103 8: KIDS' BEST FRIEND.

Out in the countryside of London, England, a yellow bus, decorated with black spots, drove down a dirt road. It soon made a left turn and followed another dirt road that led to a property with a building and a sign that read "LONDON, ENGLAND ALL BOYS FOSTER CENTER," with all of the boys of the orphanage playing outside. Their playing soon ceased, however, when they saw the bus driving onto the property. The bus opened it's doors and all dogs of each breed came running out and went up to the kids to play with them.

The last dogs that exited to bus were Rex, Lassie, Jake, Foster and Moose. The five canine friends looked around at their surroundings and saw all of the dogs and the kids playing together.

"So, this is the country. Well, let's have ourselves a gander." Said Moose. The six week old puppy went off in a right direction while Rex and the other three dogs went left.

Clark and Max exited the bus and watched as the dogs played with the kids.

"This is the orphanage?" Asked Max as he looked around at the wide opened space.

"Duh, of course it is. Why did you say it like that?" Asked Clark.

"Like what?" Asked Max.

"Like you were suprised to see what it looked like." Said Clark.

"I don't know, i guess i was just expecting it to be, you know, more of a small place in a small area." Said Max.

"You mean like some of the other foster centers back home in America?" Asked Clark.

"Yeah." Said Max.

"Well, i can see why you would think that, since you've never been here before. But this London, England, not America. Over here, it's a civilized country." Said Clark.

"Well, hey there." Said said a woman in a british accent as she walked up to Clark and Max. "You must be the dog company i called yesterday. Are you, by any chance, associated with "Clark's DogGroomers?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Clark, the owner of the bussiness."

"Oh, well then, it's nice to meet you." Said the british woman.

"Thanks. And this is my brother, Max. He's gonna be living with me for the whole summer and helping me out with the bussiness. Right, Max." Said Clark.

"Yeah, whatever." Said Max.

Clark then elbowed Max in the chest.

"I mean, uh, yes ma'am." Said Max.

"Oooh, yes ma'am. Manners. That's very rare in children these days." Said the lady.

"Thanks. And...you are..."

"Oh, silly me. Here i am talking about manners and i don't even know where mine are. My name is Della Elise, but the children call me miss Della." Said the british lady.

"Oh. Well, then it's nice to meet you, miss Della." Said Clark.

"It's nice to meet you too. Why don't you two come sit down with me. Come talk to a woman." Said miss Della.

"Yes, ma'am." Said Clark.

The Frankson brothers followed after miss Della while Moose was exploring the area.

"Howdy, buckeru." Said Moose as he walked up to a boy and a black Labrador playing together. "How's it goin'?"

The boy and the black Lab didn't respond to Moose, nor did they care enough to acknowledge his presence. They were too busy playing with each other.

"You like watchin Thunder Bolt?" Moose asked.

Again, the boy and the dog didn't answer, or notice to Dalmatian standing in front of them.

"On T.V.? You know. Cable?" Said Moose.

The boy and the Lab continued playing with each other as the six week old Dalmatian went unnoticed.

"Okay." Said Moose before walked away from the two.

Rex, Lassie, Jake and Foster ran as four little boys chased after them.

Meanwhile, Clark and Max were sitting in chairs as they watched the kids play with the dogs.

A boy held onto the leash of one of the dogs as it ran, and the boy tripped and fell to the ground, losing his grip on the leash.

"Ooh, Brandon, are you alright?" Asked Della.

"Oh yeah, i'm fine, miss Della." Said the boy, known as Brandon, in an british accent as he got up and ran after the dog.

"They sure love them, don't they, miss Della?" Said Clark.

"And vice versa. Today's the happiest day here, thanks to you and those dogs." Said Della.

"Uh, Del...i mean, miss Elise...what's that little boy's name?" Asked Max.

Della and Clark looked and saw a little boy playing with one of the dogs.

"That's Jesse." Said Della.

"You know, i can't believe somebody wouldn't adopt him." Said Clark.

"Well, maybe at one time...but it's really too late now." Said Della.

"Why would you say that?" Asked Max.

"When Jesse first came into the system he was only 3 years old. Before a child can be adopted, there has to be a Permanency Planning Hearing. We call it a P.P. for short. It's suppose to happen within 18 months, but...our courts are so crowded and full, it's dragged out to three or four years. And by that time...the child's beyond the age the parents want." Said Della.

"Wow. And i thought i had problems." Said Max.

"I'm playing with him!" Came the young british male voice.

Della, Clark and Max looked and saw two little boys arguing over a little dog.

"He doesn't like you!" Said the second boy.

"He does too, now get away!" Said the first boy as he pushed the second boy.

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Looks like we have a disagreement." Said miss Della before getting up from her chair and heading over to where the two boys were fewding.

"Let me give you a hand." Said Clark before following after the lady.

Left alone now for the moment, Max reached into his pocket and got out his iPhone, with earplugs plugged into it. He figured that maybe he and his brother were gonna be here for a while, and he needed something to pass the time. And what better way to do that than by listening to some music. As the 12 year old boy proceeded to put his earplugs in his ears, he looked and saw two 9 year old little boys sitting at the bottom of some steps. The first boy had long brown hair that went down to his neck and brown eyes, while the other one had spikey black hair and brown eyes and wore glasses. He wondered why they were sitting all by themselves and why they weren't playing with the dogs and the other kids. Max was soon brought out of his train of thought when a green tenness ball hit him in the face. "Ow. Hey, who threw that?" He looked down and saw Moose standing right in front of him. "What do you want?"

Moose pushed the tenness ball, that laid in front of him, with his black nose, then sat down on his hind legs.

"Oh, i see. You want me to play with you, right?" Said Max.

Moose barked once for 'yes'.

Max picked up the tenness ball and proceeded to throw it, but then he looked over at the two little boys sitting at the foot of the steps and got an idea.

Moose was also looking in the same direction as Max.

"Here, why don't you go make some new friends." Said Max as he placed the tenness ball in Moose's mouth.

The six week old Dalmatian ran over to the foot of the steps where the two boys were sitting and placed the ball on the grassy floor in front of them. However, neither of the boys seemed interested in playing with the cute, little puppy, as both of their heads were still bowed with sadness. Moose then pushed the ball closer to the boys with his black nose and sat on the ground, waiting to play fetch with the children.

"Hey, he wants to play with you." Came a voice.

The boys looked up and saw Max standing in front of them, behind the puppy.

"I met him and his owner at the airport yesterday while waiting for my brother." Said Max. "What's the matter, don't you like dogs?"

The boy's shook their heads.

"Have either of you ever had a dog?" Asked Max.

Again, the boys shook their heads.

"You're kidding me, dogs are great. I wish i had one when i was yall's age." Said Max. He then looked at Moose and saw that the puppy was anxious to play fetch as he held the tenness ball in his mouth. "Come on, look, he wants to play. Why don't you go ahead. I bet you'd like it."

One of the boys turned to Max. "That's why." Said one of the boys, who turned out to be American.

"What's why?" Asked Max.

"That's why we don't wanna play with him." Said the first American boy.

"Why, because you'd like it?" Asked Max.

"Yeah." Answered the other little boy, who was also an American.

"Well, what's wrong with that?" Asked Max.

"Because if we like him, then we'll love him. And then someone will take him away." Said the second boy. He and the other boy then ran up the stairs and went inside the orphanage.

Max watched as the two boys ran up the stairs and inside the building.

Later, after allowing the kids to play with the dogs for three hours, Clark and Max loaded the dogs back on the bus.

Clark got on the bus and closed the doors.

While sitting in one of the seats, while holding Moose, Max looked out a window and saw the two boys from earlier looking out an open window at the bus from inside the orphanage.

Clark then started the bus up and drove off as the two boys watched from the open window.

103

DALMATIANS