Read an Excerpt
How Meg Changed Her Mind
By Ethel K Coffey, Betty Schweitzer-Johnson Balboa Press
Copyright © 2013 Ethel K Coffey
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-8377-8
CHAPTER 1
Meg was a happy dog. She lived with her person and two cats, Cougar and Benney, in an old adobe home, surrounded by beautiful desert, just outside of Tucson, Arizona.
Meg loved being outside. She played chase in the early mornings with cottontail rabbits and round tailed ground squirrels. Meg felt joyful and free as she galloped under trees, kicking up sand with her feet, ears flying in the breeze.
Inside, the cats, Cougar and Benney were great fun. Benney would run back and forth with Meg in big circles. When they were told to stop running in the house, they would settle on the floor for a round of "Snap and Swat" or "Rug Rumple". Sometimes, Benney would even roll up in a rug and pretend to hide!
After playtime, Cougar was always willing to join Meg for a relaxing nap on the couch. Meg, soothed by the rumble of Cougar's purring, would drift into pleasant dreams.
One day, Meg had a visitor. Her person's special friend brought his dog, Baylee, to play with Meg.
Meg loved company. She and Baylee had great fun. They sniffed fragrant creosote and brittle-bushes. They ran, barked and kicked up dust together.
Weeks passed ...
Meg found herself spending more and more time with Baylee.
Then one day ...
Baylee's toys appeared in Meg's toy basket. Baylee's bowl was set across from Meg's. Baylee's bed was brought in and placed next to Meg's ... Baylee had moved into Meg's house!
Soon, Meg began noticing things she didn't like about Baylee. Baylee had a loud, deep, baying bark. When she bayed, "brooh-ooh-ooh," both she and Meg were called inside. Meg didn't like the way Baylee crunched her food, or sometimes sniffed at Meg's food! Baylee played with Meg's toys and left them all over the floor. She sniffed Cougar, which annoyed him. Cougar stopped taking naps with Meg. He preferred sleeping in the closet to avoid Baylee's nose. Some nights, Baylee's loud snoring woke Meg up. But, worst of all, was how much time Baylee spent playing with Benney. Benney raced and scuffled around the house with Baylee, playing the games he used to play only with Meg!
Meg felt jealous and angry! She wished Baylee would run away and never come back! She became grumpy and sometimes rude! She began glaring at Baylee whenever they were in the same room.
If Baylee came near, to sniff or play, Meg made growly, snarling noises, deep inside her throat. At times, she snapped angrily at Baylee for simply walking past her. (She was pretending Baylee was bothering her - hoping to get Baylee scolded!)
Meg's rude and angry behavior only made things worse. The cats, thinking she might snarl at them too, didn't want to be near her. Since Meg was no longer any fun, Benney only played with Baylee.
Meg felt sad and lonely. She stopped enjoying the games of chase she had played outside with her desert friends. Even the feel of warm desert sand under her feet no longer made her happy. In her loneliness, with no one to play with, Meg blamed all her troubles on Baylee!
Early one sunny morning, as Meg lay sadly under her favorite mesquite tree, she spotted a family of quail scurrying along. The mother quail's dark topknot bobbed softly as she led her babies forward. The father quail, who had been following, flew up into a nearby tree to watch over the family.
Meg looked on curiously, as the pear-shaped babies hobbled along on their tiny legs, pecking cheerfully at the ground. She noticed as one of the babies began to wander off. The mother quail patiently herded her little stray back into the group. As the babies followed their mother a few steps more, the same little one attempted to run ahead of the others. With a sudden burst of speed, he ran headlong into the two in front, causing them all to flap their little wings.
Meg thought, "That one is an annoying trouble maker, just like Baylee! I'll bet the others don't want him around."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from How Meg Changed Her Mind by Ethel K Coffey, Betty Schweitzer-Johnson. Copyright © 2013 Ethel K Coffey. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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