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“Happy birthday to y-” the children stopped suddenly as they looked towards where Terry
was sitting. But he wasn’t sitting there, he wasn’t sitting anywhere, he was gone. Out of the
corner of his eye, Drew saw Earl and Doris with a cage covered by a blanket. Earl opened the
trunk of a car and placed the cage in, when a bark came out of the cage that could only be
Terry. Drew grabbed Riley’s hand and raced towards the car. Suddenly, Riley’s hand slipped
out of Drew’s and she fell to the ground.
“Riley!” Drew cried, falling to his knees next to her.
“I’m alright,” Riley said dusting herself off to find only a scab on her knee. “Look, the car!”
Drew cast his eyes to the road where the car was disappearing in the distance leaving them
defeated in a cloud of dust.