Cori's Story

By Mary K. Sullivan

Cori never knew why she was different from her brothers and sisters. She watched all her siblings being adopted. Why didn’t anyone want her? When she finally heard the word runt, she understood that she wasn’t as good as the rest. She began to think things would never change. But when she was finally adopted by “My Mary,” she learned what it was to be loved. Thus begins Cori’s adventures with My Mary and her sister, Pepper. Most of the adventures were exciting and fun, but then that awful day came. She thought she might lose Pepper forever. Cori had to learn how to become a healing force in Pepper’s life. But would Cori’s love for Pepper and Pepper’s love in return be enough? Cori didn’t know, but she had to try. She had to try harder than she’d ever tried to do anything before. It was the only chance Pepper had.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890431837

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Cori's Story

Mary K. Sullivan

ISBN 979-8-89043-182-0 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89043-183-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Mary K. Sullivan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Beginning

Chapter 1

Remembering

Chapter 2

A Visitor

Chapter 3

My New Sister

Chapter 4

Dinnertime

Chapter 5

My First Night at My New Home

Chapter 6

The Next Day

Chapter 7

Puppy Teeth

Chapter 8

My First Walk

Chapter 9

Off to Work

Chapter 10

Fifty Humongous Dogs

New Adventures

Chapter 11

The Vet

Chapter 12

The Aspen

Chapter 13

My Tags

Chapter 14

Good Puppy Class

Chapter 15

The Mountains

Chapter 16

The Dog Park

Chapter 17

Pepper, No

Chapter 18

Beside My Sister

The Healing

Chapter 19

Remembering Again

Chapter 20

Missing Her

Chapter 21

Coming Home

Chapter 22

The Work Begins

Chapter 23

The Pool

Chapter 24

Progress

Chapter 25

Moving

Chapter 26

Standing

Epilogue

About the Author

About the Illustrator

Book 1

The Beginning

Chapter 1

Remembering

I was a runt but I didn't know why.

It feels so nice lying here beside the patio door. The sun is streaming through, and it reminds me of the warmth I felt when I first came to live here. This has always been one of my favorite places to lie. If I tilt my head just right, I can see the trees and fields that stretch out away from my house. I used to be able to hear the birds, but my hearing is not so sharp anymore. That's okay, though. I've heard them enough to remember the sounds. The toughest part is seeing the squirrels and rabbits go by and knowing there is no way I could chase them now. I never caught one, even when I was younger, but it was fun to try.

I don't remember everything about my early days. Maybe I don't want to, or maybe I'm just too old now. Everything kind of fades in and out. I can see my mom and a bunch of us puppies. Don't know how many brothers and sisters I had, but I can see in my memory a large truck picking us up and driving us somewhere. We were then taken out of the truck and left near a small stream of water. I was cold. The only way I got rid of that feeling was to snuggle close to my family. We all helped each other get warm.

Another human picked us all up some days later, and we were taken to a new place. It was warm and smelled nice. Smell is very important to dogs. It can make us feel safe or scared or have a whole bunch of other feelings. A new lady kept us safe and warm and fed my mom, who then fed us. I was so glad to be with my mom. She helped keep me brave and happy.

One day, my mom left with some people. I waited for her to come back, but she didn't. I kept watching, thinking that she'd come back, but finally I gave up. I felt sadder than I'd ever felt in all my puppy days.

My brothers and sisters and I stayed at the lady's house for what seemed like a long time. Sometimes, humans came in and picked up my brothers or sisters. They never picked me up, though. I didn't know why. I tried to look nice and sweet, but no one seemed interested. That was okay, I guess. My brothers and sisters and I were still together. Mom was gone, but I kept trying to believe that I would see her again.

One day, one of the humans who had been in to look at us (or, at least, to look at my brothers and sisters) came in and picked up one of my brothers. Suddenly, he was gone. Later, more and more humans came in; and one by one, my brothers and sisters were gone. Where did they go, and why was I the only puppy left?

The nice lady who took care of us was talking on something she held in her hand. I heard her say that all but one of the puppies had been adopted. She still had the runt of the little. The bitch had been adopted too, and she was keeping her fingers crossed for the runt. Now I was totally confused. What does adopted mean? What's a bitch? What's a runt, and what does a little mean? I found out later that adopted means humans took them to their houses, and a bitch is a lady dog. A runt is the smallest one. And it's not little, it's litter. My brothers and sisters and I were the litter, and I guess I was the runt. I knew then that being a runt wasn't good. I finally understood why no one was looking at me.

A lot of time went by. I was getting really sad. Even though the nice lady tried to spend time with me, things were very different. I was used to a bunch of other puppies around me, jumping and playing with me. None of that happened now. There was also a big hairy thing that lived there. It had pointed ears and four legs and some long whiskers around its pink nose. It was not nice to me. Whenever I would try to get it to play with me, its back went up really high, and it would make a mean sound. So I backed off and spent more time by myself.

Chapter 2

A Visitor

I was pretty happy but a little scared. Was I really going home?

One day, I was sitting in the big cage, which seemed even bigger now that I was alone when another lady came in. I didn't know why because I was the only one there, and since I was the runt, I knew she didn't come to see me. But the nice lady brought her over, lifted me out of the cage, and put me in her arms. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I couldn't help myself. I rested my chin on her shoulder and just wanted to enjoy the few moments out of the cage. The new lady said things like Oh and How adorable and She is so sweet. Was she talking about me? I wasn't sure, but I gave her kisses on her nose anyway. She hugged me so gently and wrapped me in her arms. She said Thank you to the nice lady, and before I knew what was happening, we were outside, walking—well, she was walking; I was being carried—to what I found out later was her car. We sat there for a while, and