Story: The Rose Tree

There once was a dog, who had no owner, that was often seen stealing various objects from the grocery store. Many people felt bad for the poor dog and handed her a few pieces of food every now and then. There were also those that  disliked the dog scavenging around and shooed her away. Regardless, she always came back. 

One day, a young woman was leaving leaving the store with groceries in hand when she noticed the dog cowering behind a car in the parking lot. This woman was new to town and had never seen the dog before. She looked into her paper bag and decided to give away some of her food. The woman took her loaf of bread, opened the package, and grabbed a couple of slices to offer to the dog. As she squatted to the ground she called out and waved the bead in its direction. The dog was wary at first but couldn’t resist the free food. It slowly inched closer to the woman until it was close enough to snatch the bread slices and run off. The woman smiled knowing that she had helped the starving dog. 

The next day, the woman came back to the grocery store and looked for the dog after she had bought her items. Surely enough the dog was sitting in the parking lot. The woman reached in her bag again and pulled out a few pieces of pre-cooked chicken for the dog. This time the dog was less timid and ran to the lady, grabbed the chicken, and ran behind the store. The woman watched carefully and noticed that the dog had gone that same way the day before. She also realized that it never ate the food right away. 

The woman went to the store for a third day, and bought more bread and chicken for the dog. This time when she gave the dog some food she followed after it. The dog ran behind the small grocery store, past the dumpsters and into a group of bushes beyond. When the woman finally caught up she heard whimpering and realized that the dog had puppies that she was feeding. The dog noticed the woman and instantly became defensive, but the woman handed her more food and she calmed down. The puppies then ran towards her and showered her in a flurry of puppy kisses. The woman laughed and handed them each a a few pieces of bread. She then decided to take them all home so that she could take care of them properly. The mother dog was thin from giving all her food to the puppies. 

One at home the dogs settled in nicely. They especially liked the warmth of the fireplace and soft couch. After the dogs were nursed back to health she found homes for all the puppies and gave each new owner a candle. She wanted each puppy to be connected, even though they were going to live separated from one another. The woman decided to keep the mother dog and one of the puppies for herself. From that moment on the dogs never went hungry again. 

(source) 

Author’s note: I used the “Rose-Tree” for this weeks story post. In the original there was a dog who kept stealing the candles that a girl bought from the grocery store day after day. The dog wasn’t a significant character, and it was never explained why it was doing this. I decided to write about this dog and the possible reasons it might have for hanging around a grocery store. I decided that it was a mother dog that was only trying to feed her puppies. I took a lot of creative liberties for this story, but I did try to keep the candle element. Instead of the dog stealing candles I decided to have those be given  to each new owner of the puppies. 

Bibliography: “The Rose-Tree” by Joseph Jacobs.