Chapter 28 - Carlos

 Carlos was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and he represented the fourth purebred dog in our family, joining the ranks of Polo, Chance, and Hubble Bubble. I discovered Carlos wandering through the neighborhood, and when I beckoned him, he eagerly ran towards me. Noticing his lack of a collar, I assumed he was a stray. My mother, understanding the void left by Lucky The Second, kindly allowed me to keep Carlos. I chose his name as a tribute to a member of my favorite boy band, Big Time Rush. Vatani grew fond of Carlos, while the cats and my skinny pig tolerated his presence. Carlos filled the emptiness left by Lucky The Second. However, he once infuriated me when he attempted to eat my skinny pig, Crowley. On one occasion, Carlos and Vatani cornered my cat, Peanut, who quickly retaliated, sending them scrambling over each other to escape. Carlos demonstrated his heroism one night by alerting me to the fact that the front door had been inadvertently left ajar as we were preparing for bed. Our time with Carlos spanned from October 2017 to January 2018, when unexpectedly, his original owners came knocking on our door, claiming him as their own. I was upset and confronted them, asking, "How many times did you drive past our house and see him in the backyard?" They admitted to having driven by several times during the three months we had him. My mother inquired, "Why are you only now coming to retrieve him?" and they were unable to provide a satisfactory response. Reluctantly, we returned Carlos to them. A month later, Carlos returned to our house, but his owners soon retrieved him once again. We never saw Carlos after that, and to this day, I harbor resentment towards his original owners and miss Carlos dearly.