Our Buddy
Story By
Harrison Woodard
Illustrations By
Donna Rosin
When a physically challenged dog moves to Whispering Pines, Boris and his friends search for a way of reaching out to their new neighbor. God teaches them to look beyond physical differences and focus on what they have in common instead. A Christian children’s story for kids of all ages.
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. — 1 John 3:18 NLT
After Boris finished breakfast, he climbed through his pet door and out into the backyard. It was a warm, sunny day. It was a perfect day to play.
He ran to Taffy’s house.
“I’m going to the park,” said Boris. “Do you want to join me?”
“I’ll be right out,” replied Taffy.
She climbed through her pet door and joined Boris.
“Let’s get Montana,” said Boris as they headed towards his house.
“Montana!” shouted Boris.
“Hey Boris,” replied Montana.
“We’re going to the park to play,” said Boris. “Do you want to come along?”
“Sure,” said Montana.
He climbed through his pet door and joined them in front of his house. The three headed to the park.
As they walked along, Boris noticed that a family had moved into the neighborhood.
“When did they move in?” asked Boris.
“They moved in yesterday,” said Montana.
“Do any animals live with them?” asked Taffy.
Just then, they saw a little dog looking out one of the windows.
“Look, there’s a dog in the window,” said Boris. “Let’s go ask him to join us.”
They ran towards the window. But when the dog saw them coming, he ran away.
Boris turned to his friends.
“That was strange,” said Boris.
“I guess he’s scared,” said Montana.
“Or, maybe he’s just shy,” said Taffy.
The three continued down the sidewalk towards the park.
The next day Boris, Taffy, and Montana decided to visit Fred’s farm.
“Taffy, go ask the dog to join us,” said Boris.
Taffy ran up to the house. She peeked through a window that was opened.
“Hello. Is there anyone home?” asked Taffy.
“What do you want?” asked a dog’s voice from behind a chair.
“My name is Taffy. What’s yours?” asked Taffy.
“I’m Buddy,” said the dog.
“Me and my friends Boris and Montana are going to visit Fred’s farm,” said Taffy. “We want you to join us.”
“No. Uh, I can’t today,” said Buddy. “Maybe some other time.”
“We’ll try another day,” said Taffy. “Goodbye.”
The three cats went to visit Fred. They had a wonderful afternoon playing on his farm.
The next day the three cats decided to play hide and seek.
“Maybe, Buddy wants to join us,” said Taffy. “Montana, why don’t you ask him?”
Montana ran over to Buddy’s house. He found an open window and peeked through. Buddy was asleep in his bed.
“Hey Buddy,” said Montana. “My name is Montana. We’re going to play hide and seek. We would love for you to join us.”
Buddy was a little startled to see a cat staring through the window at him.
“No, no, not today,” said Buddy not moving from his bed. “Maybe some other time.”
“Well, I hope you can join us in the future,” said Montana. “See you later.”
Montana and his friends spent the rest of the day playing hide and seek.
The next day the cats decided to play chase.
“Boris, why don’t you ask Buddy to join us,” said Montana.
Boris ran around the house, but there were no open windows. In the back, he found a pet door. He peeked his head through the door.
“Are you there, Buddy?” asked Boris.
Boris couldn’t see Buddy but he heard his voice from another room.
“You better stay outside,” said Buddy. “My parents don’t like cats.”
Boris pulled his head back out the pet door.
“We wanted you to join us,” said Boris. “We’re going to play chase.”
Buddy stuck his head out the pet door.
“Thanks for wanting to include me,” said Buddy. “But I will never be able to play with you.”
“Why not?” asked Boris.
Buddy hopped through the door. Boris was startled to see that Buddy was missing one of his front legs.
“See, I only have three legs,” said Buddy. “I can’t play with other animals.”
“How did you lose your leg?” asked Boris.
“I don’t know. I have always just had three legs,” said Buddy.
“Well, we could…,” started Boris before Buddy stopped him.
“I think I better go back inside,” said Buddy. “Thanks for visiting.”
Boris joined his friends in the front yard. He told them all about Buddy.
“Isn’t there something we could do?” asked Taffy.
“It sounds like he just doesn’t want to play with us,” said Montana.
“No, everyone needs friends,” said Boris. “Let’s pray about it and see what God says. I am sure he has an answer.”
They all agreed. That night each one prayed for Buddy.
The next morning Boris was in a very frisky mood. He started playing with one of his toys. He slapped it all over the upstairs floor and under the bathroom door. He tried to get his toy by sticking his paw through the door hinge. Just as he started reaching for it, Chris closed the door, pinching his paw.
“Ouch!!!” squealed Boris.
Chris immediately opened the door to see what had happened.
“I’m sorry Boris, I didn’t see you,” said Chris. “Let me take a look.”
Chris carefully examined the paw.
“I don’t think anything is broken, but it is going to hurt for a little while,” said Chris.
And boy did it hurt. Boris couldn’t put any weight on it. He limped over to his bed and lay down.
“Maybe, if I clean it, it will feel better,” thought Boris.
Boris gave his paw an extra special bath. When he finished, he realized he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. His food bowl was all the way downstairs. He stood up on three legs and carefully lowered the fourth.
“Nope,” exclaimed Boris lifting the hurt leg again. “The bath didn’t help.”
Boris stood there for a second. He was getting really hungry now.
“I guess I’ll just hobble down the stairs,” thought Boris.
Boris held his hurt paw in the air and started limping towards the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, God spoke to him,
“What are you doing?”
“My paw hurts and I can’t stand on it,” said Boris.
“You’re walking on three legs?” asked God.
“Yes,” said Boris.
“What if you had to do this your whole life?” asked God.
Suddenly, Boris understood what God was telling him.
“It would be hard, but with your help, I can do anything,” said Boris.
“Go get your friends and go see Buddy one more time,” said God. “He needs your friendship.”
“We’ve tried and he keeps saying no,” explained Boris. “What should I do this time?”
“You’ll know what to do,” said God.
Boris thought about what God had said. Soon a big smile came over his face. He did know what to do. He ran down the stairs not even noticing that his paw didn’t hurt anymore.
Over at Buddy’s house they all gathered to hear what Boris had to say.
“Buddy we are going to play chase and you are going to join us,” said Boris.
“But I can’t run as fast as you. I only have three legs,” said Buddy.
“God gave me a great idea. The three of us will hold one leg up and that will make it even,” said Boris.
They all agreed and started chasing each other all over the neighborhood. Although it wasn’t even at all. Buddy was so good at running on three legs he easily caught the cats.
All afternoon they rumbled and tumbled all over the neighborhood. They had the best time. At sundown, they rested on the hilltop in the park and watched the sun set on Whispering Pines.
“This was the best day ever,” said Buddy. “I’m so happy you are all my friends,”
“You’ll always be our Buddy,” said the cats.
THE END
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