It Started With Theo

I have a new novel being released mid November and thought I'd give you an excerpt from chapter one. Hope you like it :)

It Started With Theo
Chapter One, part one

Meet Theo. He’s about ten inches tall, white with big brown spots, extremely hairy and when he looks in the mirror, he sees The Rock. He’s my neighbours’ dog. Well, technically, he’s now my dog. This morning Betty, my seventy-year-old neighbour, asked me to take him to the animal shelter for her. You see, her family’s forcing her to move into a retirement home and she can’t take Theo with her. That’s a real shame. I, of course, said I’d take him. I pretty much do whatever people ask me. I need to stand up and value myself more according to my counselor, but that’s a whole other story. But honestly, this didn’t really make any sense to me. I’d never met Betty’s family. In all the time that I had lived across the road from her, not once had I seen anyone visit her. In fact, I’d never even heard Betty talk about them. So as you can imagine, it was a surprise to me that not only was she going to move like they wanted, she was also going to give up her beloved little dog. I sighed and promised myself that when I was elderly, I was not going to do what my children told me to do (Who was I kidding? I may as well pick out my nursing home now). So me, being the weak willed person that I am, agreed to help her. Only when I got there, I sat in the car and looked at the entrance gates. I could hear the noise of hundreds of dogs calling out to each other, saying who the hell knows what, as I watched two volunteer workers walking some of the bigger dogs, tongues hanging out and a brightness in their eyes, down the dusty laneway that ran beside the shelter. I felt the crack in my heart as I watched a man drop his faithful friend at the reception counter and leave, without even saying goodbye, the dog longingly trying to follow him. I looked at Theo and my eyes filled with tears. “You know, you’re really cute and I’m sure you’ll find a good home very quickly.” I think I was trying to convince myself more than him. He looked up at me, his brown eyes as huge as saucers, ears pinned back. That was such a low blow. My heart was already breaking, I did not need him to pull out all the stops and look cuter than ever. “Don’t look at me like that. This really is for the best.” I reached out and rubbed his furry little head. Wow, he is so soft. I watched, as he turned his little brown face towards my palm and snuggled into it. Humph. He really knew how to play this game didn’t he? I ran my thumb over his little Chihuahua nose and thought about the day he was having. The home he knew had just been ripped away from him, along with the person who he loved most in the world. And to make his day even worse, he would have to spend the night in solitary confinement and surrounded by strangers. I thought about the last year that I had lived opposite Betty and had never once seen Theo bark or snap. Before meeting him, I had thought all Chihuahua’s were snappy, nasty little creatures. I was wrong. This one in particular was adorable. I felt the tear run down my cheek and drip off my chin. I couldn’t do it. I did not have it in my heart to hand him over to complete strangers, thinking he’d been abandoned by all those that loved him. Sure, Betty had already organized for me to hand Theo to a lady named Lucy but surely she wouldn’t care that I had kept him. And I’m sure Lucy is far too busy to follow up on a dog that doesn’t get handed in. In fact, they’d probably all be extremely happy that Theo had already found a new home. “Okay, Okay! You win. I hope you’re happy with yourself,” I said, wiping my chin with my free hand. The wagging of his tail told me that he understood what I was saying perfectly well and if I’m not mistaken that is a very big smile on his little face. Putting the car into gear, I turned it around and headed home. Little did I know, but that decision would turn out to be the best and worst decision of my life.

It Started With Theo

A sneak peek at the cover of my new novel It Started With Theo due for release mid November! Let me know what you think :)