My Name is Miracle

Prologue

Welcome, my young readers, to my story. Let me introduce myself. My name is Miracle. I am a K9 police dog. A German shepherd to be more specific. Now you are probably asking yourself, "Self? How is it that a German shepherd, a dog, is writing a book?" Well, I will tell you.

My mother, a beautiful canine I must say, was a very intelligent dog. She knew how to read and write and she passed the talent on down to me. Her son. I learned to read at a very young age. I will not bore you with the specifics about how it is that I am capable of writing, but let’s just say that the home computer has opened up a whole new world to those of us with paws and the ability to decipher the human written language.

Now another question you may be asking yourself is, "Self? Why would anyone name a dog Miracle?" Well, I can answer that question for you, too, my friend. I will do that by starting at the very beginning. That is, the very beginning for me.

I was born in the wee hours of a cold January morning. A bunch of us came tumbling out into the world that night. Seven to be exact. I was the last to appear and there was a bit of trouble. You see, the umbilical cord had wrapped itself right around my neck and I nearly suffocated because of it. My worried mother chewed through that cord as fast as she could, but I still didn't take a breath. The human lady attending our birth saw my lifeless body and she scooped me up from the basket and wrapped me in a cloth. She sadly turned toward the door to carry me to my final resting place.

Well guess what, my new friend? I wasn't quite finished with the strange, new world I'd been born into and what do you think happened? I will tell you what happened. That lady gasped in surprise when all of the sudden the little bundle of cloth she held cupped in her palm began to wriggle. Then out poked my tiny nose and she laughed with joy when I began to whimper and cry.

My mother was ecstatic. She stretched her neck toward the woman's hand as she placed my very much alive little body back down next to the others. My mother happily began to lick the warmth into my very soul, nudging me against her to nurse. The human lady knelt down beside us and gently stroked my soft, puppy skin.

She looked at my mother and said, "Well, my lady Jessica..." (That was my mother's name, you see) "... I suppose the little guy decided he wanted to live after all. I think we will call him Miracle."

My mother licked her hand. She thought the name suited me just fine. I was a Miracle alright and she was grateful. She loved all of her puppies very much and losing even one of us would have broken her heart. She told me that she knew I was special from that very moment and that someday I would change people's lives. I would look at her with big, curious eyes when she said things like that, wondering how on Earth a tiny, insignificant pup like me was going to change anything.

I had three sisters and three brothers, me being the fourth of the males in our litter. I often had to wait until someone else had finished eating to get a turn but that was alright. There was always enough to go around and to be honest, food was nice and I loved the safety and comfort of snuggling up to my warm mother, but I was a curious pup. Adventure lay around every corner and under every rug. I usually preferred playing to eating or sleeping, anyways. 

There was so much to discover in that big house. So many new smells and oh the things I could chew! It was endless! My sharp teeth yearned for exercise as they grew stronger and stronger. The humans gave us toys and ropes to play tug-o-war, but those things grew boring awfully fast. Not to mention the speed with which my siblings and I disintegrated most of the toys designated for our chewing needs.

I was clever. More so than those humans realized right away. No matter what kind of barrier they managed to rig up, I found a way to escape. I couldn't stop myself. No sooner were they out of sight than I was searching the perimeter for a breach. I would yip with joy when I found it and wriggle out to freedom, leaving my siblings behind. Off I would run, my puppy paws slipping and sliding on the tile and hardwood floors as I rounded corners and shot through doorways into unexplored areas.