Meet Skippy   The Miracle Dog By Nathaniel My name is Nathaniel. I am a Secret Agent. I’m just kidding. I’m just an ordinary kid with an ordinary dog and I live in an ordinary house. This is a story about how my dog Skippy came to live with us two times.  It was summer vacation and we went to Alabama to visit my grandparents. A couple of days before we went home we went to a Pet shop and saw lots of pets in front of the shop. We asked some people what was happening and they said it was adoption day. We started to look around. First we found a Siamese cat. We were about to adopt the cat but then we saw a little dog named Peanut. We liked the dog better than the cat so we adopted him. We named him Skippy because he was the color of Skippy peanut butter. Skippy is a light brown Chihuahua mix. Skippy is a great dog. His only problem is that he is terrified of men. We took him back to our house in Georgia. For the next five months when my dad came home from work, Skippy would bark at him. It was very unpleasant and annoying for everyone to hear his daily barking. Finally, we decided that the time had come to part with our beloved Skippy. We gave Skippy away on Thanksgiving Day to a lady with three children. It was a sad day for us. For the next few weeks we lived without Skippy. We thought that Skippy was being taken care of. My mom sent many emails to the lady asking about Skippy. The lady did not reply to the emails and that caused us all to worry. Finally we received a reply. The lady told us that she lost Skippy the first night. When they got home on that Thanksgiving night and opened the car door, Skippy ran away, as fast as his little legs could carry him. She had forgotten to attach Skippy’s leash to his collar. When learned about this, we drove over to the lady’s house and began searching for Skippy. Since her house was in a forest next to a lake, Skippy could have been anywhere. We made the 70 mile journey many times over the next few weeks, searching for Skippy in the cold, rain and snow. We passed out flyers and talked to the neighbors. Some of the neighbors told us that they had seen Skippy and had tried to catch him. Every time they closed in on Skippy, he ran away from them. Some people said that they saw Skippy eat leftover food from wild cats and raccoons. My heart sank because I knew that he was not getting good food. Just before Christmas, we decided to look one more time. We drove around but didn’t see Skippy. I called and called for him but he didn’t come. Sadly we got back into our car and drove away. On our way home, in the middle of the night, a deer rammed into our car as we were driving down the highway. The impact tore the mirror off and put a huge hole in the side of the car. The next day my dad found out that he was laid off from his job. It looked like this would be a terrible Christmas. First we lost Skippy, second, our car was damaged and third my dad lost his job. In my heart, I felt that Skippy was still alive somewhere. I hoped and prayed that Skippy would find his way home. I told my mom that I didn’t want anything for Christmas except to have Skippy back. My mom went to look for Skippy one more time when I was in school. She saw Skippy running along the road. She called his name and she ran after him. Skippy turned around to look at my mom from a distance. He did not recognize my mom with her big coat on, he kept running away. We did not get Skippy back that day but at least we knew he was alive. On Christmas Eve the temperature dropped. My mom decided to search for Skippy one last time. She made plans to go look for Skippy with one of her friends. Suddenly the phone rang. My dad answered the phone. It was the vet. She told us that someone had found Skippy and gave us a phone number to call. My dad called and a lady answered the phone. The lady told us that her dog Jack had been playing with Skippy for the past four days. They ran around in the woods during the day and then came back to eat at her house. She said that Skippy was there as she was speaking to us. She had tried to touch Skippy numerous times but he didn’t trust her. It was only on that day, Christmas Eve, that he allowed her to touch him. Since he had a rabies tag on his collar, she was able to get the vet information and call the vet. We quickly got in the car and drove to see Skippy. When we arrived, the Lady told us that she had wanted to keep Skippy but she knew that she should do the right thing. It was the best Christmas present I could ever receive. It had turned from the worst Christmas ever to the best. The lady was very kind to feed Skippy 5 times a day to nourish him back to good health. She even gave my sister and me Christmas presents. On the way home we thought about Skippy’s journey. Skippy started at the lake and ended up at another lady’s house many miles away almost a month later. It seemed impossible but he really did it. We believe that the lady’s dog, Jack, was the one who brought Skippy to her house as he ran around in the woods every day. Skippy was brought to the right house, the house that has only 2 women living in it. Skippy would have run away if he saw a man in the house.  On the way home, we stopped at a fire station to see if we could get little presents for Christmas. It was very quiet in the fire station and it seemed like they were closed on Christmas Eve. Suddenly, we saw one fireman and he led us to the storage trailer at the back of the fire station. He gave me a brand new bicycle and other toys. My sister also received many toys from him. We were overwhelmed with his kindness. The next month my dad got a new job at St. Simons Island and we had to move. Skippy still barks at my dad every day when he comes home from work but this time we are keeping him. This story will remind me every Christmas of God’s love for us and the miracle of Skippy’s return.