Stray by Cynthia Rylant

Summary: Stray by Cynthia Rylant is a short story about a young girl named Doris who finds a puppy and her deep want to make the dog a part of the family.

Characters:

Doris Lacey - The daughter

Amos Lacey - The father

Mamie Lacey - The mother

The Puppy - The dog

Section 1:

On a snowy cold day a dog "wandered" onto the Lacey's property which included a "small" house
The puppy was shivering and looked abandoned
Doris, while shoveling snow in the drive, "spotted" the puppy and brought her into their house after trudging through the yard
Mr. Lacey hinted where the puppy would end up, "the pound"
The dog seemed to have some shepherd in it and was about 6 months old
Mr. Lacey let the puppy sleep in the basement while Doris fed it food scraps because Mrs. Lacey didn't like wasting food
In Stray, the puppy "was a good dog"
Doris found that the puppy wanted to be part of the family and tried to convince her parents that it was so
Nine days after the puppy came into Doris' family's life, a sunny day arrived and Mr. Lacey was making preparation to take the puppy to the animal shelter
Doris didn't even name the puppy because she knew this day would come and she cried when the day did come
Doris asked her mom twice if she could keep the puppy and Mrs. Lacey could only say no because they couldn't afford the puppy
Doris dreamed of "searching and searching for things lost"when she cried herself to sleep
Doris woke up before night and woke, exhausted from crying, wondering if she would have anything in her life
Doris knew she would need to eat and she didn't want to pass the basement and face her parents but she "heavily" got up from her bed
No one spoke when Doris finally made it to dinner
Doris made a meal of powdered milk and a cold dinner
As she was leaving the room, Mr. Lacey told Doris to feed the puppy lest it die of "starvation"
Doris asked Mr. Lacey, "You didn't take her?"
Mr. Lacey told Doris that he did take her but that the conditions at the animal shelter were terrible and that he wouldn't leave an "ant" there
Rylant tells the audience through the father's actions and words that Doris' father did not have the heart to leave the dog in such a place
Mrs. Lacey thought that she would never understand Mr. Lacey because of him not bringing the puppy to the animal shelter
Mr. Lacey asked Doris if she was going to feed their dog

Other notes:

Doris made an effort to keep the puppy because she saw something special in the puppy
Doris always made a positive note about the puppy when she was talking about her to her parents
It's hard for one not to cry when someone threatens to take away something that one loves