"Please, Mommy!" Kaz, who was is only ten years old, begged.

"No, Kazzy. You're too young for that kind of responsible." Mrs. Kalinkas said.

"Yes I am. I am responsible and can take care of a dog." He insisted.

"Alright, sweetie. If you can prove to me that you are responsible then I will think about getting you a dog."

"But how can I prove it?" Kaz asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure." she said. "Don't worry though, I'll think of something. Now let's get dinner ready." She then walked out of the room.

"Okay, mom." Kaz said, following his mother into the kitchen.


A few days later, Kaz was at school, while his mother had the day off, because her office building was flooded and there was nothing she could have done to help clean the place.

She was sitting done at the kitchen table reading a novel, when her cellphone ranged.

Picking it up she said: "Hello."

"Hey, Mrs. Kalinkas, this is Mark Smith, your next door neighbor. Could you watch my dog for me? I have to go out-of-town this week and my dog-sitter canceled on me least minute. I'll pay you."

At first, she was going to say no, but then she thought this could be a chance for Kaz to take care of a dog and see if he was ready to have one of his own.

"Alright, I would be happy to look after the little guy." she agreed. "And how much money would you be paying?" she asked. Getting to teach her son a life lesson and getting paid for it sounded pretty good to her.


The next day, Mark came over with his dog, whose name was Rex and lift him in her care. Rex was an older fox terrier that had just turned eleven years old.

Kaz was exited about getting to take care of Rex for the week and he was very eager to show his mother he could take care of a dog. He did all the things every good pet owner should do like making sure Rex had enough food and water; taking Rex out side to let him burn off some energy and go do his business on the trees and fire hydrant.


It was now Saturday and Mark was coming back today at five.

It was 8:00 A.M. and Kaz was still in bed, but he was slowly waking up.

He sat up in bed and starched out his arms as he yawned. Putting on his glasses, he looked around his room for Rex.

"Hey, Rex where are you?" he called out. Kaz got out of bed and began to search his room. For the past week Rex and slept in Kaz's room on the floor and every morning Kaz would find him asleep in the same spot every day. But, since Rex wasn't in his usual spot, Kaz thought something bad might have happened.

He finally found Rex under his bed.

"There you are! Come out from under there." he said, but Rex didn't move a muscle.

"Rex! Hey, Rex wake up." he yelled, then tried to shack the dog awake. Rex felt ice-cold and Kaz was beginning to panic. He ran out the room to find his mother.

"Mom! Mom! Something is wrong with Rex!" he shouted running into the kitchen where his mother was making breakfast.

"What happened?" she asked, concerned.

"I think he might be died." Kaz said, tears running down his face.

Not needing to hear any more, she quickly went to Kaz's room. Picked up the dead dog and put it in a garbage bag. She called Mark and told him what happened. He did sounded upset, but was not angry.

Kaz was still crying as he asked: "Was it my felt, Rex died?"

"No sweetie, it wasn't no bodies felt. These things just happen." She said, trying to comfort him, but it didn't seem to be working.


Later that day, Mark had come to pick up Rex's body and even though Mrs. Kalinkas said he didn't have to, he paid her anyways.

The next day, Mrs. Kalinkas had taken Kaz to the mail to look inside the pet store for a pet dog, but after what happened with Rex, Kaz didn't want a dog anymore.

Mrs. Kalinkas felt bad about what happened, but didn't know what she could do to make him feel better. As they were about to leave the mail, she saw a toy store and thought maybe she could use the money she got to buy Kaz a toy or something.

"Kaz, sweetie how about we go inside that toy store and see if there is something you would like to get." she said.

"Fine." Kaz, said still depressed.

They went inside and looked around. Kaz didn't seem to care about any of the toys.

"May I help you?" One of the employees asked.

"Well, I was hoping to find something my son would like, but he doesn't seem to be interested in anything here." Mrs. Kalinkas said.

"May I suggest something?" the employee asked.

Shrugging, she said: "Sure why not."

The employee showed them to the card section of the store and pointed to the Chaotic cards.

"This is a new card game that is becoming very popular. We just got this in today and I don't know how much longer we can keep them in stock. If he doesn't like them, you can come back later and get a full refund." the employee said.

Looking down at her son, she was surprised to see that his sad face was now mesmerize by the colorful art work on the front of the cards. Particularly at the one pack that had a red demon creature.

"We'll take one." She decided, not knowing that this would hunt her in the future.