Slush Puppy Love

by Christina Soontornvat

  “Oh no,” said Claudia.

  “Oh double no,” I said.

  Flurry had one of my mom’s favorite silk shoes in her teeth. “Drop it, girl,” I pleaded.

  “She loves chewing shoes,” said Claudia. “You better get it from her before she rips it to shreds!”

  I held out one hand and, with a wave of my fingers, formed an ice treat in the shape of a dog bone. “Come get it, Flurry!”

  Instantly, Flurry dropped the shoe and bounded over, slurping the ice bone up from my hand.

  “See, she was hungry,” I said, petting Flurry’s head. “She just needs some puppy training.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing she likes ice,” said Claudia. “We have a whole freezer full of ice cubes at home.”

  I made Flurry more icy treats to munch on while Claudia and I packed Mom’s gowns back into her trunk. As long as Flurry was munching on ice, she was perfectly chilled out.

  See, Diary? Mom was totally wrong when she said magic can’t solve every problem!

  This morning I was just about to walk into our school building when Claudia leaped out of the bushes and grabbed my sleeve.

  “You scared me!” I said. “What are you doing hiding in the bushes?”

  “I’ve got a big problem,” said Claudia. “Look!”

  She pulled me around the corner. There was Flurry, panting and running in circles.

  “She followed me to school!” said Claudia. “I don’t know what to do. She won’t listen to a word I say!”

  Flurry yipped happily and came bounding toward me. She knocked me over backward into the bush. “Oh my glaciers, Flurry, you are getting so big!”

  “That’s another problem,” said Claudia. “She’s getting huge! I would just pick her up and carry her home, but I can’t lift her all by myself anymore.”

  “How about ice treats?” I asked.

  “I ran out of them!” said Claudia. “Please help me get her home, Lina. You’re the closest thing to an ice machine around here!”

  We had about ten minutes before the school bell rang. Claudia lives really close to the school, but we would still have to hurry.

  I made sure no one could see us, then swirled my fingers over my palm to make ice treats. I held one out to Flurry as I walked down the sidewalk. “Come on, girl, come on!”

  With a bark, she hopped up and followed me. We held the treats out to her, coaxing her all the way back to Claudia’s house. Finally we were able to get her into the backyard and shut the gate.

  We ran as fast as we could back to school and got inside the door just after the bell rang.

  Claudia looked on the verge of tears as we walked to the principal’s office to fill out our late forms. “I’ve never gotten a tardy slip before!” she whispered.

  As we trudged to Ms. Collier’s class with our tardy slips in hand, I wondered if Claudia still thought that Flurry was the best present ever.

  Tonight at dinner, we were served yellow noodle soup. My favorite.

  We drank lychee soda. Also my favorite.

  And for dessert?

  Mango-and-whipped-cloud pudding. My favorite of all favorites.

  “Mom?” I asked. “What’s going on? Do you have to leave on a business trip or something?”

  She smiled. “No, sweetie. I just wanted to apologize for being so tough on you the other day. You know, when I said that you can’t solve every problem with magic.”

  “It’s okay, Mom. Really.”

  “I just worry about anyone in our family letting their magic get out of hand,” said Mom. “Especially after what happened with your great-aunt Sunder.”

  My ears perked up. This was my chance to learn more about my mysterious relative.

  “I was reading about her in Granddad’s library,” I said. “I don’t think it’s fair that she got banished to the South Pole just because she became powerful.”

  “Banished?” Mom shook her head. “No, that isn’t what happened. She left on her own. Sunder wanted to use her powers to do everything. Even when her magic caused problems, she wouldn’t stop. She and your granddad argued, and then she packed up and moved down to the South Pole.”

  “That’s terrible. They’re supposed to be family.”

  Mom squeezed my hand. “Families can be … complicated. Granddad still loves Sunder, but he also felt she was being reckless with her magic. Lina, having magic powers is a big responsibility. We all have to take it seriously. Do you understand?”

  I nodded and told her I understood. But actually, I feel pretty confused.

  Diary, Mom said Great-Aunt Sunder’s magic caused problems. Part of me wants to know what those problems were.

  The other part of me is way too scared to ask.

  Diary, I’m not so sure if ignorance really is bliss. I didn’t want to worry about Great-Aunt Sunder’s magic, but finally I decided that I had to find out the truth.

  This morning was Saturday, so, as usual, we went to Granddad’s for Winterheart practice. Also as usual, Granddad took his afternoon nap.

  As soon as he was snoring away, I crept back into his library to find the book about Great-Aunt Sunder. I turned to the chapter I had been reading about the snow beasts. I flipped the page and read all about what had really happened.

  It was just like Mom said. Great-Aunt Sunder let her magic go too far. And now I had done the exact same thing! I had made a snow beast (well, okay, just a wee beastie) and brought it to life. Even worse, I had fed Flurry ice treats to keep her calm, but they were just making her grow!

  I rushed to the phone on Granddad’s desk and called Claudia.

  “Claudia?” I said when she answered. “Listen, there’s a problem with Flurry—”

  “No kidding!” Claudia interrupted. “I keep feeding her ice cubes, but she’s still so hyper! She’s wrecking the house, and my parents are—”

  I heard a loud CRASH on the other end of the phone.

  “Uh-oh!” said Claudia. “I gotta go!”

  “Wait!”

  But Claudia had already hung up. I didn’t get a chance to tell her not to feed Flurry any more ice cubes.

  Ignorance is definitely not bliss in this case! Claudia needs to know about the problem with Flurry—and fast!

  When Dad came and picked me up in his plane, I immediately asked him to drop me off at Claudia’s house.

  When Claudia opened the front door, she looked exhausted.

  “Where’s Flurry?” I asked.

  “In the backyard,” said Claudia with a yawn. “I finally got her to sit down. I think she wore herself out from all the jumping around. She broke our trampoline!”

  My jaw dropped. “She broke it? What did your parents say?”

  “They’re out running errands. They left me with my brother, who thankfully wears his headphones when he’s coding on his computer. I don’t think he’s heard anything that’s been going on.”

  “Okay, don’t worry,” I said. “I’m sure we can fix this before your parents get home. Whatever you do, don’t feed her any more ice cubes! It will just make her grow bigger.”

  Claudia nodded to the window that looked onto her backyard. “Yeah, I think I may have figured that out on my own.”

  When I looked outside, I couldn’t believe it. Flurry was the size of a small pony!

  Claudia’s brother, Jaiden, peeked his head out of his room. He looked out the window too. “Claudia, what have you been feeding that dog?”

  “Um, ice cubes?”

  Jaiden shook his head. “Mom and Dad said you could have a puppy. Not a llama.”

  Claudia glared at him. “Jaiden, don’t you have code to write or something?”

  Jaiden shrugged his shoulders, put his headphones back on, and retreated to his room. Claudia and I whispered about what to do.

  “As annoying as my brother is, he’s right,” said Claudia. “My mom and dad are never going to let me keep Flurry if she gets any bigger!”

  “It’s okay; everything will be fine,” I said. “I’
m sure we can figure out a way to fix this.”

  “Lina, that’s what you said about the ice cubes—and they just made things worse!”

  Suddenly we heard a huge crash outside. We rushed out to the backyard.

  Claudia gulped. “Tell me what you were saying again about everything being fine.”

  Oh Diary. Where Claudia’s fence used to be was a huge, gaping hole.

  Flurry was nowhere to be seen.

  Claudia and I ran out through the hole in the fence. We looked up and down her street, but we didn’t see Flurry anywhere.

  Diary, my heart was pounding so hard. I started to realize what I had done. I had used my Winterheart powers to make a magical creature. I had brought it to life. And now it was running wild!

  What if my family found out? What if they were so mad that they banished me to go live at the South Pole with Great-Aunt Sunder? What if I never got to see Claudia or my parents ever again?

  We had to find that dog.

  “Flurry!” I shouted.

  “What if she runs into a busy street?” asked Claudia.

  “Don’t worry; I’m sure a car would stop before it hit her.”

  “I’m not worried about her. I’m worried about the car!”

  We ran up and down Claudia’s block, but we didn’t see any sign of Flurry, and we couldn’t hear her barking.

  An older woman who lived next door to Claudia was working in her garden.

  “Excuse me, Ms. Flores,” said Claudia. “Have you seen my dog run by here?”

  “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen a dog,” said the neighbor. “But I did see a fluffy llama galloping by.”

  Claudia and I looked at each other. A fluffy llama? That had to be Flurry!

  “Which way did the llama, er, gallop?” I asked.

  Ms. Flores pointed up the street.

  Claudia smacked one hand to her forehead. “Of course! She’s going to the school! She knows the way from following me. Come on, bikes will be faster. You can ride my brother’s.” Claudia turned back to her house to get the bicycles.

  I pulled Claudia to a stop. “I don’t know how to ride a bike. I don’t have one up in the clouds.”

  Diary, this is why it’s great to have Claudia for a best friend. Because she doesn’t let something like “I don’t know how to ride a bike” stop her.

  “You sit on the handlebars, and I’ll pump the pedals. Let’s go!”

  Diary, I have ridden through the skies on the wind. I have peered down at the world from the tops of clouds. And never—never—have I experienced anything more terrifying than sitting on the handlebars of my best friend’s bike while she pedaled us downhill.

  It was awesome.

  When Claudia pulled up in front of the school, the whole building was quiet. The front doors were locked, of course, because it was Sunday. I peered in through the windows. It was weird seeing my usually busy school building completely empty with all the lights off.

  “Flurry!” called Claudia. “Gosh, I hope my hunch was right and she came here. Otherwise I don’t know if my legs have the strength to bike us anywhere else!”

  Suddenly we heard barking coming from the other side of the building. We ran around to the playground at the back of the school.

  There was Flurry, bounding from one side of the playground to the other. She ran up to the top of the slide and slid down on her tummy, then ran up to the top to do it again. But she was so big that the slide was bending under her weight!

  “Oh no!” said Claudia. “Flurry’s going to break the slide!”

  I looked over both shoulders to make sure no one was around to see. Then I held up my hands and began creating long strands of ice. Moving my fingers, I wove the ice into thick ropes that I strung across the top of the slide. I thought the barrier would stop her from going down.

  Instead, Flurry chomped a huge bite right out of the ice ropes and slurped them up like noodles! With every bite she grew bigger and bigger and bigger …

  Flurry launched herself down the slide, and this time the metal sagged under her weight and broke in half. Flurry tumbled to the ground, but she was so big that the fall didn’t seem to bother her one bit.

  “Flurry, SIT!” Claudia shouted.

  The ground shook as Flurry plopped down in front of us. Diary, she was now as big as a full-grown horse. She may have been a giant, but she was still an adorable giant. Huge puddles of drool pooled at her feet as she panted happily.

  “Good girl,” said Claudia, approaching Flurry slowly. “Just stay calm … stay sitting.” Flurry let Claudia pet her behind the ears. I was sure that this giant, sweet puppy would be done with all the running around.

  But I guess puppies don’t stay still for long. She jumped up and bounded straight for the back doors of the school.

  “Flurry, stop!” we shouted.

  But she didn’t stop, and now that she was even bigger, the back door didn’t stand a chance. She busted it down and ran inside!

  I raised my arms to create an ice barrier, but then I lowered them. If Flurry ate any more ice, she would be as big as a house!

  Now I understood why Granddad and Great-Aunt Sunder had argued. Magic could get out of hand if you weren’t careful.

  I wasn’t going to be like Great-Aunt Sunder. I knew I could figure out a way to solve this problem without using magic. I just had to think.

  Through the school windows, we could see Flurry running down the halls and into classrooms. She knocked over desks and slobbered on bulletin boards.

  “She’d better not find our classroom,” said Claudia in horror. “If she ruins our simple machines project, I’m going to be so mad at her!”

  Simple machines.

  I grabbed Claudia by the arm. “Come on!”

  “What? Where are we going?”

  “To the gym! My brain has stormed!”

  Our PE teacher keeps a closet in the gym stocked with all the sports equipment you could ever dream of.

  I swung open the doors and started looking. “Climbing rope! Perfect. Now where is that parachute … ?”

  “What are you doing?” asked Claudia as I piled her arms high with coils of rope.

  “I can’t use magic to stop Flurry from wrecking the school. So we’re going to have to use something else. We need to build a trap. A gigantic puppy trap.”

  “A trap?” asked Claudia with a shocked look.

  “Don’t worry; it won’t hurt her, I promise. It’ll just slow her down. Let’s get all this stuff outside.”

  Back on the playground, we spread out the gigantic, colorful parachute under a big oak tree. I strung the rope through the outer loops of the parachute.

  I handed the end of the climbing rope to Claudia. “Hold this for a minute.” I held out my hands and focused my ice-making powers.

  “But I thought you said we had to stop Flurry without using magic,” said Claudia.

  “Well, maybe just a smidgen of magic,” I said, forming a ball of ice in my hands. I swirled it around and around until the ice had made a frozen wheel with a groove down the middle.

  Claudia beamed. “A pulley! Lina, that’s perfect!”

  I threaded the climbing rope through the ice pulley. “When Flurry gets out onto the middle of the parachute, we’ll just pull down on the rope, and she’ll get scooped up.”

  Just then we saw Flurry through the windows, crashing into one of the first-grade classrooms.

  My shoulders sagged. “I just realized that this isn’t going to work.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because Flurry is so big. She’s got to weigh more than both of us put together. We’ll never be able to lift her off the ground.”

  Claudia snapped her fingers. “Lina, how many ice pulleys can you make?”

  “A lot—why?”

  “Remember what Ms. Collier taught us? You can use lots of pulleys together to make the lifting easier.”

  I gasped. “Mechanical advantage! I totally forgot about it. We’ll have to pull longer on the
rope, but we won’t have to pull as hard.”

  We heard Flurry crash into the art room and what sounded like paintbrushes and paints scattering everywhere.

  “We are going to need every advantage we can get,” said Claudia. “You make the pulleys, and I’ll get my bike!”

  We had the parachute in place.

  We had four pulleys attached to the parachute, and four hanging from the tree branch overhead.

  We had the end of the rope tied onto Claudia’s bike.

  We just needed one gigantic, magical puppy dog.

  “Okay, here goes nothing,” I said to Claudia. Our nearly-no-magic solution just needed a teensy bit more magic to make it work. I twirled my hands over the parachute and made a pile of bone-shaped ice treats. “Oh, Flurry!” I called. “Got some tasty treats for you! Come and get ’em!”

  We heard some happy barking and then the scrabble of paws running across the floor.

  “Okay, get ready!” I called to Claudia.

  A huge ball of white fur burst out through the gym doors and rushed to the center of the parachute. Flurry happily started slurping up the ice treats.

  “Pedal!” I shouted to Claudia.

  She put the pedal to the metal and raced across the field on her bike. The rope tightened, and the parachute cinched up around Flurry like a gigantic, colorful dumpling wrapper. Claudia strained on the bike as Flurry lifted off the ground. I ran out to Claudia and pushed her from behind. We grunted and sweated, but finally we managed to hoist that dog into the air.

  We tied the rope to another tree so Flurry couldn’t escape.

  Claudia looked worried. “Do you think she’s okay in there? I feel so bad tying her up like that.”

  We walked up to the parachute swinging from the tree branch.

  We heard sniffling and panting coming from inside. A few minutes later, we heard the loud rumble of dog snores. Diary, she fell asleep! I guess all that running around had really tired her out.