Animal Shelter

Today, my mom took Zoe and me to the animal shelter nearby. I'm still not all that keen on the idea of getting a new dog, but my mom insisted that I stop moping around the house and gave me two options: either I come with her to the animal shelter, or I work on finishing a to-do list as long as my arm. For obvious reasons, I chose the shelter.

When we walked in the front door, there was a very friendly receptionist that greeted us. She showed us into the room where they kept all the animals and told us that we could take a look around.

There was a stand with a couple of birds sitting on it, a basket with a pink poodle, one with a cat, one with some hamsters and a couple of rabbits, and one with two dogs. I went over to greet the poodle first.

A woman in a blue coat with the word "Volunteer" stitched onto the arm came up behind me.
"That's Cotton-Candy," she told me. "We just call her CC."
"She's cute," I said, giving her pink, curly fur another pat. But she wasn't Shiloh.

A few moments later, I heard a cry from across the room. I turned to see Zoe with a yellow bird balanced on her shoulder.

"Cool!" I cried. "What kind of bird is she?"
"I dunno, but she sure is smart," Zoe said, turning to the bird. "Who's a pretty bird?" The bird responded by chirping loudly.
The woman in the blue coat appeared behind us again.
"That's a goldfinch," she told us. "And that one is a male, actually. Female goldfinches have much duller-colored feathers. Here, feed him some of these seeds - he loves them." I left Zoe feeding the seeds to the goldfinch and wandered over to the rabbit pen.

I picked up one of the bunnies from the basket and gave her a pat. She was so soft and cute!

I thought about asking Mom for a bunny, but she always says that she can't stand to see animals cooped up in cages like rabbits have to be. With a sigh, I set the bunny down and went to look at the dogs.

Zoe was already there, playing with an excitable golden retriever.

Over in the other corner of the pen was another golden retriever. But this one seemed a bit more shy. I reached out my hand to give her a pat.

She sat up in the side of the pen to give me a curious sniff. She was even softer and more adorable than the bunny! I loved her at first sight.

"Zoe, come here and look at this dog," I said over my shoulder. "Isn't she adorable?"

Zoe gave her a tentative pat. I could see it growing in her face - there was something utterly lovable about this dog.

Mom came up behind us.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"Well. . ." I hesitated. The dog was awfully cute, but it seemed like an insult to Shiloh's memory to choose another dog so fast. "Maybe a little later. It's hardly been a week since Shiloh went missing." Zoe nodded in agreement.

Even so, as we were walking out the front door, I couldn't help but look over my shoulder one last time.
What happens if someone else takes her? But we can't get a dog so soon after Shiloh left - can we? What should we do?

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!