Jason's+Group

What people call normal is the typical family with children living in a quiet little neighborhood. Adults worked, and children got on their buses and attended school on a daily basis. People that live in your neighborhood expect everything to be calm and peaceful so you don't disturb your neighbors. Which means children are in by 6, and you don't leave your dogs out to bark and whine at your door. Sheryl and Casey had been married for years, and having a child was not on their minds so they never had any trouble obeying all the rules and regulations of their neighborhood. Sheryl was a UCFA (Under Cover Food Agent). She goes out to wild places and finds undiscovered foods that are good for you, and Casey is a trash man for his town. Their lives was pretty normal until one day while they were having dinner and enjoying the 6 o'clock news when Sheryl heard a quick bang. Casey didn't seem too worried so she didn't think anything of it. But the sound kept coming and coming, so Sheryl was getting worried. Everyone obeys the rules of the neighborhood and this was certainly breaking the noise regulations. It was getting louder and louder. Casey was hearing the sound now too. They were about to call the neighborhood president and report this noise so it would go away at once, but they wanted to figure out what it was coming from first. It was like nothing she had ever heard before. It was sort of like a snore, and struggle for air at the same time. They walked slowly to the front door, and Casey opened it hesitantly. They couldn't believe their eyes. laying right in front of their faces was the weirdest creature they're every seen. It's little head looked like a human, but from the neck down it was covered in **FUR**! Not hair, **FUR**! It was the ugliest baby they'd ever seen. The couple was so baffled that no one else had come to investigate this sound. There were no cars, no neighbors on their front lawns. The only living things outside besides them were the creature on the steps and a huge ugly bird on their roof. It was very cold out that evening, and Sheryl suggested that they bring it in. Casey had no idea what to call the little thing, so he came up with puplet. Neither of them were sure if it was a puppy or a human. After hours of talking the couple decided to adopt the little thing and take care of it as it was their own child. They named the ugly thing Kaila. They didn't know what to feed it, if she would eventually grow up and learn to talk, or if she would develop dog qualities, like barking and howling. Only time could tell...

A few years passed by, and Casey and Sheryl had fallen in love with their little puplet. They cared for her and treated her like they had conceived her themselves. Casey never wanted Kaila to feel unloved, or to feel like she was different from other children her age. On the other hand, Sheryl thought she should get out, make friends, have play dates and go to school like a normal child. So everyday that passed by made the decision harder because it was time for school to start. Kaila heard so many stories from her mother about how school is the best thing, and that she would learn something new everyday and meet new people. But Kaila had never seen anyone other then her two parents. She didnt own a T.V. in her house or a computer because Casey didn't want her to realize that she was different. The only things that were in the house were a few books that kaila couldn't read yet, and the millions of toys that they spoiled her with. Allowing her to go to school would be a HUGE step for them. Kaila was such a daddy's little girl, they spent all their time together, so the thought of school was so scary to Casey. He thought he would lose his close bond with his daughter, and he couldn't even bear to think of that. She he came up with a brilliant idea, he offered to quit his job and home school Kaila until she was ready for middle school. Sheryl eventually gave in because Casey wasn’t going to give in. So throughout her elementary education she was home schooled and she ended up being much smarter then most children her age.

When Kaila finally reached the age of eleven, and she believed she was read yto start public school, Casey still wasn’t ready to let her go. He couldn’t believe that his baby girl was going to MIDDLE school. He was so afraid that she was going to be teased until she cried, and that her self-esteem that they spent so much time and effort building up for her was going to be diminished. They spent time everyday telling her how pretty she was, and how lucky she was to have such a beautiful curly tail. Unfortunately, they both knew it was time to let go. They enrolled her in school and finally took her out in public to go school supply shopping. She picked out all the prettiest notebooks, and her parents disregarded the expensive prices of the fancy clothes they were buying her. When school started off it was worse then they ever imagined. She finally realized that she was different and her parents deeply regretted not opening her up to the new world earlier. Kaila was teased until she cried, and the students of Chicago Middle School played the meanest tricks imaginable on her. They went to such extreme measures to make fun of her. Some students bought her fancy collars with leashes to match, some brought in bones and squeaky play toys and threw them at her during class. One of the most extreme stunts happened during Kaila’s last year of middle school. It was so degrading and humiliating that Kaila came home saying she would never return to school again. She was crying so hard that it took her so long to explain what was wrong to Casey and Sheryl. The students wrote a secret “friendship letter” to Kaila, saying that they wanted to be friends and if Kaila wanted to have a new friend she had to meet them in the cafeteria before school at 7 o’clock. So Kaila got up early for school, dressed in her best clothes and had Sheryl take her to school. She walked into the cafeteria and found that it was empty. She was pretty confused so she sat down. She started reading a book when she saw ten people coming at her from all angles. They were wearing all black, and they all had ski masks on. They grabbed her up faster than she could run away on her short little legs and they carried her into another room. She was struggling to get loose from their grip when she was dropped abruptly with a thump. She heard the locking of a dog cage door. Then the cage that the students had placed her in was lifted off the ground and hoisted up into the display case. They locked the display case and ran away in all directions. She was in there all day, with every student staring and laughing at her. The students were eventually caught, and punished greatly. Her parents wanted Kaila to be strong, so they made her continue with school with the hopes that High School would be a little better.

Kaila stayed in her house all summer long after her 8th grade year just wishing that High School would never come. When the last day of summer was over she had to go to school and she knew it would be a disaster. When she got to school everything was going fine until she passed four girls in the hallway, and they told her to go fetch. She was so upset she went in the bathroom crying and skipped two classes. When Kaila was crying in the bathroom another girl named Kim walked in and said, "What’s your name?" Kaila said "You’re not going to call me names are you?" Kim replied, "No, I just want to have a friend. I’m new here and I haven’t been able to meet anyone. "Are you sure you want to talk to me, after all I am different" said Kaila. "I know what you are, you’re a puplet and I don’t care. A person is a person" said Kim. Kaila and Kim became best friends skipping every class that day just to get to know each other. When Kaila went home that day her parents feared the worst but were confused when she came home with a smile on her face. Her parents asked how her day was and she exclaimed "I made my first friend today." Her parents were so happy they went out to dinner at the best place they could find. Kaila was now excited to go to school she didn’t care about other students calling her names. All she cared about was that she had a friend for the first time in her life. Everything was going fine with her first friendship until Kim asked Kaila to come over her house. When Kaila got there she was disliked by Kim's parents. Her parents parent’s refused Kaila to be allowed in their house and didn't want Kim going over Kaila's house ever again. When Kaila got home that day she was so upset she didn't come out of her room for the whole night. The next day when Kaila went to school she met up with Kim and Kim acted like she wasn't even there. Kaila was now back to having no friends and being bullied everyday.

Kim eventually e-mailed Kaila about six months after her parents had forbidden them to be friends. She told Kaila how deeply sorry she was, and she was sorry that her parents couldn’t accept Kaila for the way she was. She said she knew that Kaila couldn’t help being half dog, and she wished she could change her parents minds. Kim was almost eighteen now, and she had told her parents that once she was the age of eighteen was officially an adult, that she was going to go back to being friends with her first friend in Chicago. Kaila, of course. Kaila was so excited. She knew Kim couldn’t be as mean as she seemed on that day when she pretended she couldn’t see of hear Kaila anymore. They decided to meet for lunch on Kim’s birthday. Kaila only has six weeks to wait until she can reunite with her first true friend. Fortunately, during those lonely six months without Kim in her life, Kaila had gone to many therapy sessions and she had learned to accept herself the way that she is. She knew that she was ugly, and that society would always look at her funny in public. But she accepted that. She finally had a true friend, and she had always had her two loving parents that had taken her in and loved her since the day she was left on her doorstep. Her parents made her who she was today, and even though her struggle was much more than what normal children and teens go through growing up, that she would be fine. All the teasing, dog toys, leashes, and jokes played on her had only made her stronger. She has all she needs in life now, confidence will get her through anything that life throws at her.