2. On a cool sunny day in March three puppies were born, Indigo, Violet, and Lavender. Violet was
smart and brave, Lavender was outgoing and spunky, but Indigo was a whole other story. She was the
runt of the litter and painfully shy. The second she was born, Alex Murphy (the shelter manager) knew
she was going to be a hard sell. The minute after she posted the puppies names and pictures on their
website, a claim popped up for Lavender from someone in Augusta, Maine.
***
After Lavender was settled in her new home Alex drove back to the shelter to check if there were
any more claims on the shelter’s website. Sure enough there was a claim for Violet from somebody in
Portland, Maine. The next morning Alex drove Violet up to Portland. “You have reached your destination”
her GPS said. She gave a quick review of what to feed her, how to train her, and told the new owner the
times Violet should be taken out. Then she drove to the shelter and checked for any claims for Indigo. As
she had expected there were none. Not that Alex didn’t like her, she loved all of the puppies at the shelter,
but only once in her whole career had she seen a runt get adopted.
Much to her surprise, the next day when she woke up there was a claim for Indigo right there on
the shelter’s website. It from a family with four kids, a cat, and two fish. They seemed nice enough, but
Alex worried that it would be too much for Indigo because of her shy nature.
***
3. Alex put Indigo in her makeshift crate with a blanket, some water, and a few treats and drove to
her new home. When she reached the door, she breathed in. There house was immense!
“Hello! I’m so glad you’re here, my kids were literally bouncing off the walls they were so excited.
Oh, by the way my name is Rose and this is my husband Henry,” a tall man holding a toddler walked up
to the door.
“Who are you? My name is Lily! Do you have our puppy?” The toddler squeaked excitedly. “Yes
sweetie, this is Alex, Alex this is Lily and here’s Lilah.”Another toddler, almost identical to Lily skipped up
to the door. “Girls go call you brothers down to meet the new pup,” Rose said.
***
As Alex walked out the door with a now empty crate ,she glanced behind her and saw Lilah
already curled up on the couch stroking Indigo’s small head. Alex had a feeling that Indigo had a chance
here. She knew the family would be happy, but she wasn’t sure if she would be. She missed watching TV
with Indigo’s head in her lap, she missed taking long walks with her in the cold mornings, training her to
shake hands, but most of all she missed Indigo’s sweet and loving personality.
4. A few days later Alex was dozing off with her laptop when she was startled by an email alert. She
blinked a few times and then looked at the screen.
It was from Rose. Alex clicked the open button and started reading:
Hello Alex,
We are sorry to inform you that we can not take care of Indigo any longer. We are too busy to
have a new addition to the family, and she seems to be overwhelmed with our crazy schedule. We loved
her so much for the time we had her, and we hope she finds another loving owner.
Many thanks,
The Winstons
The letter sent a little chill through Alex. This email meant that Indigo no longer had a home. It
also meant that Indigo was all hers . . .
***
On the drive to the Winston’s house, Alex contemplated what she was doing. If she took Indigo and
signed the adoption papers that she would finally have what she wanted, Indigo. If she waited and put
Indigo up for adoption than she would make someone else happy. She thought about if it would be
considered selfish to keep Indigo. When she finally got to the Winston’s house she had decided what she
was going to do.
“Hello Rose, nice to see you again,” Alex said.
“Hi dog lady!” screeched Lily.
“Oh hi Alex, I am making dinner, come on in,” Rose ushered her into the house.
The inside of their house was beautiful and felt warm and inviting. There were elegant curtains
and big bay windows. The aroma of homemade apple pie filled the house. Lilah was curled up on the couch
with Indigo curled up in her side.
Part of Alex felt sad taking Indigo from this happy family where everyone loved her, but Alex
knew that Indigo would be happier in a calmer climate.
After talking to the Winstons a bit and meeting Lilah and Lily’s older brothers, Alex had a
delicious dinner of chicken and homemade apple pie and hit the road with Indigo all packed up in her
crate.
When she got back to the shelter with Indigo, Alex went online to the shelter’s website and
changed Indigos status to open for adoption, praying that someone would give Indigo a chance.
The second Alex got up the next morning, she crossed her fingers and opened her laptop. Her wish
had come true! There was a claim for Indigo right there on the website! Alex couldn’t believe her eyes. The
claim was from a man who was giving Indigo to his new wife as a present. The man came to pick Indigo
up himself because he wanted to get to know Indigo before he gave her to his wife. The man’s name was
James. He played with Indigo for a little while and absolutely fell in love with her. He signed the adoption
papers and took her home.
5. Suddenly the shelter felt very lonely to Alex. Oh well, she would have to get used to it because it
was going to be like this for a while.
***
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, a few weeks later Alex got a call from James. He said that he
would have to give Indigo back to the shelter, even though he loved her, because, as it turns out, his wife is
allergic to dogs. Alex drove to pick her up and a weird feeling washed over her. She felt almost happy that
it didn’t work out for Indigo in that family. The second Alex got back to the shelter she dug through the
stacks of paper on her desk and finally found the adoption papers for Indigo. She paused to look at Indigo
through the slats on her cage, signed her name as fast as she could and scribbled in all her information.
She took Indigo out of her crate, hugged her to her chest, and spun her around in her arms. Indigo gave
her a big kiss in return.
“Oh Indigo, I always knew we were meant to be”
