Once upon a time, there was a nine-year-old girl named Jillian. She lived in an extremely quiet neighborhood, and there was no other kids on her street, and she had no siblings. So most of the time, Jillian was pretty lonely.

One day, on one of her walks around her neighborhood, Jillian heard a whimpering sound. It was coming from the park! She quietly shut the park gate. Jillian tip-toed in the grass and listened for the whimpering sound. She saw a bush rustle. She peeked behind it. Jillian gasped. It was a puppy!

Jillian, still in awe, picked up the puppy and stroked it. Oh, she wanted so badly to keep it! With the little dog in her arms, she walked home to ask her mother.

"Mother!" Jillian said as she walked through the door. "I've found a puppy! You've got to come and see!" "What's that, dear?" Asked Jillian's mother, entering the kitchen. Then she saw the little animal in Jillian's arms.

"Jillian," her mother said. "Why did you bring a dog into this house?" "I found her in the park," Jillian answered. "She was cold, and she was alone, like me!" "What do you mean, "alone like you?"" Jillian's mother asked. "Well, when you go to work, I'm alone because it's summer and I'm not in school," Jillian explained. "So can I keep her?" 

Jillian's mother said yes to keeping the dog, which was now named Denise, as long as she was outside. That night, Jillian and her parents went to dinner. Her dad had just come back from visiting his grandmother in Utah. 

The next morning, Jillian didn't feel like getting out of bed. She thought it was going to be a long and lonely day, but she had forgotten 

Denise was there! Once she remembered, she sprang right out of bed and bounded down the stairs in her pajamas.

Jillian quickly realized that she was in pajamas, so she ran back up the stairs to get dressed. Then she ran into the yard to play with Denise.

When Jillian and Denise were walking around, Jillian saw a poster. It wasn't just any poster, it was a lost dog poster, and the dog looked exactly like Denise!There was also a phone number. Jillian had a desicion to make.  She could call the number and ask if it was that person's dog, or she could keep the dog to herself.