The Fastest Puppy

Buzzy was the fastest puppy in the neighborhood.

Mr. Wixwax took him and his two brothers to the dog park. Now they could race and race. Buzzy’s brothers got tired. Buzzy still wanted to run as fast as he could.

“Come on Bingo. Come on Rafe. Let´s go.”

“I’m tired,” Bingo told him.

“I want to take a nap,” Rafe said.

Buzzy saw two puppies playing in the grass. “Do you want to run?” Buzzy asked.

They all started to run. Soon Buzzy was far ahead of them.

“You’re too fast,” one of the puppies said.

No one wanted to race with Buzzy.

Then a puppy named Ruffy told Buzzy about a race. It was for all the puppies in the neighborhood.

On the day of the race the puppies lined up. “One, two, three, go.”

Buzzy ran as fast as he could. Some of the other puppies were fast too. Buzzy was almost out of breath.

Buzzy saw the finish line He started to run faster than ever before. Another puppy was ahead of him.

Buzzy ran even faster. He crossed the finish line ahead of the other puppy.

There would be another race. This one was for all the puppies who had won races in their neighborhoods. The race would be one week later.

Buzzy  ran every day so he’d be ready for the big race.

One day Buzzy stepped on a piece of broken glass. “Ow, ow, ow,” he cried. His front paw had a deep cut. He walked home on three paws instead of four.

What could he do? He wanted to race. His brothers wanted him to race. Mr. Wixwax wanted him to race.

Buzzy didn’t tell anyone about the cut paw.

Saturday morning Mr. Wixwax took Buzzy and his brothers to the race.

Buzzy’s paw hurt.

All the puppies lined up. “One, two, three, go!”

Buzzy tried not to limp. First one puppy passed him. Then another and another. He couldn’t disappoint his brothers. He couldn’t disappoint Mr. Wixwax. Soon he was able to catch up to most of the other dogs. The end of the race was just ahead. The puppy he’d beat last week was ahead of him. Buzzy tried to run faster. He couldn’t. The other puppy raced across the finish line.

Buzzy’s brothers and Mr. Wixwax hurried up to him.

“Did you hurt your paw?” Mr. Wixwax asked.

At first Buzzy didn’t want to answer. “You were all counting on me to win,” Buzzy said. “I couldn’t let you down.”

“You’re a hero,” Rafe said. “Most puppies wouldn’t have been in the race with a hurt paw “I’m going to tell everyone how brave you are.”

“No!” Buzzy said. “Let the other puppy feel good about winning.”

Mr. Wixwax looked at Buzzy’s paw. “You’re very brave.”

“I’m glad the dog from our neighborhood won,” Buzzy said.

Buzzy sighed. He was happy.