Stitches

Help I am kind of stuck!?

What should the title of this memoir and any mistakes or things that I should change?! “1-2-3-4,” Julia counted. I dashed into the closet of the guest room, threw some wooly blankets over my head, and hoped Julia wouldn’t find me. Nicole was out of sight. After Julia counted I could feel my hands tingling. Was it nerves? As my head lowered down I saw my phone ringing. My sister was calling, so I dismissed it hoping Julia wouldn’t find me. Once again my hand started to vibrate, so this time I answered. “ Could you not-“ I was interrupted. “Sophie’s having puppies!” my sister exclaimed. My mouth went sour. Apparently Julia and Nicole could smell my sourness from miles away, I was spotted. “ What’s up with you?” Julia asked. “ My dog, Sophie, is having puppies!” I squealed. As we jumped around, my sister wanted to know if I wanted to sleep over Julia’s or help deliver the puppies. At the time I would’ve helped deliver the puppies, but Julia and Nicole are always busy, so I slept over. Hour by hour I got pictures of the miraculous puppies. I imagined holding the rat-sized puppy in the palm of my hand. Then again I imagined inhaling the putrid smell from their time spent in the womb. In the morning I left Julia and Nicole for my other friends, my dogs. It was mind blowing seeing all five puppies lined up along their mother. Now here’s the downside. I had to take care of the puppies, their mother, and their father. Every night I had to sleep downstairs, not that I got much sleep. The puppies would always squeal for their mother, Sophie, would always bark to go in and out of the playpen. When they could walk my family and I named each one. Their names were Stitch, Porsche, Charlie, Star, and Bubba. The puppy I was drawn to the most was Stitch. Every week one puppy would be eliminated. One day it was down to two puppies, Charlie and Stitch. Since Stitch and I had such a strong connection, when the last buyer came to pick a puppy, I hid him. The buyer came in the door, kind of dressed like a crazy cat lady, a feathery hat, a strange patterned dress, and some sandals with jewels on them. The perfume she wore gave off a pleasant, strong scent. My dad picked up Charlie and told her he was the last puppy left. The woman examined him playing with his brother and decided to take him. I sighed with relief as she walked out the door. “Now what?” my dad asked. My master plan was to convince my parents to keep Stitch. I begged and pleaded and after a couple of days the results were in. “You can keep him.” My mom said. A huge grin appeared upon my face. I picked Stitch up and danced for joy. He looked sick so I put him down. That was one of the happiest days of my life. My dogs mean a lot to me. Having them teaches me a lot of responsibility as well as the experience of having the puppies. They help me to learn how to manage time because they have to fit in my schedule too. Plus, this way I won’t be “dilly-dallying”, like my dad says. I am so fortunate to have experienced this event.

Public Comments

1. Ok, I read the first and last sections only, because it's in one, big, ugly, lump of words, which brings me to the first point: - use paragraphs (with a whole, empty line between them) to make it far easier to read. and others: - you 'saw your phone ringing' - nope, you can only HEAR a ring! - 'my hand started to vibrate' - Is this a disease? Title (based on the first and last sections only) - 'Dog Lover?' (with the question mark) - 'handshake' (a pun, based on the disease discussed earlier)