The dog in the park

Rashmi makes new friends while trying to find the owner of a friendly dog in the park.

There was a dog in the park. It was at the far end, leaping on a pile of leaves. But the minute Rashmi entered the park, it turned to look at her. Rashmi didn’t wait to find out why it was looking. She turned and ran home.

The house was littered with boxes, as her parents were unpacking. They stopped crinkling paper and ripping tape off boxes and said, “It’s only a dog! Don’t you want to play in the park?”

Rashmi did. So she went back; the dog was still there. It seemed to recognise her and leapt towards her. Rashmi leapt too and ran home to tell her parents how fierce it was.

“So?” they asked. Could one of them dash to the park with her, shoo the dog away and dash back? It would only take a minute or two. No, her parents said, they could not. Instead, they told Rashmi how to deal with the dog and waved her away.

Rashmi walked to the park to see if any of their ideas worked. Then she ran back to report, “It’s wearing a collar!”

“Aha!” her parents were pleased. “So it belongs to someone. That makes it easier. Just ask the people who live around the park.”

“But I don’t know them!” Rashmi protested. “I don’t like talking to new people.”