The Football Dog
By: Gerrod

On Friday as Gerrod was coming home from high school, he went through the back gate of his house and stopped dead in his tracks.

This can't be, he thought, rubbing his eyes. His dog, Lucky, was playing football in his backyard! Dogs can't play football! But it was true.

He went inside the house to tell his mom who was cooking his favorite taco dinner. She came out of the house with a tomato in her hand to see for herself. When Gerrod and his mom got outside, Lucky wasn't playing football at all. Instead, Lucky was sitting by the football just wagging his tail. Gerrod could almost see a little smile on his frisky and furry face.

Gerrod was thinking, Lucky, why did you stop?

Then his mom said, "Gerrod, don't tell fibs. Dogs can't play football."

Gerrod's mom went back into the kitchen. He knew he wasn't dreaming. He wished he could make his mom believe.

Saturday came and it was time for Gerrod's football game. Gerrod gathered his uniform, helmet and pads and went to his football game. He saw Lucky out in the yard and said to the dog as he walked through the gate and started down the sidewalk, " I wish you could play with us today. You're really fast."

When Gerrod got there, he said, "Hi!" to one of his friends on his team named Zachary. The football game began. Gerrod's team was leading but Zachary got tackled and broke his leg. The team was desperate. They needed a quarterback. Gerrod went to his coach and said, "My dog can play football." Everybody started laughing. Gerrod didn't care about what they said. He still knew that Lucky could play football. The game ended and Gerrod 's team lost.

The next day Gerrod invited everybody to walk home with him. They opened the back gate and there they saw Lucky playing football. Their mouths dropped open. The coach asked Gerrod if Lucky could be on the football team. Gerrod said, "Yes!" When it was time for football practice, Lucky started to catch the ball and run it. The whole team cheered! Now they believed.

The coach said, "Why doesn't Lucky be our quarterback"?

"That's a deal," everybody said.

The next day arrived and it was time for the football game. This game would tell who would be in the championship. The Referee, Josh, didn't care about Lucky playing football because he didn't know that dogs could play football. The game started and the coach put Lucky in the game. Lucky got the ball and he ran a touchdown. Soon the game was over and we won. We went out for pizza. The next day we played our last game and we were still in the championship.

Gerrod and Lucky went to the championship game. They started the game and the New York team got the first point. Then Gerrod's team came back and got 28 points. The New York coach was not happy at all and he put in a good football player named Joshua. He could play any position especially quarterback. He was the hardest player to stop.

The Delmar coach put in Lucky. Lucky had his game face on. He started to run after Joshua. Joshua was so good that he made his team catch up with our score. Gerrod's team had one more minute and the New York team was ready to score. One of their players was ready to throw the ball to Joshua when all a sudden Lucky jumped up and caught the ball and ran for the touchdown! What a sight! The crowd cheered! Then all the kids were running after Lucky and someone tried to jump on Lucky. Everybody thought the game was done. Then we heard Lucky barking and looked at the touchdown goal and every body cheered. Lucky made a touchdown. Gerrod was very happy and he ran to Lucky to give him a hug. The game was over and it was time to celebrate.

The End

May 13, 2004

Hi Gerrod,

Your final draft is wonderful! It is exciting to know how hard you have worked, and then to read your final draft. When I read it, I felt like I was part of your story. That's how you know that a story is good!

Right from the start you have my attention. When you rub your eyes in disbelief, I know how you feel when you see Lucky playing ball. You continue your story with the use of some great lines. One of my favorite lines is, "Gerrod could almost see a smile on his frisky and furry face." But I also love it when you say, "Lucky had his game face on." I laughed out loud when I read that line!

One of the strongest lines in your whole story is when you say, "Now they believed." It sets the tone for the rest of the story, and I believe that it shows you truly are a writer.

I just want to congratulate you on writing a super story. You should be very proud. I am looking forward to meeting you in person later this month!

Your Friend,
Lois Szymanski

Patti Weeg
pweeg@comcast.net

May 18, 2004