Till Death Do We Part

1. Till Death Do We Part Written By Eleyne Ferguson Illustrated By Richard Ferguson

2. For one of my best friends: Alex The best dog a girl could wish for

3. My name is Eleanor Fritton I live at 84 Elizabeth St. • I live with my parents, my older brother, David, and his dog: Sam.

4. David got Sam a few years ago on his 7th birthday. He woke up and found a small bundle of fur on the end of the bed. He reached out a hand to touch it and found it was. . .

5. . . . a puppy! He was delighted. On the dog’s neck there was a collar, and on the dog’s collar there was a metal tag hanging to it, it was the shape of a bone. • Written on the metal tag there was the name: ’Sam.’

6. Sam and I were best friends. • Every day after school Sam would run over and cover my face in dog slobber. “Yuck” I would say. Sam would bark in agreement.

7. But one day, when I came home from school, I saw David and mum looking down at Sam lying on the ground. “What’s wrong with Sam?,” I asked, “isn’t he getting better.” “Honey,” mum started to say, “Sam has . . . Umm . . . gone to a better place”

8. I looked at her my heart breaking I couldn’t believe it. Sam my one true friend the one that was always there at the gate waiting for me on a school day; bouldering me over once he saw me . . . gone.

9. Sometimes when I lie awake at night in bed . . . I can hear Sam digging up bones in the backyard, and sometimes if I’m really really quiet I’ll sneak out and see his black fur shining in the moonlight, his paws in the mud and his eyes set on what he was doing.

10. A month later it was my birthday I was turning 7. I woke to scratching at the door. • I opened it and there scratching my door was . . .

11. . . . a yellow puppy!

12. Sam is David’s dog Sam is very popular in the family especially with David’s little sister: Eleanor But when things take a turn for the worst, will Eleanor ever be happy again