A Glimmer of Hope

By Kimberly Mills

A town is intent on driving a three-legged, seemingly ferocious dog forcefully back into the woods but Laney and Izzie see something different in the brindle boxer that others can't (or won't) see. Laney, a 10 year-old girl, has often been told that she's 'just a kid" and her opinion doesn't matter and sadly, Laney has started to believe that too. Her longtime babysitter, Izzie, is determined to help Laney embrace herself and value her own ideas and soon Laney starts to realize that maybe she actually can be a voice for the voiceless.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098355852

Book preview

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER 1

GRRRR..RUFF!!

Laney Lou sprung to her feet.

GRRRR…RUFF!! GRRRR….

Izzie immediately jumped up next to her.

The girls grabbed hands. They stood in the rock bed at the entrance of their neighborhood. They had been picking weeds but now a low growl followed by fierce barking interrupted them.

GRRRR….

Their gaze drifted to the sidewalk, just a couple of feet away from them. A wide-eyed 3-legged brindle boxer. Laney knew the brindle, tiger-striped color because Izzie’s grandma used to have a brindle cat and she always loved to pet her beautiful coat. The dog barked again, more insistent this time. This dog definitely looked rough- she only had 3 legs and what seemed like old cuts and scars on her side. Her eyes looked sunken in and sad but she saw something else there; a flicker of something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. The dog barked at them again, louder and then lunged forward, not at them but close enough.

BOOM!!! CRACK!!

Thunder filled the sky followed by a streak of lightning. Laney and Izzie looked quickly at each other then took off sprinting down the street to Laney’s house.

Laney looked back at the dog to find she had turned around and was dashing for the woods. Laney hoped she’d find shelter before this storm- her and the dog!

CHAPTER 2

The girls opened the door and ran straight to the basement. Laney leapt to the small area directly under the stairs, tightly wrapped her arms around her legs and began swaying. Izzie was next to her in a second with an arm around her neck. It’s okay Laney Lou. Shhh.. I’m here.

I’m scared! This is a really bad storm, Iz!! Izzie was Laney’s babysitter; she had been for as long as Laney could remember in her 10 years. Laney trusted her