Kipper the Amazing Dog

"No way. Absolutely not."

Logan hugged the ratty looking dog to his chest. "But he doesn't have a home. Look, he doesn't have a collar and he was eating garbage under the porch."

His mother sighed, indicating her patience was reaching its limit with her stubborn son. "I'll give you until Sunday to try to find his owner. If no one claims him, he goes to the pound. We don't need a dog."

Logan released the dog long enough to squeeze his mother in a grateful hug.

"Ugh, and take some shampoo outside and wash him off. He stinks like he rolled in something dead. And he stays outside! Don't try sneaking that dog into the house or that's the end of it." She turned her attention back to making dinner as Logan raced outside with his new friend.

She had kept her word and let the dog reside on the back porch while Logan littered the neighborhood with "Dog Found" posters. He was still working on a plan to convince her that the dog needed to stay when they were packing for the beach on Saturday.

"Can we please bring Kipper?"

"What's a Kipper?" Mom asked with half her attention while stuffing towels and coolers into the back of the car.

"My dog. I named him Kipper."

She stopped shifting the beach items and rested her forehead against the open trunk door. "You named it?"

"He needed a name. I like it," a small defensive voice replied. Why did it feel like he had done something wrong?

"It's harder to get rid of an animal once you name it."

"Oh," was the only response he could manage. At least now he understood why he still had a baby sister. A soft hand ran over his hair.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but we just can't keep him."

He won with a final plead to bring Kipper to the beach. He had hope that he could talk his mom out of the pound the next day.

Kipper yipped frantically in Logan's ear rousing him back from his semi-conscious state. He was dazed and unaware of the rising wave pulling their tiny bodies higher into the air.

The wave crested over their heads separating the pair for a few frantic moments. Logan's lungs burned from the salt water he sputtered past his lips. His arms paddled with the last of his strength when he was buoyed back up by a small, furry body tucked under his arm.

Kipper grunted with the effort of fighting to keep them both above the surface. The water began to pull again and Kipper yelped in warning. Logan dug his fingers into Kipper's fur, desperate to keep hold of the dog. No one else had heard his shouts for help. Only Kipper had swam out to save him.

When the waters receded and peaked, Logan released an ecstatic shout as he viewed the shoreline for a brief moment before being forced under again. He kicked and clawed at the water to reach the surface. The entire time his left hand secured in Kipper's fur.

He was determined not to cry, but his arms and legs were so tired and his eyes burned. His right arm stopped pulling at the water and his left hand loosened it's grip on Kipper. He could hear the insistent yips and barks directed at him, but was too drained to fight against the tide any more.

His small head slipped under the surface for only a moment. A strong arm pulled him clear out of the water and laid him across a board. He fought to call out to Kipper between hacking coughs.

"He's good. We got him," a reassuring voice informed him.

Logan managed to open his eyes enough to see Kipper standing on a surfboard, tail wagging with joy. A young surfer sat behind Kipper, paddling them both towards the shoreline.

"You're a lifeguard?" Logan croaked from his raw throat.

The man that had pulled Logan from the water smiled at his small companion and shook his head. "Not a lifeguard. They weren't as close as Jesse and I when we spotted you. Everyone was trying to get to you. We just got there first."

Logan nodded his understanding right before his stomach decided to purge the salt water he had swallowed. The surfer patted his back and patiently waited for him to finish.

"Feeling a little better now? That stuff can be wicked."

Logan could only close his eyes and rest his cheek against the board. He felt the small swells rise and fall as they rode into shore.

A gentle hand nudged him awake. He heard his mother's shrill voice calling his name. He was handed over like a parcel and clutched fiercely by the recipient.

A cluster of voices and shouts washed over him. Someone wrapped him in a blanket and for the first time he was aware he had been shivering.

His mother sat on the beach, her arms wrapped around his tired body, and sobbed with relief. She called out her gratitude to several people and answered questions in single word answers, but she refused to allow anyone to take Logan from her arms.

"Sorry, Mom," he whispered into her bright pink sundress.

"No no no, don't say sorry. Don't. I should have realized before...I'm sorry," her voice broke off with a fresh wave of tears. She sniffled with surprise as a familiar bark disrupted her breakdown.

"It's you."

Logan stirred at the tone of her voice. It wasn't like the previous times she had addressed Kipper, like she was smelling something unpleasant.

It was grateful.

"And you said I couldn't keep him," Logan smirked.

His mom laughed despite the circumstances. "Alright, alright. Keep the stupid dog."

Logan sighed with contentment. He now owned the most amazing, smartest life saving dog that existed.

"And don't call him stupid."