by Christine Marie Alemshah -
Pitter, patter, pitter, patter went the rain on the roof. Gina stared out her kitchen window, tapping her feet on the floor.
“If it ever stops raining, we’ll go outside and play,” she said to her little red and white dog. The rain pounded on the roof like a snare drum. Thumpety-thump! Thumpety-thump! Finally, after what felt like forever and ever, the rain stopped.
“Hooray,” she said. “Come on, Rio. Let’s go outside!”
Rio wagged her tail and jumped with joy. Gina put on her coat, and they went outside together. She tossed a tennis ball back and forth for Rio to fetch.
BOUNCE, JUMP, CATCH! BOUNCE, JUMP, CATCH!
After a while, Rio lay down on her belly and stopped retrieving the ball. Then her eyes fixed on…a mud puddle!
“Don’t even think about jumping in that mud puddle,” Gina said...
