I started thinking,”why care now, high school is a year from now?

The day just went on got better. On my way home from school, I came across this ally that had very little sunlight. But with the one glimpse of the sun, I could see a DOG! The dog looked like it was hurt. I rushed over and found that the canine had a severe cut under the knee and it looked fresh, like the winter sun.I feel like I need to do something so I will take the dog home. When we were about to leave the alley, man came up behind us and started chasing me and the dog with a knife.

He started yelling, “That is my dog!”

We ran and ran until we had lost him.I brought the dog home with me. When I walked in the door, my mom questioned”, Eric, why so muddy! Wait are those new pants?” Eric!”

I told her why and then showed her the dog I had found on the street. She yelled and told me to release the dog. I started to beg, saying”, His owner chased us with a knife and hurt his dog also.Mom asked”, How do you know?” I replied”, I just assumed. Just let me show him to Ryan.”

She said no, but right when she said that, Ryan came down.He looked so surprised. Mom couldn’t say anything because she knew that Ryan wanted a Dog even more than me. So, we kept the dog and named him Kip. .

The clouds came in so suddenly that evening. We had gotten the call at about 9:00 pm. The police swarmed the living room. They were looking for someone. They told me and my mother to get out of the house. An hour had passed and the sound of loud, sudden firecrackers had gone off. Me and my mother had no idea what had happened. Then I started wondering where was Ryan!

Later on, the police had told us that my father was in a gang that had the biggest crime in the city.He said that they had a hostage and the threatened to kill the hostage. The gang said that they did kill the the hostage. We then realized that Ryan was missing. We asked the police if they had seen Ryan? They looked startled and then I realized that Ryan was the hostage. I wasn’t sure but when he said the words it felt like I was being stabbed with a knife. I didn’t want to believe it but it was true. I was so angry and said that I wanted justice. I kept asking why it had to end this way? Why would my father do this? I then asked”, Where was Kip?” They didn’t know who Kip was so I told them it was our dog. They told us that they had not seen a dog. That left me heartbroken.

A few months later, things were getting back to normal, that’s what my mother says. The thing was, that nothing would ever be back together. Without my brother and Kip, my life was lost.

Today, mom said that she was going to take me somewhere special. I wasn’t sure at first, but then I realized that we were going to the pet store! This was the best thing that had happened to me for a long time. I decided to get a Golden Retriever. Mom then asked” Eric, what are you going to name it?”

I told her”, Ryan.”
When we got home we knew that Ryan would be a great dog. At first Ryan was bad because he always ate the pillows on the couch. He also was a good friend. Since Ryan has been here, life has gotten much sweeter. To start, my mother had gotten a new husband that was named Brad was fairly rich. We also had moved into a large house with a big yard for Ryan to run around in. I have also done much better in school and have become an A student. There is still the sadness of losing my little brother. But,now when I see Ryan, I feel happy and can let the past go and let the future come.