Chapter 1

The Fall

"Layla, it's time to go to your friend's house. Mom's waiting in the car!" William yelled to me. William is my older brother. He's really annoying and we get into many fights. My name is Layla and I am 10 years old whereas my brother is 16. I was reading on the couch and eating chips with salsa. I slowly got up, as my hair was mess. I had so little time to do anything now. I ran upstairs to my room and changed because I was still wearing my pajamas since the morning. I ran downstairs, feeling thirsty, and drank some water. Mom honked. "Beep!" Went the cars horn. I put on my shoes, forgetting to tie my laces and ran outside. "Okay! I'm here! Let's go!" I said, racing, until it happened. I slipped, trampling over my laces. I slipped on a little pebble that hit my forehead. When I hit my head, I rolled backwards. "LAYLA!" My mom rushed out and carried me inside. William was studying. I laid on the couch, feeling sick and uncomfortable. "Are you okay? Do you need anything else? Answer me right now!" My mom yelled, worried. 

"I'm okay." I groaned. "Okay. Okay. Good enough, you're talking." Mom said, taking the worry out of her. "Mom... you don't understand. It hurts. I can't go to Karla's house." I explained, hoping Mom would understand. She replied, "Yeah. I'll call her mom." 

Karla was my best friend forever. We’ve known each other since nursery.  It can't hurt to not go, right?! Mom called Karla's mother and explained the problem. Her mom offered to come over with Karla. She said I would have some company. "Yes!" I thought. I was super happy! Karla was coming! 

"Now, don't get your hopes up. Karla's only coming for 10 minutes. She's going to her friend Sheila's house." Mom nodded to me. I sat back down, sadly. "Why don't you get a book to read?" She asked me. "I'm good. I don't feel like reading right now. Thanks for asking though." I responded. 

"Hey Mom! Hey, Layla. What happened?" William asked. I smiled and mom answered. “She’s fine now. Got hurt. Now, weren’t you going to the movies? William just nodded. The bell rang, so that meant Karla was here. "Hey Karla! Layla's on the couch." Mom told her. Karla smiled and ran over to me. She asked a lot of questions. 

"Hey Karla, do you want to go get my laptop from upstairs, so we can watch some videos?" I asked Karla, hoping she would say yes. She did, so we both watched videos on YouTube, but suddenly, there was an ad that popped up. I listened. "This is Animal Hero. We’re helping to save animals from plastic and litter in the ocean, so we made a website that you can join to help get rid of plastic from the ocean.  The profit? You get money!" 

Wow, I would love to save animals and, what an awesome name! “Karla, it’s time to go!” Called Karla’s mom as she walked over to us. 

Chapter 2 

The Ocean 

It was time to save. Animals, specifically. I knew that, and I wanted to help. So after Karla left, I called my mom, and told her about the company. "Did you say Animal Hero? Layla, I work in that." 

"You have a job in that? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, not very happy. Mom shrugged. "You can come sign up, and come to our office to help. Now, why don't you sign up? Let me show you how!" Mom said. I nodded, excited. So mom went on my laptop and went to the website. Then, clicked sign up, and finally.. SIGNED ME UP! Yay!

The next day was a Friday. It was spring break, so I didn't have to wake up early and go to school. But I did, since I was going to help mom at her office today! I woke up at 8, and got in the car. Mom drove both of us into the office. 

"Hey, who's that you're with?" asked the manager.  "Hi, this is my daughter, Layla. She signed up for Animal Hero. She's allowed, right?" 

 "Of course. I'm Mack; come in." He replied. Mom gestured me to enter the door  that led to the parking lot, where we would drive to the beach. My mom drove us to the beach and we reached there in about, 15 minutes. "Wow!" I exclaimed, and Mom smiled. I walked over to the ocean, as two plastic bottles in the ocean splashed onto the shore. So that's what's been going on.. there was only one beach in Central Town, and this was it. So that's why they were helping the beach. It was the only one they had.

"Okay. So what do we do now?" I asked, new to this awkward silence. "You can take a bag to put the plastic inside. Did you bring one?" Mack looked at me, empty handed. "Uhhh- N-No," I said, embarrassed. He handed me an Animal Hero bag. I grabbed the bag and picked everything I saw. 

Later; at least four hours, I still saw plastic. "Hey Layla! Wow, you did a lot. Would you like to go on a boat ride for fun?" Mack asked. 

"Thanks, of course I'll come." Wow! A boat ride! "Come on. The boat's over there." Mack pointed to a blue and black boat that said AnimalHero Boat. Animal Hero has its own boat? Wow, mom works in a fantastic, and creative company!

Mack steered the boat over to me, as waves splashed onto the boat. Mack nodded, and I jumped in. "Sail Away!" Mack yelled as we left the shore. "Uhh-umm.. we forgot to wear a lifejacket.." I gulped. "Oops! I'll go get them, you wait here. 

Chapter 3

Lost in a Ocean 

Waves crashed onto the boat. It was normal for Mack, since he was used to it.  "Have you ever been in a boat ride before?" He asked me. "No." I told him, hoping he wouldn't laugh. He nodded, and told me some funny stories from Animal Hero. Sometimes about my mom, and sometimes about my dad, who came here just to watch and also do some work. 

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked, staring out far into the deep ocean. "Umm, yeah, of course. WAIT! I've never been here! Oh NOOO!" Mack screamed. I glared. Um, it wouldn't be a big deal. Ugh, didn't he know? HIS PHONE! "Mack, you have your phone, right?" I asked, hoping he would have or we would be dead. "Ummm.. Let me check. Wait, no I don't. Is that a problem?" He questioned.

"YEAH! OF COURSE! What did you think, having no phone would be no problem?! We could call my mom, if you ever would understand!" I screamed. My voice was harsh, and I knew that. 

Mack sadly looked out into the deep, far, and scary ocean. I looked with him. "Sorry." I muttered, not meaning it. He should have his phone! It was all his fault! 

"It's fine, we'll find a way back." He assured me. I wasn't convinced. I nodded, but in my mind I was saying "No. Stop lying!"

But of course, I didn't say that out loud. Mack twisted the boat hoping to find a way. It was getting dark. 

Finally, around maybe a million years later, we finally found the shore. We were on the right route, but Mack steered us in the wrong direction and we ended up getting lost. 

Pretty weird, alright. My mother wasn't surprised. "Mack always does that. But he always finds a way back, right Mack?" 

Mack nodded. "True," He said, laughing. After he said that, I suddenly forgot! It was time to go home! "Mom, can we go home?" I asked. "Surely. After you can get paid!" My mom said, proud. Mack went to get the cash and handed it to me. Oh, yeah, I was gonna be rich! 

Chapter 4

Layla and the New Pet

"Hey mom. You know, William hasn't been playing or talking to me these days. I was thinking.. if we could have a dog? A pet? So I don't feel lonely?" I asked Mom. 

"Well, you're not lonely. You have friends, and me. You have Animal Hero. But good idea. We should get a pet.. How about a dog?"

"YES! Thank you Mom! Thank you!" I screamed in excitement. "You can get a dog, but you have to show me you're responsible and patient while I talk to your dad about this. We'll see if I can take a day off tomorrow to go to the pet store and check out a cute dog we can get." Mom said. 

Yes! I punched my fist in the air. Mom laughed. "Let's go. We have to get to Animal Hero as soon as possible, and we're wasting time." she said in a hurry. I sadly wore a teal blue jacket and off we were. 

As soon as I reached, I took the Animal Hero bag and went over to the ocean. I asked Mack if I could go on his boat, with a lifejacket and grab plastic like that. He said he would be happy to help. So he went off and gave me a nice and comfy lifejacket. I sighed. I really just wanted to lay down at the moment. 2 hours later, most of the plastic was gone, and put in a bag. I only saw 1 bottle that someone named Veronica picked up. She was another volunteer, working at Animal Hero. "It's time to go, Layla!" called my mom."We have to go find a dog!!"

Oh yeah! I nodded to my mom, and I got up and waved to Veronica. Veronica waved back and smiled. I ran to the car, and jumped in. 

"Hello, what new pet are you looking for?" asked the person at the front desk, in the Pet Shop. 

"Uhhh.. we're looking for a dog." I told him. "Of course." he took us to the dog area where we saw the cutest dogs in the world. But one was so cute I couldn't take my eyes off him. His name was Bear. So amazing!

"Mom, can we get this one? Bear?" I asked. "Of course you can get him!" My mom said, happily. 

Chapter 5

Where's Bear?