After watching "Vicky and Her Mystery", I was infuriated by some parts of the plotline - namely, an idiot man who gives ... well, read and you'll see!

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Vicky crouched next to the box of puppies for the tenth time in the last half hour. She kept vasilating between the cute little fur balls and her father, wanting confirmation once again that one of them could really become her "forever friend", that they would never have to go away, that no one in town would be able to force her to have to give him or her up.

"No, they are not wolves in any way. They left that behind centuries ago," the owner explained gently, picking up a particularly fluffy female, the smallest of them all. "I hear that you've had experience so I wouldn't even be afraid to let you take the runt. She will need lots of special attention, but I know that she will make a wonderful dog. So will any of the others."

Vicky looked up at her father and bit on her lip. With the anxiety around this decision, some of her former pensiveness was returning. His heart ached a little as he pulled her to him in a tight hug. It worked well at hiding his face from her as he also grieved all that his daughter had been through in the last year. Her mother had died and she had gone silent in her childhood grief. On top of that, some stranger they had run into on a mountain walk one day had given Vicky a pup - a wolf pup. Who gives a little girl a wolf pup for a pet and hides the fact that it is not just a wolfish mutt from the father, knowing that it will never be a viable pet?! Who puts a child through that kind of inevitable loss when the kid has already lost a parent?! Maybe Vicky had named the wolf Mystery, but the real mystery was the level of stupidity that some people had when dealing with tender hearts and young minds. There were times that he wanted to go punch that old mountain man for having put his daughter through this heart rending process.

Because Vicky had fallen in love with her wolf pup, of course. She had done her best to raise him and care for him. She did well. Mystery had flourished and become large and strong - a wolf. And although he was as gentle as any dog, the dangers that brought to them still remained. There was no indication of what kinds of parasites or diseases that Mystery had exposed Vicky to - after all, he was found out on the mountains, not an orphaned animal in the more sterile setting of a zoo. He was no the accidental product of a dog and a wolf. What if nature had overridden nature and he had bit Vicky or maimed her? There was all the conflict that it had stirred up too when the neighbours and town officials came to him, forcing him to get rid of the one healing thing in Vicky's life during her grief. For goodness sakes, a hunter shot the wolf while she was running toward it like any other long-lost pet after it escaped the sanctuary and returned to their property! It could have ended in losing more than a wolf. He shuddered to think of it.

So he could not today. Today was about moving on and leaving the past where it belonged - in the past. His anger and fear and frustration could not spoil today. Vicky had finally indicated that, knowing Mystery was now in a protected pack of wolves elsewhere and accepting that he could never come back to be her pet, she was starting to get interested in finding another pet. They had discussed if getting another dog now would be too painful and she had said "no", but now that she was here to get her pick of the litter, she seemed overwhelmed by uncertainty again.

Her father watched her, respecting the struggle. It was her own childhood version of choosing to move on. Just as he had struggled mentally with first kisses and dates after losing his wife, Vicky would struggle with doing something that seemed like replacing Mystery. He understood the pain, but also the pleasure and rewards of moving forward. He wanted Vicky to experience that as well.

Vicky looked up from in his secure hug and whispered, "Is it bad to replace Mystery with a puppy? Is it fair?"

"Don't think of it as replacing. Mystery will always be Mystery and he will always have a place in your heart. But you can add more room to your heart for another puppy. That's the good thing about hearts - they keep growing as long as we want them too."

Vicky seemed to think this over, then looked cautiously over at the puppies.

"You don't have to choose one today. You can take as long as you want to. Or we can find another litter, or even another kind of pet."

She bit her lip a little and shook her head shyly.

"I think I want that one," she whispered, pointing to the tiny runt that the breeder was holding. The encouragement must have given her the final confidence necessary to make a decision.

He smiled, kissing her cheek.

"Of course."

The breeder handed her the puppy and began talking to him about when the puppy would be old enough to go home with them. He tried to focus, but he was distracted by seeing Vicky cuddling with the puppy.

"I want to call her Suzette," Vicky announced proudly.

Her father smile and stroked her hair. "You can call her anything you want."

To him, the puppy would privately be "Ordinary", because it was wonderful to be getting back to ordinary after the mystery of learning how to deal with being a single parent helping a grieving daughter navigate life once again.

"Now, we've got to be back to the house in an hour so I can get ready for my date tonight, but we can stay for another half hour if you want to play with Or- I mean, Suzette."

Vicky smiled up at him.

"Okay! Want to play with Suzette with me, Papa?"

He smiled, reveling in the precious moment.

"Of course, Vicky. Always."