Children's / To Katie From Max- Ch 1 Vers 3 (Analysis)

To Katie From Max
Chapter 1

“Dad, help! There’s something wrong with Max! He can’t breathe,” Katie yelled frantically from her bedroom as tears streamed down her face. Her
father rushed into her bedroom and gently wrapped Max in his arms putting his ear to Max’s
chest to listen. Katie watched her father’s face scrunch up as he concentrated on the sounds of Max’s lungs.

“He’s definitely wheezing,” he said. “I’ll grab my keys and take him to the vet honey.”

“Can I go with you Dad?” Katie asked. Mr. Langley paused a moment clasping his lips together tightly making them disappear inside of his mouth.

Katie knew what the answer would be by her father’s expression.

“I don’t think so. Katie, my truck doesn’t have a backseat, and I don’t think the front would be big enough for you and Max.”

“He could sit in my lap. He has done it before,” Katie reasoned with him.

“Yeah, but….I think it might be better if Max and I go alone. Besides, I don’t know how long Max and I will be there.”

Katie knew that what her father really meant was the doctor might say something really horrible, and I don’t want you to be there for that. Katie decided that he might be right and relented. If it was something terrible, she would rather hear the news from her father, not from Dr. Sawyer.

Mr. Langley gingerly lifted Max into his arms and walked towards the front door. Katie grabbed her father’s keys from the hook in the kitchen before walking out to the truck with him. He carefully placed Max on the passenger’s side. Katie cupped Max’s face in her hands, her eyes locking with his. He stared back at her with a look of desperation that was recognizable even in the face of a dog. Katie felt as if he was trying to tell her he was scared and that something was very wrong.

She kissed Max on the top of the head, handed her father his keys, and shut the passenger door. Katie’s father waved to her and gave her a reassuring smile as the truck backed out of the driveway. Max continued to look out the window at Katie as he struggled to breathe until the truck was out of view from the house.

Katie felt completely helpless. Her best friend in the entire world was gasping for breath and all she could do was stay at home and wait. And why did Max have to look at her like that? Max had always been there to reassure her with his big trusting brown eyes and chilly wet nose. Now he needed reassuring and she wasn’t there. I should have fought harder to be with him she thought. He should not have to be there without me. I let him down.

Two hours had gone by. Katie and her mother had not heard anything about Max. Katie tried to curl up on the couch and watch TV to get Max out of her mind, but it wasn’t working. She walked outside and sat on the front porch swing her feet dangling above the ground. Mrs. Langley followed and sat down next to her daughter.

“No news is good news,” she said, trying unsuccessfully to comfort Katie.

She said it with a hopeful smile, but Katie could see that her eyes were crinkling, and her eyes always did that when she was worried about something. The last time she had seen her mother’s eyes do that was two months ago when her father called home to say that he had lost his job. Her mother had tried to reassure her then too.

“Well get through it Katie,” she said. “Things will just have to tighten up around here. Don’t you worry at all.” She tried to look calm and reassuring, but her mother had always been a very bad liar.

Katie wasn’t sure if she was more worried about Max, or how much the vet bill was going to be to find out what was wrong with him and get him better. Thinking about this made her become more upset than she already was. For the past few months, everything in the Langley family seemed to revolve around money. Katie knew these were hard times for her family. She had heard the speech from her parents about a million times whenever she complained about not being able to go to a movie or roller skating with her friends. But to her, this was a completely different situation. Max was her dog. He was her best friend. Dad would eventually find another job, but there would never be another dog like Max.

Katie and her mother looked across the street and saw Simon, the boy who lived next door planted in the middle of the road next to his dog, Bo. He was sitting with his legs crossed stroking Bo’s ears and talking as if he had not seen him in years. The dog looked back at him and nodded as if he completely understood everything that Simon was saying.

“Why don’t you go over there and talk to Simon, Katie?” Mom suggested.
“Talk? To Simon?”
“Yeah, it will take your mind off things. You two can play with Bo, can’t you? It will give you something better to do then wait around here for Dad and Max and being all worried. Besides, he is a very nice boy.”

How would she know if he was a nice boy?, Katie thought to herself. Simon had lived next door to the Langley’s and had been in Katie’s class for as long as she could remember and she had never heard him say one word. Not one.

In fact, nobody had ever heard a word come from Simon’s mouth.

At the beginning of every school year, the teacher would always have all of the students say their favorite food or favorite book, or talk about what they did over the summer, and every year Simon would stand up and just stare at his feet, frozen, like a statue. For a few weeks, the teacher would try everything she knew to get him to talk, trying to be that special someone that would make him do it. All of the children who had been in class with Simon before would tell her that he was not going to talk, no matter what. But as usual, the teacher would feel that she knew better than a bunch of children how to deal with a boy like Simon. After trying various strategies like promising him extra recess, letting him choose where he wanted to sit, and then finally threatening to punish him, she would give up and let him just sit there in his silence.

For a long time, the teachers couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t say anything. Simon would sit in his desk and do all of his work. Last year, the teacher, Mrs. Fillerman, read the class one of his stories and Katie had really thought that it was excellent. He wasn’t less intelligent than the other children. If anything, it was exactly the opposite. He just didn’t talk. Well, not to people at least.

But there he was talking about a mile a minute to Bo. To Katie, it was one of the strangest things that she had ever seen. Simon seemed to live in a different world – a world separate from the reality that everyone else knew.

“You know he has a problem honey.” Mom continued on, “it’s called Selective Mutism. We talked about it. He can only talk to people that he feels socially comfortable with.”

“So he’s only socially comfortable with dogs then?” Katie asked.

“Well, he does talk a lot to that dog of his. But he also talks to his parents too. I think that’s about it. Think about how lonely he must be.”

Mom has a point she thought. Katie couldn’t imagine being so afraid that she wasn’t able talk to anybody except her parents and dogs. And not all of the kids at school were so nice to Simon either. Most of them just ignored him. Katie felt a little guilty because she had ignored him also. Some of the other kids, like Jimmy Naylor, would make fun of him, and call him stupid or retarded, even though Simon got better grades in school than they did. Katie had thought about how difficult it must be to be smart but not be able to tell anyone.
Katie decided that it couldn’t hurt to talk to Simon, and maybe it would take her mind off of her father and Max and what was taking so long at the vet’s office. She was nervous because in the five years that they had lived next door to each other and been in the same class, she had maybe spoken to him three or four times, and that was usually to say something polite like ‘excuse me’ or ‘pass the ketchup.’ Having a real conversation with him was a completely different story. And could you really call it a conversation when only one person is talking?, she wondered.
Katie stood up and walked slowly over to Simon and Bo. She kneeled down next to Bo and began scratching his ears. He did that funny twitching motion that dogs do when they move their leg up and down when they are being scratched in a place that tickles them.

“Hi Simon,” she said. She really didn’t expect him to say anything back, though for a moment, she wanted to feel like she had done something special to earn being talked too. In a way, Simon’s silence was a really powerful thing. He had all of these teachers tearing their hair out trying to figure out what would make him talk. It once had occurred to Katie that maybe she should stop talking for a while just to see what would happen. Would anyone miss anything that she had to say? Part of her was afraid to learn the answer.

“Hi Simon, can I sit with you?” she asked.
He looked up and gave her a slight grin. Katie wouldn’t have called it a smile. There were no teeth showing. His mouth just sort of made a funny shape like he was trying to smile but wasn’t quite sure how. How could a ten-year-old boy not know how to smile?, she thought.

Katie decided not to wait for an answer that wasn’t going to come and sat down next to him. He didn’t get up and run, so she guessed that she was welcome to stay.

Katie rubbed Bo’s belly and he did that funny leg twitch again which made her laugh.
“Your dog looks really funny when he does that. Max does that too.”

Suddenly, Katie remembered why she had gone out to the street in the first place – to forget about Max.

“Max is at the vet. He has been really slow and tired lately and doesn’t want to eat anything. This morning when he woke up, he was breathing funny. Does Bo ever do that?”

Simon did not answer her question, but Katie could tell that he was listening carefully, which was nice. When you don’t talk, you become really good at listening to people Katie thought to herself. Maybe having a conversation with someone who didn’t talk back wasn’t going to be so bad. At least he wasn’t going to say she was stupid for being so worried about her dog.

“Dad should be home with Max soon. I really hope he is okay. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to him.”

Katie talked nonstop about Max for twenty minutes straight. And Simon listened. Katie wasn’t sure who was more grateful, she for being able to talk about how she felt about Max, or Simon for having someone talk to him because it really didn’t happen that often at school. His eyes looked like he just saw his shiny, new bike on Christmas morning. He was smiling. Katie could just tell that he was happy. And to her surprise, Katie was happy too, if only for a moment.

And then her father’s old, rusty truck pulled up into the drive, but to Katie’s dismay Max wasn’t with him. Katie ran into the house as quickly as her legs would take her, leaving Simon there alone with Bo, not even stopping to say goodbye.

“Hi honey. How are you Katie Bell?” he said as she ran bursting through the door.
Dad had not called her Katie Bell in over a year.

“Where’s Max? What’s wrong? Why isn’t he with you? You said….”
Katie could feel a lump forming in the back of her throat like a frog had jumped inside of it. Once again, her eyes were beginning to well up with tears.

“It’s okay honey. The doctor wants to keep him overnight for observation. They are going to run some tests on him to see if they can find out what’s wrong.”

“So what does he think is wrong?” she asked.
Mr. Langley sighed with hesitation,

“Well….Katie. Let’s face it. Max is not a young pup anymore. He is fifteen. Dog’s just don’t live much…….” Mr. Langley’s voice became really soft and began to trail off. Katie could tell that he was trying not to say that there was no real hope for Max. Anger and hurt began to well up inside of Katie and she felt like she was becoming a bomb ready to explode.

“So he’s going to die then. Is that what you are saying? Then why are we bothering even trying if he’s just going to die? It’s not like you are going to spend any money or anything and try to save him. That’s what this is really about. There is some medicine or surgery that could probably save him, but you won’t spend the money, right? Because we are poor now.”

“Katie! You know that isn’t true. How could you say something like that? Max is my dog too.” Katie saw that her father looked really hurt, sort of how Joey Wrinkle looked after Jimmy Naylor kicked him in the stomach on the playground.

“He’s right Katie,” her mother interrupted. “I know you are very upset and worried, but you owe your father an apology right now young lady!”

“Fine! I’M SORRY!,” she yelled. She ran to her room and slammed the door shut as hard as she could causing the walls to vibrate slightly. She flopped onto her bed and screamed loudly into her pillow muffling the sound. She glanced out her window and saw Simon still sitting there with Bo. He looked back at her and made that strange grin again.

That night, Katie decided that Simon had the right idea being silent, so she didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of that day and night.

        The next morning, Katie woke up with an ache in the bottom of her stomach. She had tossed and turned all night long and hardly gotten any sleep. Max usually slept at the foot of her bed keeping her feet nice and warm. She had never realized how comforting it was to have him there until he wasn’t there anymore.
        She was also remembering how she had screamed at her father and realized that the ache in her stomach was not just from missing Max. It was a pang of guilt from the awful things that she had said. It wasn’t his fault that he lost his job, she thought. He had worked as a network administrator and the company had to lay off many of its employees due to cutbacks.
        Her friend Rachel’s dad also worked there and he got laid off to, so it was nice to at least know someone else whose parents were also worried about money. Rachel’s mother however was a lawyer. Money wasn’t as big of an issue for her family. They might have to skip their family vacation this year, but they didn’t have to miss birthday parties like Katie did because her parents didn’t have the money to buy a birthday present, and she thought it would look sort of silly if she showed up without a gift. Her parents never told her that she couldn’t go, but she didn’t want to be humiliated by being the only person without something to give.

Mrs. Langley was a teacher who didn’t make the kind of money a lawyer would make. What made things worse for Katie was that her mother was a teacher at Katie’s school; therefore, everyone knew about her family’s financial situation. Katie would get these pitiful looks as she walked down the hall from the other teachers, as if she were a street urchin living in a homeless shelter. She mostly tried to ignore it, but then something would happen to remind her that they were now officially poor. There was the time she forgot her lunch money and was in the lunch line and Jimmy (yes, the same Jimmy) started telling everyone to fork over their quarters because as he put it, “Katie’s family’s welfare check is late this month, and all of us who have parents who actually work for a living need to take care of her.” They weren’t as poor as people on the street, but to her it sure felt that way, especially at that moment with all of the kids staring at her, pointing and laughing.

Katie went to a private school, where most of the kids came from very rich families. She got to go there for free because of her mother. Otherwise, her family probably couldn’t have afforded it. If she wasn’t the school charity case before, she was now. Why couldn’t I just go to public school where I would be more like everyone else? she would say to herself. Her mother said it was because Briarwood Elementary was one of the top private elementary schools in the state. One of the reasons that she had said that she wanted to teach there was so that Katie could be away from the overcrowded public school system and have, as her mother put it “a top notch education.”

The other kids in Katie’s neighborhood went to Green Hills Elementary, the public school. Simon was the only other kid who went to Briarwood. His parents had gotten him a scholarship because of his speech problem. The school would use him as a research subject, so he got to go for free too. Somehow, they always seemed to end up in the same class. Katie secretly believed that it was because they wanted to keep the two charity cases of the school hidden away in one classroom.

Now more than ever, Katie wished she went to school with the other kids in her neighborhood. The other kids didn’t have nearly the amount of homework she did. Her friend Gina down the street had about half of what Katie did, although Gina only bothered to actually do hers about half of the time. The kids in her neighborhood were also not rich like the Briarwood kids, and not nearly as stuck up and spoiled.

If Katie went to Green Hills Elementary, nobody would have even noticed her. Nobody would have to know that her dad lost his job and that she had to quit ballet and that the last time her family did anything fun like go to the movies was in her mind, forever ago.

But no matter what, she had something that those rich kids didn’t have; she had Max. Katie and her father went to the pound when she was five-years-old looking for a puppy. Instead, she found herself mysteriously drawn to Max and his big brown eyes and pointy ears that stood up straight like he was listening to something really amazing and important. He was already ten-years-old when the Langley’s got him, but it didn’t matter to Katie. It was like she and Max both knew that they should be together. And they usually were.

They did everything together. If Katie went to Gina’s house down the street, he would usually go with her, following along and happily wagging his tail from side to side. There was one time when Katie and Max went over to Gina’s house and her older brother Troy was being really mean to the two girls. He took the trash can from the hallway bathroom and dumped it all over Gina’s bed. Inside of the trashcan were bubblegum, toilet paper, and hair from the bathtub. This really upset Gina because she was definitely a neat freak. He knew how upset she would be. She had just cleaned her room and washed her bedding the day before. Gina and Katie decided that they had to do something to get him back. They went into the kitchen to get some cookies while they came up with their plan for revenge. Max followed behind, anticipating some form of food falling to the floor like it usually did at Katie’s house.

“I’ve got it,” Gina said with a mouth full of cookie. “My brother has a problem wetting his bed. He’s really embarrassed about it. He takes medicine for it and hasn’t done it in over a year. We should put water on his bed and make it look like he peed in it, like he used to.”

“Wow, that is really mean, Gina. Are you sure you want to do that?” Katie asked.

“He has been torturing us all day for no reason.”

“Yeah, but that’s like a medical problem or something. He can’t help that. Should we really make fun of it?”

“You sound like my mom, Katie. You’re too nice. He deserves it.”

After their snack, the girls walked back into Gina’s room and were absolutely stunned with disbelief. Troy had taken shampoo from the bathroom and squirted it on her bed, on her dresser, and even in her book bag with all of her school books.

“You’re right Gina, I am too nice,” Katie said.

“Let’s do it.”
Max nodded his head, barked once, and trotted into Troy’s room as if Katie had just given him orders to do so.
“Oh hey there Max,” Troy said from in his room across the hall. “Wanna come up here buddy? Play with me instead of those cootie queens. What are you doing? Noooooooooooo!”

Gina and Katie jumped off the bed and rushed into Troy’s room. Max was standing on all fours on the bed wagging his tail triumphantly. He had peed right in the middle of Troy’s bed.

“Wow, good boy Max!” Gina snickered, “Or maybe it wasn’t Max. Looks like your medicine isn’t working anymore Troy.”

Katie almost felt bad for him when he turned bright red and ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. Then she looked at Max in amazement and just started to laugh. Was this some dog, or what? What made this even funnier and more peculiar was that Max had not peed indoors once in the five years since the Langley’s had brought him home.

If Katie and her family went to the park, Max would go too. There was a shallow lake there and she would take off her shoes and cuff her pants so that they wouldn’t get too wet. She and Max would play fetch together. He loved it when she threw the stick into the water, especially on a hot day.

About the only place he didn’t go with Katie was school, but if she could have found a way to sneak him in, she would have. Most days, Katie couldn’t wait to leave school.

Usually, Katie would come home after school, sit on her bed, and do her homework. Max would jump up with his tail wagging back and forth and stick his nose between her and her school work so that she couldn’t ignore him. Then she would put her work to the side and let him curl up in her lap. He would lick her face with his long, sloppy tongue and would tell him about her day.
When Katie had a bad day, she would complain to Max and he would sit there and listen as if he totally understood how she was feeling. Nobody ever seemed to pay attention to her like Max. He always seemed to know just what she needed. What she needed was a true friend.

Katie lay in her bed worrying about Max and thinking about the awful things she had said to her father. Her stomach began growling from being hungry, so she decided it was time to get up and face him. She put on my bedroom slippers and walked carefully into the kitchen. Mr. Langley was there as usual looking through the want ads in the paper. He peeked over his paper when he saw Katie enter the kitchen.

“Hi Dad. Looking at the paper?” she asked. Of course he’s looking at the paper, she thought. What a stupid question.

“Yeah, new jobs come out on Sunday. Maybe this week I’ll get lucky. How are you feeling Katie Bell?”

He was calling her Katie Bell again. This couldn’t be good.

“Listen, Dad, I’m really sorry about what I said. You know I didn’t mean it.”

“I know sweetheart. You’re worried about Max. We all are. And we’ve all been under a lot of stress these past few months. I know it hasn’t been easy, Katie. But you’ve been real good about understanding about our money problems. Once I get a job, everything will return to normal and we’ll all go do something really fun together instead of sitting around this house all the time.”

“I know Dad. But what about the vet bill? It will be so expensive? Can we afford it?”

“Katie, why do you always have to be so practical? I wish that my little girl didn’t have to worry about this kind of stuff. These are grown up problems. Well, to be honest, it will be tough. But I think old Max deserves it. We’ll find a way honey. Maybe we can make payments. Dr. Sawyer has done that for us before when Max had his leg surgery. Don’t worry. If there’s something we can do for Max, we’ll do it. I promise.”

Katie ran over to her father and hugged him like she had never hugged anyone else before in her life. Maybe it really would be okay. Maybe Max would be okay. Besides, her dad had never ever made a promise in his life to her that he didn’t keep. That was one thing that she truly appreciated about him. He wouldn’t lie to her and tell her that he would do something and then let her down. If he said he would show up somewhere, like to her recital, he would be there. Katie could always count on it. If he couldn’t do something, he would just say so, even if he knew Katie would be disappointed. She had a lot of friends whose parents gave them promises and then broke them. He always told Katie the truth, even if it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

After Katie ate her bowl of Cheerios, she went in her room and sat on her bed looking out the window. Her mind started wandering back to Max. What was wrong with him? Would it really be something that he could just get medicine for? Would he need surgery like before when he hurt his hind leg? Or was Max just getting old? It serves me right for picking such an old dog in the first place when I could have had a puppy she thought to herself.

But from the moment she saw Max, she fell in love with him. Even though she was only five at the time, she could still remember looking at those big brown droopy eyes and thinking that’s my dog….I’ve got to have him.
Another strange thought suddenly entered Katie’s mind as she remembered that first day with Max. It was also the day she met Simon. His family had just moved next door. At the time, everyone just thought that the reason Simon didn’t talk to others was because he was just very shy. Simon came over to the Langleys with his mother as Katie and her father were walking out the door to drive to the pound. Simon’s mother mentioned that he absolutely loved dogs. Mr. Langley said that they were welcome to come with he and Katie to the pound. Simon’s face lit up at the invitation and he began nodding his head to say “yes.” They both hopped in the van and there they were, driving to the pound with two people they had just met and barely knew.
As they walked through the pound, they noticed that there weren’t very many puppies, mostly older dogs. Disappointed, they were about to go home. At that moment, Katie saw Simon sitting on the ground looking through the fence at a Jack Russell terrier with big brown eyes and pointy ears. It was one of the few pure bread dogs there. Katie went over to Simon and sat down next to him and poked her nose through the gate to take a closer look at the dog. She looked into his eyes and he licked her right on the nose. This was her dog. She just knew it.

The guy who ran the pound said that his name was Max and he had only been there a few days. It turned out that his owner was a really old lady who had died and no one could take the dog, so they took him to the pound. Katie remembered pleading with her father to let them get Max.

“Please Daddy, Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase!”

“But I thought you wanted to get a puppy. We could wait a couple of weeks honey, and then you could get a puppy if they get some more.”

“But he kissed me Daddy. That means I have to take him home. He’s a good dog, I just know it. Please Daddy. I’ll take good care of him.”

“But Katie Bell, he is pretty old for a dog. He won’t be able to play like a puppy will.” Mr. Langley argued.

“I don’t care. He’s mine. I want Max, Daddy! I want Max! Please Daddy!” she begged loudly.
Mr. Langley gave in. That day they rode home with Max sitting on Katie’s lap. All of a sudden she realized something else. She probably would not have even noticed Max that day if it hadn’t been for Simon. He was the reason she and Max found each other. Simon had helped her find her very best friend in the whole world and for that Katie was very grateful.

It’s funny how sometimes just by thinking about someone, they all of a sudden just show up. Katie must have been daydreaming because she was spooked and jumped about a foot in the air when something or someone tapped on her bedroom window. It was Simon.

Katie opened the window. Simon motioned for her to come outside. She shut the window, walked through the hallway, and went out the front door. Simon was still waiting for her outside in the same exact spot that they were at the day before on the street. She wasn’t exactly sure what to say to him. She had talked to him so much the day before that she was out of words, and she hadn’t learned anything new to tell him about Max.

It turned out that Katie didn’t have to say anything at all. Before she could even think to say hello, Simon put his hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out a sheet of notebook paper. What was this? Had Simon written her a note? Was he trying to actually talk to her? All of a sudden, she felt a little bit special, like she had been chosen after all. Perhaps someone had finally noticed her. She guessed that this was the feeling that all of the teachers wanted to experience when they tried to get Simon to talk on those first days of school. Before she could ask a question, or even make a sound, Simon turned and ran home. Well, perhaps it wasn’t as much of a breakthrough as she had thought. Maybe she wasn’t so special after all.

Katie went inside and rushed to her room to see what was on the piece of paper that Simon had given to her. Her mind was racing trying to guess what secrets from his mind were scribbled on that paper. This was more proof of how powerful Simon’s silence really was.
She unfolded the paper. At the top it read, “To Katie, From Max…..written by Simon.”
Written by Simon? Simon had written a story for me? she thought. As she continued to read, she found that this was not the case, well not exactly.

To Katie, From Max
Written by Simon

Dear Katie,
      This letter is from me, Max. Yes, I know. I am a dog. Dog’s don’t write people letters. That is why I had to have Simon write it for me. He is one of those few people that we can talk to. I found out that Simon and I could talk to each other on that first day at the pound. I know he doesn’t talk a lot to people, but he sure talks to us dogs a lot.
     Anyway, I asked him if he would write this letter for me because there is something that I want to talk to you about. Most dogs don’t get the chance to talk to the people that they love, but I am lucky. Because of Simon, I can tell you how much I love you, what these years have meant to me, and let you know that everything will be okay.
     I remember when I first went to the pound. Mrs. Hatcher had died. She was a wonderful lady who took good care of me from the time I was a puppy. Nobody in her family wanted to take me home, so they dropped me off at the pound instead. I felt so scared and alone. Some of the other dogs had been there a long time and no one had taken them yet. Then they told me what they did to the dogs that nobody wanted. That made me even more scared.
        Then you and Simon came walking through and passed by me to look at the puppies.
‘Nobody’s going to want me’, I thought. ‘I’m too old.’ Simon turned around. I guess he must have heard me. He said, “Don’t worry. You’re not too old.” We started talking and he told me about you and that you were looking for a puppy. I asked him if he could let me meet you. That is when you saw him and came over to me and put your nose through the wire fence. And I licked you. And you wanted me. And you and your dad took me home. I was so happy.
        I have been very happy ever since. Mrs. Hatcher was a good owner, and she loved me. But nobody loves me the way you do, and I know that. You let me sit in your lap and lick your face. Mrs. Hatcher always had a thing about germs and didn’t like it when I tried to sit in her lap. You talk to me about your day and I listen. Sometimes, I wish we could talk to each other and I could tell you that it is all going to be okay. I want to tell you that Jimmy Naylor is an idiot, and that your dad will get another job soon. I think you understand, but I still wish I could say it, so I guess I’m saying it in this letter.
        I have to tell you something that might upset you. I am getting older. I am not going to be around much longer. I can feel it in my bones. I think people and dogs are about the same. Mrs. Hatcher seemed to know that it was about her time to go. We all know when it is almost our turn to die. Yes Katie, I am going to die soon. I am not exactly sure how much longer I have, but I wanted to warn you and let you know how much you truly mean to me. I don’t want you to be sad. This is just the way it is. I have had a good long life, especially the time that I have been with you and your family. And if you want to get a new puppy after I am gone, that will be okay too.

I love falling asleep at your feet and waking up with you in the morning. I never feel lonely when I’m with you. You are the most special person that I know. I know that sometimes you say that you feel like you’re invisible, that you don’t matter. But to me, you always matter. You are my very best friend.

Whatever days I have left, I have them to spend with you. Let your family know that I love them too. They have been good to me also.
Thank you for being the very best a friend a dog could ever have.

Love,
Max

Katie couldn’t believe it. Was this some kind of cruel joke that Simon was playing on her? She had gone on and on about how much she loved Max and how worried she was about him and he gives her a note saying he’s going to die? And he says that Max, her dog, wrote it!

To Simon, this was just another creative story idea that she had given to him, she thought. Did he really think I would like it? she wondered. After all of the years of not talking to her, this is the way that he had decided to begin a conversation?

Katie crumpled up the paper in her hands, threw it on her desk, and flopped down onto her bed. Tears were running down her face once again. She was crying so hard that she was having a hard time catching her breath. How could Simon be so mean to her, after how nice she was to him? She thought that maybe it was a good thing that he didn’t talk to people if this was the kind of thing he was going to talk about.

Once she caught her breath, she picked up the letter and read it again. This time, she noticed some things she had paid close attention to the first time she had read it. Mrs. Hatcher. The old lady’s name was Mrs. Hatcher. How did Simon know that? The man at the pound had told her father that an old lady had died and that Max was brought there by her family. But he never told him her name. At least she didn’t think that he did. Maybe Mrs. Hatcher was just a wild guess that Simon pulled out of his imagination.
The letter also said that Max always slept at her feet. How did Simon know that? Was he spying on her too! Maybe it was just a lucky guess. And how did Simon know that Max liked to curl up in her lap and lick her face? Maybe that was something that she had told him out on the street and just didn’t remember. That must be it, she thought. And Simon knew that Jimmy Naylor picked on her and that her father had lost his job, so that explained that part of the letter. What Simon couldn’t have known, was the pain and hurt that reading this letter would cause.

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