Your dedication message

This book is specially created for Ashley!

A birthday brings new dreams...

new thoughts...

new things to try...

... you’re just the girl to do it!

Happy Birthday!

Love, mom and dad.

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful young little girl named Ashley. One sunnyday she took her favorite doll, rabbit, a bright red car and went outside to play. Ashley spread her blanket on the grass, set all her toys in a circle, and was about to give them a lesson on how to be kind to other kids. All of a sudden, she heard a quiet weeping. Ashley got up, looked around, and saw a small muddy puppy sitting under the tree. He was shivering as the tears were coming down his little nose.

“Oh, you poor puppy! What happened to you? Who do you belong to?” Ashley asked with a worried look on her face.

“I don’t belong to anybody,” said the puppy sadly, as he lowered his head.“Would you like to be my puppy?” Ashley smiled, lifting the puppy in her arms.“Yes!” he nodded joyfully and wiggled his tail.

Ashley picked up her toys, wrapped the puppy into a blanket and tookhim home. The puppy was so tiny, that he fit in the girl’s pocket withplenty of space left.

At home, the puppy sniffed very cautiously dad’s large shoes in the hallway. Then he left a trail of dirty markings as he went into the kitchen.

“Oh what a muddy puppy!” Mother exclaimed.

“Phew...” Father looked at the puppy through his eyeglasses and didn’t say anything else.

So puppy was left to live with Ashley.

First of all, Ashley and her mother gave the puppy a nice,warm, and soapy bubble bath. In no time, he was spotless.

“Look, Mom, he is really a golden color. His fur no longerhas the brownish tinge.” Ashley realized the puppy isbright orange and not dirty brown like she originallythought.

“I am even beginning to like you, puppy,” Mother saidpleased.

“Let’s name the puppy,” Father suggested.

Ashley thought that puppy is cute and fuzzy. His colorreminds Ashley of her favorite caramel candy, “Let’s call him Caramel.”

Everyone fell in love with the puppy. Caramel loved sleeping inside Father’slarge slipper. That’s why every morning Father had a warm right slipper and a cold left slipper. In the morning, Father went to the kitchen and gave Caramel milk. He loved his warm, delicious milk and in return, Caramel would bring newspapers for Father.

Mother was the goddess of cooking meatballs. Caramel could sit under the table the entire day and wait until the meatballs were ready to eat. Shewould give him a huge bowl of meatballs. Caramel had never had such adelicious meal. He licked the bowl clean enough to see his own reflection.

“What an appetite!” Mother exclaimed. She knows you love her cookingwhen you lick your plate clean.

From now on, Caramel had a very important chore to do. He had to take Ashleyto the playground for a walk every day. Caramel loved Ashley and not for the crackersor meatballs, but just because she was the most kind and sweet girl he ever met. Caramel and Ashley loved to play ball together. That was their favorite game. Ashley tried tothrow a ball as far as she could and Caramel was very good at catching it. In fact, he was so good, he could jump high up and catch it in mid air. Ashley laughed and giggled, throwing the ball over and over again.

“Here Caramel, go catch this one!” Ashley picked up her ball and threw it in the air again.The ball bounced off the tree and flew into the bushes. Caramel jumped up in the air andrushed after the ball through the grass as fast as he could.

“Sorry, Caramel, I didn’t mean to throw the ball that far!” Ashley rushed after him.

“Caramel, where are you?” Ashley looked behind the bush. The ball was hiding right under the tree but she could not see Caramel anywhere.

“Caramel, come back, please!” Ashley was calling over and over again, but Caramel was nowhere to be found. Ashley looked under the bench where they used to playand inside the sandbox and on the swing..... the puppy was missing. Somebody took Caramel.

Back at home, Mother sighed, “Oh, Dear! What are we going to do?” And Father said, “Phew....” As you already understood, Father was a man of few words. He did not say anything else, got dressed, and went somewhere.

Ashley was sitting in her room very sad. The tears were coming down her pretty face. “Where is Caramel? What happened to him?”

All of a sudden, Ashley heard a helicopter noise outside. She looked up and saw a ladderthat was coming down from the helicopter right to her window sill. She saw her father inthe helicopter, who was yelling, “Come on, Ashley, hurry up! Climb the ladder!”

Ashley is a very brave little girl! She climbed the ladder, all the way into the cabin. Inside,she found her father and a pilot, who was ready to take off.

“Welcome aboard!” said the Pilot. “We are going on a search mission to find our Caramel!” Father smiled. “Oh, Daddy,” Ashley exclaimed. “You are the best!”

The entire day, the helicopter flew circles around the city. Ashley, Father and the pilot flew over every playground, every park, every tree and bush.... but there was no sign of Caramel.

The night come down over the city again. It became very dark. The pilot had to returnthe helicopter back home. Ashley was lying in her bed and could not fall asleep. “Weare going to find you, Caramel. I promise. I have a feeling Caramel is somewhere very close by,” Alisa thought. She couldn’t sleep knowing that something had happenedto the puppy. She got up very quietly, sneaked out of her room, took Father’s large flashlight, and tippy-toed out of the house.

The moon appeared shining brightly in the sky. “Hello, moon!” Ashley waved. “I am looking for my little puppy, Caramel. Please help me and shine the way so I can see where to go.” “Okay. It will be my pleasure to help you”..... and the moon started to shine so bright, you could find a needle in a haystack.

Suddenly, Ashley saw a cat crossing a road. “Hello kitty cat. What is your name?” “My name is Mi-Mi. What are you doing walking at night here all by yourself?” “My name is Ashley. I am looking for my puppy.” Ashley replied. “Would you like to come with me?”

Ashley went back to the place where Caramel had disappeared and Mi-Mi followedher. Ashley looked around, turned and stopped. She had no idea where to go fromhere, where to look and who to ask for help.

Mi-Mi thought for a second and asked, “Tell me about your puppy?”

“He is a very cute, tiny, sweet puppy, orange in color with a big heart,” said Ashley. “He is the kindest and joyful puppy I have ever met. He could play with me all day long.”

“He is a very lucky little puppy. Nobody would ever describe me that way,” Mi-Mi saidsadly. She paused for a second and then continued, “I think I saw a puppy just like that.After my dinner, I went for a walk but a large dog scared me. I had to climb a very talltree so that loud, evil dog wouldn’t reach me. Once I climbed to the very top, I saw a man who was carrying an orange puppy in a bag. I thought to myself, ”This person looksangry and mean, and the puppy looked very sad, too.”

“That’s him! I’m sure,” Ashley exclaimed. “Did you happen to see where they went?”“Yes,” purred Mi-Mi. “I saw the evil man go inside that house.” Mi-Mi pointed toward thelarge, gloomy house. “I saw the man locking your puppy upstairs through the bedroomwindow. The evil man was screaming and yelling at the puppy. I would not want to beanywhere near that house.”

Ashley thanked Mi-Mi for the priceless information, promised her a large bowl of milk and rushed to the tree that was growing right next to that large, gloomy house.

Ashley was able to climb the tree all the way to the window that Mi-Mi showed her. Ashley shined the flashlight into the window. She could not believe her eyes! Caramel was tied up to the leg of the table. Ashley quietly opened the window and freed the puppy. Caramel was so happy, licking Ashley’s face, gave her kisses and jumped for joy. The little girl and the puppy tippy-toed back to the window. They climbed back down and rushed back home.

Caramel was thrilled to return back home with Ashley. His tail was wagging a milea minute. Caramel was happy to see Mother and Father. His large dinner of meatballs was already waiting for him.

Caramel told Ashley how the evil man took and hid him inside the bag and carriedhim somewhere. There were lots of puppies in his house. He did not feed them and did not take them for a walk. Puppies were crying all day long. Police arrested the man. He was locked up in a zoo. He was ordered to spend three years looking after the animals, learning how to feed them, how to groom them, and how to walk them. The man got what he deserved.

All of a sudden, the door bell rang. Ashley opened thedoor and saw Mi-Mi. She came in to get some milk thatAshley promised her.

Ashley thought for a moment. “Would you like to live here?” With a huge smile, Mi-Mi said, “Yes, I would love to have a home.”

“Oh, you are so thin,” Mother sighed. “Here, let me give you some milk.”

Father said, “Phew.....” and nothing else, just smiled.Father is often a man of few words.

That evening, the large, happy family had a huge partywith cake, milk and meatballs. They all lived happilyever after.