Tito and His Flying Dog

Ana Maria Cuneo

Description

Tito and his Flying Dog tells the story of Amelia, a little Jack Russel dog who is looking for her forever home. She is known as “an escape artist” because she is good at escaping when she doesn’t like a place. But, when she finds Tito, who is in need of a companion, she knows that there is no need to escape anymore. The book explains how dogs fly in an airplane and the arrival of Abuela, Tito’s grandmother, offers an opportunity to explore family routines and learn commonly used Spanish words and phrases.

Sujets

• Vie de famille
• Parentalité et Éducation des Enfants
• Foreign Language study
• Lettres et linguistique
• Spanish
• Language

Informations

• Publié par: Outskirts Press
• Date de parution: 22 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781977260635
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Tito and His Flying Dog All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2023 Ana Maria Cuneo v2.0
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.
This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Outskirts Press, Inc. http://www.outskirtspress.com
ISBN: 978-1-9772-6063-5
Cover Photo © 2023 www.cava.com , designed by Jennifer Damiano. All rights reserved - used with permission.
Outskirts Press and the "OP" logo are trademarks belonging to Outskirts Press, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
For Nick, Ella, Gianna and Chris
I will love you forever

Special thanks to Christopher Damiano for his valuable help.

This book is based on real events
Chapter One
The Very Serious Conversation
O ne morning my parents were in the kitchen having a very serious conversation.
"Blah, blah, blah," said Mami.
"Blah, blah, Tito blah, blah," said Papi.
Since my name is Tito, I figured they were talking about me. So, I hid behind the door where I could hear a little better.
"The boy is so irresponsible, he needs to be punished," Papi was saying.
"I’m sorry but I don’t agree. He is a good kid and we won’t gain much by scolding him," said the most intelligent woman in the world.
"If you don’t want to reprimand him, then how do we teach him to be responsible?" asked Papi.
"Well … we could begin by letting him have a dog," replied Mami.
And that is exactly how it all started. But I think it would be better if I tell you from the beginning what led to this very serious conversation and how I ended up having a flying dog.
The year before that incident, when I could still count my age with the fingers of one hand, we were living in Florida - very, very close to Abuela’s house. Even though Abuela’s real name is Lucía, she has a couple of other names. Papi likes to call her Mamá, to Mami she is Mamá Lucía, but I call her Abuela –which happens to mean grandmother in Spanish.
Papi, Mami, Abuela and I always did everything together, so I never imagined that things could be different. But Mami always said that when you least expect it your life could change, and what happened next proved she was right.
One summer morning, I woke up to strange noises coming from downstairs and when I ran down to investigate, I found Mami busy, packing our belongings in big containers.
"What’s going on?" I asked, looking at the cardboard boxes that were piled everywhere.
"Your father has taken a job in California and we are moving," said Mami, wiping her tears with a kitchen towel.
As the days passed, Mami and Papi kept trying to convince Abuela to move with us but she insisted that she was too old to leave the neighborhood and the house where she’d lived for so many years. Up to the very day when the movers came to pick up our furniture, my parents were still trying to reason with Abuela but, in the end, there was no way to persuade her, so we left without her.

Up to the very day when the movers and the moving van came to pick up our furniture, my parents were still trying to reason with Abuela.
Istock.com/WiWinWing
Once we got settled in California, Mami began to miss our old house, her friends and especially Abuela –in fact, she constantly worried about her.
"An old woman living alone so far away from her family," she would say, shaking her head in disbelief. "What if something happens to her? Who would be there to help?"
They phoned each other often but, as time passed, Mami grew very sad. I know because I would often find her crying and, to distract her, I’d misbehave and then something would end up broken. My little "accidents" formed a repeating pattern, which in time led to my parents’ very serious conversation and to me finding my flying dog.
So, it happened that the very next day after my parents had that serious conversation, Mami and I were at our local animal shelter checking out in person a basset hound we had seen listed on the shelter’s website. The place had a barn for horses, donkeys and llamas, and a cozy area with stacked cages for cats. The biggest room was reserved just for dogs. Metal bars divided the space into individual cages and, in each compartment, there was a soft bed and a big bowl with fresh water. Every animal in the room had a toy or a plastic bone to keep him or her entertained. A side door led to a fenced yard where volunteers exercised the dogs during the day. Everything inside smelled strongly of dog, cleaning solutions, and flea and tick spray.
"And who is this young man?" asked Maria, a lady who worked at the shelter as a volunteer.
"I’m Tito," I said, looking at the floor, a little embarrassed.
"Go ahead, take him for a walk," she said, handing me the basset hound’s leash and taking two steps back at the same time. Her behavior seemed a little odd but I grabbed the leash anyway and, just at that moment, the basset hound took off running and leaping like a gazelle, dragging me behind in the direction of the door. He had sad eyes and big ears that swept the ground when he walked. I admit that he was kind of cute but he was clumsy, very strong, and much bigger than he looked in his Internet picture. In fact, he was bigger than me.
"Mami!" I cried, but by then the basset hound and I were galloping, already doing our second lap around the perimeter of the fenced yard.