Wilfred

The News

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, just like all the Friday afternoons that Spring, or so Will Wilson thought. He had always thought that name was a little cruel, but his parents insisted that it was just a family name. He was spending the afternoon at his favorite pond with his best friend Fred. Will had his fishing rod with him, but all he really wanted to do was sit under the biggest tree he could find and watch Fred chase rabbits.
Will was dressed the way he almost always was, in a pair of old jeans that had lots of signs of hard, outdoor play on them, a plain t-shirt that wore just as many scars as the jeans, and his dirty, beat up running shoes. It wasn’t that his clothes weren’t clean, they were, his mom made sure of that, it was just that he spent so much time outside that they never looked clean. As for his shoes, they were actually pretty new, he just broke them in fast.
Will looked very much like his clothes, well worn from years of playing. Again, not to say that he wasn’t clean, his mom made sure of that too, but he had just as many scars from playing as his clothes did. He couldn’t remember the last time he didn’t have a bandage somewhere on his arms or legs. He was fairly sure that his fingernails had never been truly clean, no matter how much he or his mom scrubbed them. And his hair, his hair was that colour of blonde that always looked like he had just been rolling around in the dirt, which was good, because quite often he had been. His mom
liked to keep his hair short, for that very reason.
None of that really mattered though, everyone else at Will’s school looked and dressed pretty much the same, and they were all pretty happy most of the time. The only thing he really would have liked to change was his height, he was at least two inches shorter than all the other kids in his class. Nobody ever said anything to him about it, but he still would have liked to be at least as tall as his friends.
Fred was a big, fluffy, sloppy, drooly, happy sheep dog. He was one of those sheep dogs that always looked like his face is wet and dirty, and quite often it was wet and dirty. He almost always looked happy too. If it was possible for a dog to smile, Fred could smile with the best of them.

Will and Fred were always together. Every morning Fred would follow Will to school, and every afternoon he would be waiting for Will outside the school to walk home with him. Will had other friends, lots of them in fact, but Fred was his best friend. They were together so much that
Will’s friends, and even his family, had started calling them Wilfred, just to make things easier.
“Wilfred, dinner time” called Will’s mother. Will thought it was a little early for dinner, but he called to Fred and the two of them ran back to the house. It was the only house he had ever lived in. In fact, it was also the only house his dad had ever lived in too.
The house, and the farm it was on, had been in his family ever since his grandparents had bought it. That was back before his dad was born, and judging by the pictures hanging in the living room, it hadn’t changed much in that time. It was an old, wooden house that always looked like it needed something fixed or painted, which it usually did.
Will’s room was on the second floor, right above the living room. It was a great room in the summer, not too hot, and he could look out his window and see his pond. The winter was a very different story. In late fall every year Will’s room started to get hot, and it stayed hot right up until mid spring. That was because the chimney from the fire place in the living room ran right through Will’s room. His grandfather had built a wall around it when it had been his dad’s room, so that he wouldn’t get burned, but it still got very hot in the winter. But Will never thought about how old the house was,it was his home, it was exactly how it was supposed to be.
When they got to the house they found Wills’ parents
sitting at the table, but dinner was still on the stove.
“What’s for dinner?” Will asked.
“We have to talk to you about something before we eat” said Will’s father.
“We know this is going to be hard for you to hear, but we hope you’ll get as excited about it as we are” he continued.
Will was a little nervous about all this, but he figured if mom and dad were
excited about it, it couldn’t be that bad.
“Okay, so what’s this big news?” he asked.
Mom and Dad looked at each other, tried their best to smile, then at the same time they both said “We’re leaving Clear Creek and moving to the city”.
Will didn’t know what to say to that. Hadn’t he just been thinking that it couldn’t be that bad? He was wrong, it really was that bad. He sat there for a few minutes thinking, then finally asked “When are we going?”
They looked at each other again, and again they tried to smile “Next weekend, this week will be your last in Ms. Malloy’s class” his mother answered.
The rest of dinner went by in silence. Will didn’t want to talk to his mom and dad, and they didn’t know what to say to him. All through dinner Fred sat under the table, leaning on Will’s legs.

Will’s Secret

The rest of the weekend was just as beautiful as Friday had been, but to Will it was dark and rainy all weekend. He didn’t go to his pond. He didn’t play outside with Fred. He stayed in his room and didn’t play with any of his toys. He tried his best to pack up his toys like his parents asked, but he didn’t get too far with it. Fred, of course, stayed with him.
The walk to school on Monday was dark and rainy, in the same way that the weekend had been dark and rainy. Will walked as slowly as he could, while Fred ran up ahead, then back to him. Fred must have made the walk to school three times that day, just running back to Will.
Clear Creek Elementary School was a small school, tiny really. There were only seven classes in the whole school, one for each grade. It was an old school too, Will was fairly sure that not only his parents, but his grandparents had also gone to Clear Creek.
The school was basically just a long hallway with eight doors coming off the sides, seven classrooms and a small library. There were also a pair of large double doors at the end of the hallway that led into the gym. The gym hardly ever got used, except during snow storms in the winter and for school plays. There was no principal’s office, theprincipal just worked out of his classroom.
Outside the school was a big field that they shared with Clear Creek High School. There was also a playground that was really a little too big for a school with just seven classes, but you couldn’t tell any of the kids parents that, they insisted on getting together every couple of summers and adding some new toy or ride. None of the kids ever complained about that.
“Wilfred, come and play with us” called Simon and Samantha Fisher. Simon and Samantha were twins in Will’s class, and they were almost as close as Will and Fred. They were also two of Will’s best friends, two of his best human
friends anyway.
Simon and Samantha weren’t what you would expect from twins. They didn’t look anything alike. Simon was the only one of Will’s friends that was even close to his height, while Samantha was at least two inches taller than Simon. Samantha was tall and thin, Simon, while far from being fat, was short and stocky. Samantha always had her long hair in a pony tail, usually pulled through the back of a baseball hat. Will had never seen her with her hair down, not once. Simon had long hair too, not as long as Samantha’s, but he still had a hard time keeping it out of his eyes. He didn’t keep it long because he like how it looked, he just didn’t like getting his hair cut.
As different as they looked, Simon and Samantha liked almost all the same things, and disliked almost all the same things. That was probably why Will was so close to both of
them.
Fred was always excited to see Simon and Samantha, Simon always seemed to have something good to eat in his pockets. Will secretly thought he did that just for the big
fluffy hug Fred gave him every time he smelled him.
Will and Fred walked to the monkey bars where Simon and Samantha were playing, trying to smile like his mom and dad had on Friday when they told him the “exciting” news about moving to the city. He really didn’t want to talk about any of that, so he put on his best smile and played until the morning bell rang.
Will said goodbye to Fred, just like every other morning, and just like every other morning Fred ran home to spend the day eating and sleeping before the walk back to the school in the afternoon.
Will smiled and played at recess and lunch, worked in class like always, and met Fred outside like always, but it was still dark and rainy. Will usually stayed to play with Simon and Samantha after school, but not today. As soon as he got Fred’s nose out of Simon’s pocket he started walking home.
The week passed that way until Friday. Will walked to and from school under the beautiful, clear, rainy sky. Fred ran. Will tried to smile. He didn’t tell anyone what was happening. When he got to school that last Friday he didn’t know if he should tell anyone that it was his last day or not. He was planning on telling Simon and Samantha on the weekend before he left, but he didn’t know if he wanted to deal with explaining it to everyone else. What he didn’t know that morning was that the decision to tell everyone wasn’t his anymore.

The Secret Gets Out

The day started just like all the other days that week. The only thing he thought would be different was that it was his day to be class gardener. All that meant was that while the rest of the class was cleaning up the classroom before the end of the day he got to pick two friends to take with him to their small garden outside. They had to water the plants, pull out the weeds, and make sure the net was over the garden so the birds didn’t get in and eat everything over the weekend.
Will usually loved being the class gardener, but today it just seemed like another chore. He decided he wanted to spend his last day as class gardener with Simon and Samantha. The three of them went outside to look after the garden.
Will watered the plants while Simon and Samantha pulled out the weeds. Then the three of them made sure the net was on properly. Will was in his usual bad mood, usual for that week at least. But Simon and Samantha seemed excited about something. Every time Will looked at them they were whispering to each other about something. He wasn’t sure what it was all about, and he really didn’t care that much. He was going to miss them, and he just wanted to feel sorry for himself.
Their job done, Will, Simon and Samantha walked slowly back to class. Well, Will walked slowly, Simon and Samantha ran. By the time Will got to the class door they were already inside and the door was closed. He opened the door and went in, expecting to find everyone in the cloak room getting ready to go, but they were all still at their desks.
That was when he noticed it. A big banner hanging at the front of the class that said “Goodbye Will, we’ll miss you”. There was a big cake on his desk with a picture of him and Fred on it. There was a big dog bone too. Then, out of the cloak room came a grey and white blur running right at Will. Fred stood beside Will, leaning on him, staring at the bone he knew was going to be his, while Will tried to figure out what was happening.
“We know this has been a hard week for you Will, and we wanted to send you off to the city with a big going away party” announced Ms. Malloy “and we thought it would be wrong to say goodbye to you without Fred here too” she smiled.
“But, how did you know?” Will asked.
“I was worried about you this week, so I called your mom and dad to make sure you were okay, they told me everything” she answered “now let’s have some cake”.
They ate cake, a few of Will’s friends gave him going away presents, they played games, and Fred ran around the class trying to get as much cake as he could. It was a lot of fun. It was the first time that week that Will had smiled, really smiled.

Saying Goodbye

The next day was a long one for Will. He still had some packing to do, Simon and Samantha were coming to play one last time, and they had to drive to their new house in the city that night.
Simon and Samantha were coming at about eleven that morning, so Will decided to get up early and finish his packing. It really wasn’t that bad, his mom had already taken care of his clothes, and his dad had his furniture ready to go. Will just had to deal with his toys, and Fred’s too of course.
Everything was done and ready to go by eleven when Simon and Samantha got there. Will was sitting at the kitchen table, or where it had been anyway, it was already on the truck, when he heard them yell to him from outside “Wilfred, come out and play”, in stereo of course. Fred was out and on Simon, digging in his pockets, before Will even made it to the front door.
After Will helped Samantha pull Fred off Simon they all ran to the barn to get their fishing rods. Will had decided that he wanted to spend his last day with his two best human
friends fishing in his favorite pond.
The three of them sat on the grass with their fishing rods in their hands talking. Simon and Samantha asked him about his new school. They asked him about his new house. They asked him about a bunch of things. Will didn’t have any answers for them. He had been so upset about the whole thing that he hadn’t bothered to ask his mom and dad anything about their new home. He kind of wished he had more answers for them, but he still didn’t really want to think about it that much. He just figured he would find out all that stuff when he got there.
They finished fishing, each with a couple of fish to show for their time, with about an hour before Will had to leave for the city. The four of them, Wilfred, Simon and Samantha, squeezed as many of their favorite games into that time as they could. They ran, they hid, they tagged, they did
everything they usually did, but faster, and with just a little sadness behind their laughter.
No matter how fast they played they just didn’t seem to have enough time. Before any of them were ready to say goodbye Will’s dad came to tell him it was time to go. So they played another five minutes. This time Will’s mom came to get him. They all started walking toward the car, all
of them walking slowly this time.
“We can take Simon and Samantha home on our way if you want” Will’s dad said.
“That would be great” Simon and Samantha said together.
Will thought it was a pretty good idea too, it meant they could spend a few more minutes together.
Will’s dad was driving the moving truck, his mom was driving their car. The kids all went with his mom, Fred sitting in the front seat, Will in the back between Simon and Samantha.
“When are you coming back to visit” Samantha asked Will.
“I don’t know, soon I hope, but it’s a long way away” Will answered.
“Maybe we can go to your new house for a visit too” Simon said.
“Can they mom?” Will asked.
“Of course, any time they want” mom answered.
By the time they got to Simon and Samantha’s house it had all been decided that they would go for a visit that summer. At least it had been decided by the kids, Simon and Samantha’s mom and dad still had to hear about it, but everyone was sure they would say yes.
They all got out of the car and said their goodbyes’. Simon and Samantha each gave Will a hug, then Fred, who couldn’t help but poke his nose into Simons’ pocket one last time. They were all feeling much better now that they knew they would see each other again in a few month

Driving to the City

Will and Fred got back into the car, this time Will in the front seat and Fred in the back. Before they could leave Simon came running out of the house carrying something. It was a present for Will, and Fred of course. Simon told them not to open it until they were at the new house.
It was going to be a long drive to their new house, but now Will had something to look forward to once he got there. They were going to meet his dad for dinner about half way, and Will wanted to ride the rest of the way to the city in the moving van with his dad. That was about the only thing
about the drive to the city that Will was looking forward to, other than opening his present once they got there. It was going to be fun being so high up, looking down at all the other cars on the road. Will had never been in a truck that he had to climb into before, it was an exciting thought.
After about two hours they met Wills’ dad at a little restaurant on the side of the road, the kind you always see on the side of the road but never stop at. It was fun, Will was allowed to eat whatever he wanted for dinner. Usually his mom and dad had rules about what he could get, nothing too big, nothing too greasy, that kind of thing, but this time there were no rules. He got a great big cheese burger with french fries, and he had a piece of cake with ice cream for desert.
As great as that was, it wasn’t even the best part. The best part was when it was time to go. Mom and dad actually let Will pay for dinner. They gave him the money. They stayed at the table and finished their coffee while Will went to the counter to pay. They waited there for him to bring the change back to them. They even let him put the tip on the table. He knew what they were doing, that they were trying to make him forget about all the huge changes in his life, and he didn’t really mind, not right then anyway.
Will was right, it really was fun climbing into a big truck. His dad tried to help him up onto the stairs into the truck, but Will wanted to do it himself. It took him a couple of minutes, but soon he was fastening his seat belt and getting ready for the rest of the drive to the city. He hadn’t thought about it until now, but the truck really was very high up, too high for Fred to climb up. “Oh well, I guess Fred will have to keep riding with mom” Will thought to himself.
Mom was actually pretty happy about that, it was getting late and she figured she could use the company for the rest of the drive. It was weird for both Will and Fred to be away from each other that long, outside school at least. Neither of them minded though, it was only going to be a couple of
hours.
Will was right again, it was a lot of fun sitting up so high and looking down at all the other cars. He counted the cars they passed. He played with the radio. After a while he got bored with all that and decided he should probably find out a little about their new home. He didn’t really know what to ask, so he just asked his dad what their new house was like. It sounded pretty good, there was a park across the road, a swimming pool in the back yard, a nice big yard for Fred to play in, there was even a dog house in the yard, but Fred would never use that, he slept in Wills’ room. It sounded like a pretty nice place, but Will didn’t think it would ever be home, not really.
          Feeling a little better about things now, Will went back to counting cars. The next thing he knew his dad was waking him up, telling him that they were there.

The First Night

Rubbing his eyes, Will looked out the truck window at his new home. It was too dark to really see anything, but he could see that there was a nice big yard, and the house seemed nice enough. He carefully climbed down out of the truck, it really was very high. Mom and Fred must have got there first, because as soon as Will got down Fred came running out of the house to meet him.
Mom had all the sleeping bags and overnight stuff that they would need for that night, so they left everything in the moving truck and went inside.
“Want to see the new house?” Dad asked Will.
“Guess so” Will yawned back. Dad showed him his bedroom, the living room, the playroom in the basement, and he turned on the lights and showed him the swimming pool in the back yard. It was a nice house, but still, could it really be home?
It was pretty late already, and they had another busy day tomorrow, so mom and dad decided it was time for everyone to go to bed.
“If you want we can all sleep down here tonight Will” mom said.
Will thought about it for a minute, then decided that he might as well try and get used to his new bedroom right away. “I think I’ll try sleeping upstairs” he replied.
He took his sleeping bag upstairs, looked around his room, decided where his bed should go and laid his sleeping bag out there. Then he went and found the bathroom, brushed his teeth, went back to his new room, changed into his pajamas and climbed into his sleeping bag.
Will was lying in his sleeping bag, Fred at his feet, trying to go to sleep, when he remembered the package from Simon and Samantha. Simon had said not to open it until he was at the new house, so Will figured it would be okay to open it now. He wasn’t unpacked or anything yet, but he was in his new house. He was even sleeping in his new bedroom.
He got up and got the package out of his coat pocket. Usually he liked to try and guess what a present was before he opened it, but this time he didn’t feel like waiting, he just wanted to know what it was.
Sitting on the floor of his new room, with Fred’s head on his lap, under the bright light from his un-shaded light, Will ripped the paper off his present. When he saw it he started to smile, then felt like crying. It was a picture of Will and Samantha trying to pull Fred off Simon, Fred trying desperately to get at whatever it was Simon had in his pocket that day. He didn’t remember that day exactly, they did that so many times it would be impossible to remember every time, but it was still a good memory.
”Remember this?” Will said, showing the picture to Fred, who licked the picture frame and then looked up at Will. To Will it looked like Fred was feeling the same way he was.
He got back into his sleeping bag, got as comfortable as he could, Fred back at his feet, and picked up the picture to look at it again. He wasn’t sure if he was happy to have the picture or sad. Looking at it reminded him that he was a long way away from his friends, but it also reminded him that he had good friends to miss.

The First Day

Will woke up the next morning with his picture still in his hand. He could hear noise downstairs, and he thought he could smell breakfast cooking. Usually mom and dad woke him up first thing in the morning, before they made breakfast. He got up, rolled up his sleeping bag, put his picture on the windowsill and went downstairs.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” he asked his mom, rubbing his eyes.
His mom put a plate of eggs and sausage in front of him. “I thought you could use a little extra sleep, it’s been a busy couple of days for you.”
She wasn’t kidding about that, it had been an exhausting week.
“Hey, when did the table come inside?” Will asked.
“Your dad got up early and started bringing the furniture in,” mom said. “You should see the living room.”
Just then there was a loud bang near the front door. When they got to the door to see what it was they found dad, dancing on one foot, biting his hand, trying not to yell. The coffee table was lying on the floor, on it’s side, very close to dads feet.
Once dad had finished dancing he started to laugh. “I never should have carried that by myself” he said between laughing and the occasional hop to take the weight off his sore foot.
“Come and have some breakfast” mom said “you’ve earned a break”.
“Good idea, we’ve got all day to do this, no need to hurry” dad said as he hopped into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
After a nice family breakfast, the first they’d had in a few weeks, Will went back to the living room to help dad finish putting the coffee table away. The morning went pretty much like that until lunch, the three of them bringing furniture and boxes into the house, sometimes dropping things, but since the coffee table on the foot incident there hadn’t been any more big accidents. Nobody dared to carry anything big on their own since then.
“Anyone for pizza?” dad yelled from the kitchen. Will almost dropped his end of the big box he and mom were carrying in his excitement. They almost never had pizza. That was mostly because the closest pizza restaurant to their old house had been almost an hour away. That, and mom’s rules about what they were and weren’t allowed to eat. There always had to be some kind of vegetables with every meal.
“As long as one is vegetarian” mom called back.
About half an hour later they were sitting on a blanket in the front yard, eating their pizza, laughing about dads little dance earlier, and trying not to let Fred get all the pizza. Just down the street there was a group of boys, maybe a year or two older than Will, playing street hockey.
“Why don’t you go play with them after lunch” dad said to Will “I’m sure they have an extra stick for you”.
Right about then one of them shot the ball a little too hard, and not quite at the net. The ball came flying down the street, right in front of Fred. Fred loved to chase things. The only thing he liked better than chasing them was catching them and taking them back to Will. Normally that made for a fun game, but this time it wasn’t quite so much fun.
Just as Fred was dropping the ball in Will’s lap one of the boys came running down the street after it. Everyone Will had ever known would have just walked up to him and asked for the ball back, and usually they would have asked if Will wanted to play, but it seemed like things were going to be different in the city.
“Hey kid, give me that ball back” the boy yelled from the sidewalk “and keep that away from me” he added, pointing at Fred.
The boy didn’t look like any of Will’s old friends. He was tall and had long blonde hair that looked like it didn’t go a single morning without being washed and had never seen a speck of dirt. He was wearing what looked like a brand new hockey jersey and a hat that was just as new with the same picture on it as the jersey. What stuck out the most to Will was his shoes. They were gleaming white, like they had never been near dirt or mud.
Will threw him the ball, got up and went into the house, leaving his pizza unfinished. He spent the rest of the day in his bedroom with Fred, unpacking his boxes and looking at his picture. Mom and Dad tried to go in and talk to him a few times, but he didn’t want to talk, he just wanted to be back home with Simon and Samantha.

Back to School

Will woke up the next morning, looked around his new room, and for the first time he could remember just closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. He had tried not to think about it up until now, but he knew that today was his first day at his new school, and he was dreading it. He didn't know anything about it, just that Dad had registered him already, and his new teacher was expecting him.
Mom had to come and get Will when he didn't come downstairs like usual. After a very quiet breakfast Will picked up his back pack, the same dusty, beat up back pack that he had used the last two years at Clear Creek, and went out to the car. It was weird for him to be driven to school, but he had
no idea where he was going, or even who his teacher was. Fred naturally ran to the door when he saw Will pick up his back pack, and seemed a little confused when Will opened the car door for him.
The ride to school was just as quiet as breakfast had been. Will didn't want to talk, and Mom didn't really know what to say, so they drove in silence, Fred in the back seat with his head between the front seats, licking Will's arm every few minutes.
After a short drive they pulled up to a big, ugly brick building that looked to Will like an old hospital. Will had never thought it was possible for a school to have more than one floor before. If there hadn't been hundreds of kids outside he never would have recognized it as a school. As soon as Will opened his door to get out Fred shot up between the seats and out the door, too fast for Will or Mom to stop him. Before Will could get out and catch him there was a loud blast from a car horn, and the squeal of tires, then someone yelling “Get that big mutt off the road”. Will ran to Fred and threw his arms around him. Before he knew what was happening there was a crowd of kids around him, a lot of them laughing as he hugged Fred and cried quietly to himself. The hockey player from yesterday was there too, laughing the loudest.
Mom was kneeling next to him, her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Eventually she managed to get him calm enough to stand up, get Fred back in the car, and find their way to Will's new classroom.
It was still early, so there were no kids in the classroom yet. The door to the room was open, and a man was in the class, busily working on a computer. Mom knocked on the door and walked in. “You must be Mr. Strall” she said, holding her hand out to him.
“And you must be Mrs. Wilson” he replied, shaking her hand.
“And that would make you Will” this time offering his hand to Will. “Welcome to 10th Avenue Elementary, and Division 3-5. You will be sitting with the group at the front of the class, in the empty desk with your name tag on it. Go ahead and put your things away in your desk while your mother and I talk for a bit”.
Will took his back pack, found his desk, and put his books and supplies away. It only took a minute or two, so he started to look around the room a bit while Mom and Mr. Strall talked. It wasn't anything like his classroom in Clear Creek. For starters, there were four computers at the back of the room. His old school had one computer in each class, and that was on the teachers desk. There were also a lot more desks here. There had only been fifteen other kids in Ms. Malloy's class, but there had to be at least thirty desks here. The view out the window was very different too. His old class looked out on the playground and class garden. The window here looked out at the parking lot and basketball court, from the second floor of the school.
Just as he was getting around to the hooks at the back of the class, to see if there was one for him already, the bell rang. He ran to Mom, sure that she wouldn't, but still afraid that she would leave without saying goodbye.
“Are you coming back to pick me up today?” Will asked, almost starting to cry again.
“Of course I am, just meet me at the stairs at the front
door, I'll be there before the bell rings” she comforted him, still fighting back the tears. It wasn't so much that he was starting at a new school, or even what had happened to Fred in the parking lot, it was how different everything was that was upsetting Will.
“Will you bring Fred with you too?” he asked, trying to calm himself down as the first of the other students started coming in and getting ready for the day.
“You don't think he would let me leave him at home, do you?” Mom joked, finally getting a bit
of a smile out of Will.
She gave him one last kiss and watched him sit down at his desk with his new classmates before she left, having to fight back tears herself.

Meeting the Class

Will sat at his desk and watched the rest of the kids come in to the class. They all seemed to know exactly what they were doing, which was good, Will could just watch how things worked and figure out what he should do tomorrow.
Gradually the other kids in his group came and sat down. Every time someone sat down Will tried to work up the courage to say hi, but he couldn't do it. This was the first time he had ever been in a classroom with people he didn't know, and he had no idea what to do.
Before he knew what was happening one of the other kids, Adam according to his name tag, grabbed Will's notebook.
“Nice dog, is it yours?” he asked, pointing at a picture of Fred that Will had doodled on the cover.
“That's Fred, we just moved here” Will mumbled back.
“I've got a dog too, his name is Tiger. It's kind of a joke name, he's tiny, and scared of everything. He's really more my moms dog” Adam went on, barely seeming to hear Will.
Adam actually looked a lot like the kids from Will's old school. His hair was a little messier than most of the kids Will had seen so far. You might even say it was shaggy. His clothes and shoes weren't as beat up as Will's, but they certainly weren't as clean and shiny as most of the other kids. He actually looked quite a lot like Will, just a little taller, of course.
It went on that way, Adam talking, Will just barely listening, until Mr. Strall went to the front of the class.
“I would like you all to welcome Will to our class.” Mr. Strall began. “Please introduce yourselves when you have a chance and make Will feel at home. Now, lets have a look at your homework from yesterday”
And that was it, that was Will's introduction to 10th Avenue Elementary, Division 3-5. At least all, or most anyway, of the kids did introduce themselves at recess, but Will still ended up walking around the playground on his own at recess and lunch. That rain cloud was still hanging over him, and it didn't seem to be going anywhere soon. It didn't help that Will kept seeing the hockey player, he heard someone call him Brad, pointing and laughing every time they were in the same part of the playground.
That was pretty much how the day went. Class went on as usual for all the other kids, Adam kept talking every chance he got, and Will didn't really notice much that was going on. He was homesick and feeling sorry for himself still.
The one bright spot was that Ms. Malloy's class seemed to be ahead of Mr. Strall's, so Will was finding the work quite easy.
The day actually went fairly quickly, and before Will knew it Mr. Strall was telling the class to pack up and get ready to go home. It was another new routine, so Will stayed back to see how it was all done here before he got ready. Of course, Adam was right there talking to him the whole time, something about a new computer game this time. He was feeling a little more comfortable by the end of the day, but he was still just drifting through, not really wanting to be there.
When the bell finally rang to let them go home the halls filled up almost before it stopped ringing. There were more kids at 10th Avenue than Will had ever seen before, and at the end of the day they were louder than anything he had heard before.
By the time he finally got down all the stairs and out the front door he found Mom and Fred standing at the bottom of the stairs. Fred licked his hand, but didn't jump up the way he normally did. The crowd and the noise seemed to be upsetting him as much as it was Will. Something else wasn't quite right about Fred either. It took Will a few seconds to notice it, but Fred had a collar and leash on, he had never had either before today.
“Why is Fred wearing a leash Mom?” Will asked, a little worried about Fred.
“He's so used to being able to run all over the place, and walk to school to meet you, we didn't want him wandering off and getting hurt” she explained. It made sense, but Fred
looked so sad.
“How did your day go?” Mom went on. “Mr. Strall seems nice enough.”
“He's okay. Class was easy, and everyone was nice enough, but it's not the same. Everything is so big!” Will answered, paying attention to what someone was saying for the first time all day.
Mom held Fred's leash for the whole walk home, it wasn't something Will had ever done, or even felt like he knew how to do. Fred was his friend, holding a leash for him would just be weird.
“Can I walk to school myself tomorrow Mom?” Will was surprised to hear himself ask.
“If you still want to in the morning, I don't see why not. If you're sure” Mom answered, squeezing his hand a little tighter.
“Thanks” Will answered, and then didn't say much more for the rest of the walk home, or for the rest of the night really. There was so much to take in and so much to think about from the day. He was feeling a little better, but still had a bit of rain falling around him.

Nightmare

“Do you still want to walk to school on your own?” Mom asked, putting a plate of pancakes and sausage down in front of Will.
“Yeah, I think so, but will you meet me after school again?” he asked, cutting into his stack of pancakes, and naturally dripping some syrup on his clean school shirt.
“We'll be there before the bell rings” she said, patting Fred on the head and sneaking him
a piece of sausage.
When he was done his breakfast, Will grabbed his backpack, gave Mom and Dad both a hug, and Fred too of course, and hurried out the door, closing it behind himself before Fred could get out. He had no problem remembering the rout to school, but it was really weird doing it without Fred. It was the first time he could remember not having Fred with him for the walk to school.
Adam was the first person Will saw when he got near the school, and just like yesterday he started talking right away, and didn't seem worried if Will was listening or not. It was okay though, Will was starting to like Adam, and it was good to have a friend. He wasn't Simon or Samantha, but he was nice.
The day went pretty much like Monday had, but today Will was a little more involved in the class, and he actually talked to a few people on the playground at recess. Things seemed to be going better, until he went out to play at lunch. He and Adam went out a side door to the playground, but when he looked over at the main entrance he saw Mom there. She looked upset, which was probably a bad sign, Mom was never upset.
“My mom is over there, come on” Will interrupted Adam.
As they got closer Will could see that Mom was looking around the playground, and she wasn't just upset, she was nearly in a panic.
“It's okay Mom, I'm right here” he called, running up to her. That was when he noticed that she was holding Fred's leash, but he couldn't see any sign of Fred.
“What's wrong? Why are you here at lunch?” he asked, getting worried himself now.
“Has Fred shown up here?” she asked, trying to calm herself down so she wouldn't
upset Will too much.
“No, isn't he at home?” getting panicky now.
“Dad went into the back yard and found the gate open. The latch was broken off, and Fred was gone” Mom answered, trying even harder to keep her voice level.
Will was just staring at her, trying not to scream. The next thing he knew, Adam was pulling him up the stairs and down the hallway. “The staff room is just down here, Mr. Strall will be there. He loves dogs, I'm sure he'll want to help” Adam explained.
“Of course I'll help” Mr. Strall said, walking quickly towards the classroom, Adam, Will, and Mom following behind. “Do you have a picture of Fred” he went on?
“I have a couple on my phone” Mom answered.
“Great, I have a phone plug for the computer, we can put them on the computer and make up some signs. We'll make it a class project after lunch, all the kids can get involved” he explained, taking Mom's phone and plugging it in to his computer.
By the time the bell rang and the rest of the kids came back to class Mr. Strall had about two hundred posters printed with his phone number, the schools phone number, and Mom's phone number. He also had two teachers aides from the school, a couple of parents that were in the school at the time, and Mrs. Avery, the vice principal, volunteer to take groups of students out to put up signs around town.
After he explained what was happening to the class Mr. Strall assigned one adult to each of the
seven table groups. Then he gave each group a stack of posters and some tape and staplers, and sent them to a specific part of town to put up signs. “Each group has a list of phone numbers for the rest of us if you need to get in contact with anyone. Everyone needs to be back in the class by 2:00pm. Lets go find a dog!”
Will obviously went with Mom's group.
“Will this work Mom? Will we find Fred?” Will asked pleadingly.
“We'll find him” Mom answered, with more confidence than she really felt.
They spent the hour running from telephone pole to telephone pole stapling up signs, taping them up in the windows of every store that would let them, and handing them out to anyone that would take them.
Some of the kids were taking it seriously, some were just having fun being out of class, but everyone was helping. Will was still terrified he would never see Fred again, but with everyone helping, he was feeling better about the chances of finding him, and a lot better about his new classmates.
Everyone was back in class by 2:15pm, Mr. Strall's group coming in just before Will and his group.
“How did it go group leaders? I didn't get any calls, so I assume nobody found Fred, but that everyone listened to their leaders and got back safely” Mr. Strall asked as he walked back into the class.
All the posters had been put up, hundreds of people had been talked to, and everyone for blocks around knew that Fred was missing. If Fred was going to be found, this had to help.
By the time everyone was settled and had told their stories about how putting up the posters had gone the 2:30pm bell rang and it was time to go home. Will and Mom walked home, Will with Fred's leash balled up in his hand, holding on to it as tightly as he could. It may have been a new thing, but
for now it represented Fred in Will's mind.
That night, after an early dinner, Will and Dad went out driving around for a couple of hours, looking for Fred, but by 7:00pm it was time to go home. Will still had homework to do, and it was getting close to bed time.
“Can we go out looking again tomorrow Dad?” Will asked, his voice shaking a little as
he realized he would have to spend a night without Fred.
“We'll go out every night until he's home, I promise” Dad reassured him.
Will went to sleep that night with his picture from Simon and Samantha under his pillow, and Fred's favourite blanket on the bed, between himself and the wall.

Friends, Old and New

“Mom, Dad” Will yelled, banging on their door at 5:30 the next morning, but there was no answer.
“We're down here” Dad yelled back from the kitchen.
“Come have some breakfast” Mom called, “and we can go spend a couple of hours looking for Fred before Dad has to go to work and you have to be at school”.
After a very quick breakfast all three of them went out looking for Fred. Will took his backpack with him so that he could just go straight to school, rather than going home. It wouldn't make much of a difference, but he wanted the extra few minutes to look for Fred.
Will figured it would be better to walk than to drive, since Fred was walking and probably wouldn't go too far. It was also easier to walk around and look in small places where he might be hiding than it would be if they were driving.
While they were walking around, calling for Fred, Will noticed something about a few of the posters in their neighborhood. The picture was of Fred sitting next to Will under his tree back home. Someone had drawn mustaches on both of them.
“Why would someone do this?” Will yelled as he started ripping down the posters. Then he realized that they were all around Brad's house.
“I hate him” Will mumbled to himself as he pulled the signs down and kept going. He had never said, or even thought, anything like that before. But then, he had never had someone be so mean to him before.
“Oh, don't say that honey, he's not worth your hate. Try and ignore it, you'll meet friends here soon I'm sure” Mom tried to reassure him.
“FRED, where are you?” they all heard, picking Fred's name out above the usual school yard noise.
It wasn't any of them yelling. They had just walked up to the school, but this was coming from the other side of the school.
“Who is that?” Will asked to anyone that might be listening.
As they walked around the school they kept hearing it. “FRED, hey Fred, where are you?” every few seconds, getting closer as they walked.
“I think it's Adam” Mom said as they got closer. Sure enough, a few seconds later Adam came around the corner, not watching where he was going, and walked right into Will as he kept calling for Fred.
“Hi Adam,” Will said, helping him up, “how long have you been out looking for Fred?
“Thanks,” Adam answered, dusting himself off, “I got up early to look for him. I guess I've been walking around for about an hour. My dad and I went out last night looking too”
Will didn't know what to say, this was just the kind of thing Simon and Samantha would have done, and the kind of thing he would have done for them.
“Bell should be going soon” Adam went on, reaching down to pick up a cookie that had fallen out of his pocket when he fell over. “My dad says if you want I can go looking with you after school today” he continued.
Adam said that like it was nothing, like he would do it for anyone, but this was the first time since he got here that Will had been even close to happy. Even though things were terrible with Fred being gone, Adam seemed like a real friend, like the kind he had in Clear Creek.
“Is that okay with you Mom?” Will asked.
“I was going to meet you, but if you would rather go look for Fred with Adam, that's okay too, just don't be too late getting home” Mom answered, almost letting herself smile. Just then the bell rang for the start of school.
“I'll see you tonight” Will said, giving Mom and Dad both a hug and kiss on the cheek before he and Adam ran to class.
The rest of the day was a little strange for Will. He was desperately worried about Fred, and he still didn't feel like he fully belonged at 10th​ ​ Avenue, but he was also feel much better about having found a friend like Adam.
“Can we look for Fred at recess and lunch please?” Will asked Mr. Strall, just before the recess bell went.
“I'm sorry, you can't leave the school grounds. But remember that my phone number is on all those posters we put up, so if anyone finds him I'll probably hear about it right away, and I'll tell you as soon as I hear anything” He responded, Will and Adam's shoulders drooping in disappointment.
“We can still walk around the edge of the school grounds and call him, maybe he's near here now” Adam suggested, trying to cheer Will up a bit.
           “Can't hurt I guess” Will shrugged, as they walked to the door to go out for recess.
For all of recess and all of lunch that's just what they did too, they walked the fence around the school and called Fred, trying to avoid Brad, but still running in to him every time around the school.
“Is it only me, or is Brad a bully to anyone else?” Will asked after a particularly hurtful
comment about Fred from across the playground.
“He's like that to everyone, you're just his favourite right now. Those guys playing hockey with him are only playing with him because he's the best player on their team. You should have seen what he was like to me when I first got here.” Adam confided, making Will feel a little better. Adam
was much quieter than usual for the rest of lunch after that.
After school Will and Adam went out looking for Fred again, walking around a neighborhood that Will hadn't seen yet, but that Adam new fairly well. There was no sign of Fred though, so when Adam said goodbye at Will's house and started walking home, Will slumped into the house and sat on the couch, just wanting to be left alone.
That was when Mom came in to the living room. “They called earlier, while you were out, but I thought you would like to talk to them, so we arranged to call back when you got home” she said, handing him the phone. Even before he took the phone from Mom he could hear Simon and Samantha on the other end.
He told them all about Fred going missing, about how the class had helped, about Adam going out on his own to look, and anything else they asked about, but it was mostly about Fred. By the time they were done talking Will was feeling quite a lot better again. They even had plans for just when Simon and Samantha would come for a visit in the summer.

Friends, New and Old 2

By the time Will woke up the next morning he was starting to think he would never see Fred again. It had been two full days already, and there hadn't been any sign of him. If it hadn't been for his call from Simon and Samantha yesterday, and knowing that he had a friend at school, he would have just stayed in bed. Adam was planning on meeting him before school to look for Fred though, so he got up and got ready to go.
It was a quiet breakfast, everyone was tired and missing Fred. Just when he was putting his dishes in the sink, he still wasn't used to the dish washer, Will heard a knock on the door.
“That'll be Adam” Will said, grabbing his back pack from under his chair and heading to the door.
“What, we don't get hugs and kisses anymore?” Mom asked.
“Sorry,” Will said, running back to the kitchen, “can I walk home with Adam again today?”
“Okay, just be home in time to get your homework done before dinner” Dad answered, finishing up his breakfast and getting ready to head out to work.
Will gave them both a hug and kiss, said goodbye, and ran out the door.
“No sign of him yet” Adam said when he saw Will, “but everyone I talked too is still looking”
“I guess that's something,” Will said, “do you have a rout you want to take to school today?”
“Yeah, I thought we could go the long way, around the back of the school. It'll take longer, but we haven't looked there since the signs went up” Adam explained.
It definitely took longer, and Adam was right, Will had never been there before, but there was still no sign of Fred.
The day went almost exactly like the day before, walking around the school on breaks, and trying to focus on work during class. At the end of the day Will and Adam went out the front door of the school, ready to walk around, looking for Fred some more. When they got outside Will saw his mom though, and someone else he had never seen before.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Adam asked. “This is my mom, this is Will mom” he went on.
“Hi, it's nice to meet you” Will said to Adams mom.
“What's going on Mom?” he asked, turning to his own mom.
“You two have been working so hard looking for Fred, we thought you could use a treat. We're going out for dinner, both our families. Since we're new here, and don't know any restaurants, I thought Adam might have somewhere he would like to go” Mom replied.
“Anywhere Mom?” Adam asked, looking to his mom.
“I'm very proud of how you've been helping Will, so yes, anywhere you want to go, within reason of course” she answered, putting her arms around his shoulders.
“Do you like Japanese food?” Adam asked, turning to Will.
“No idea, I've never had it before” he answered honestly, “but I'd like to try it”.
“Can we go to the place next to the mall Mom? The one with Korean cooks?” Adam asked.
“If that's okay with Will and his mom, sure. Is that okay with you?” she asked, turning to Will's mom.
“Sounds good, it'll be a first for both of us” she said, putting her arm around Will's shoulder, starting to walk to the car.
Will had never used chopsticks before, or eaten anything at all like Japanese food. After a few minutes of watching him struggle with the chopsticks the waiter brought out a fork for him, trying not to let Will see that he had been laughing a bit. Will really wouldn't have minded though, he knew it looked funny, and he had been laughing himself, especially when he accidentally threw a California roll across the table at Adam.
“Mom, can Adam maybe sleep over sometime?” Will asked his mom as they were getting up to leave.
“Yeah mom, can I?” Adam looked to his mom.
“I don't see why not, maybe this weekend?” Will's mom asked Adam's mom more than the kids.
“Sounds good to me, you can just walk home with Will after school Friday” she replied.
With that it was decided, and Will was almost feeling happy again. There was only one thing that would make him really happy, but things seemed to be getting better at least.
A few minutes later they were at home. Will went straight to his room to work on his homework, but it was hard, he always thought about Fred when he was alone. Just as he was getting his books out his mom came running into his room, not bothering to knock, which was weird. She
handed Will her phone.
“Look at the picture Will!” she nearly yelled.
“That's Fred knocking Simon over Mom, I've seen it hundreds of times” he said, handing the phone back.
“Look closer! It's Adam!” she said, pushing the phone back into his hands.
And it was. Fred was clearly digging in his pocket, looking for food, maybe that cookie that had been there yesterday. Fred looked really dirty, and he was obviously hungry, but it was him.
“They're on their way with him now, he should be here any minute” she went on, finishing just before the doorbell rang.
Will raced down the stairs and opened the door, and was immediately knocked over and soaked by very happy, excited sheepdog licks.
Adam came running in behind Fred, and tried to pull him off Will, but just ended up on the floor getting licked almost as much as Will.
It was the first time since the move that Will had really been happy, had really laughed. Fred obviously slept on his bed that night, but Adam was in the sleeping bag on the floor too. Fred was home, they had a new friend, and everyone was happy. The rain finally seemed to be gone, it was sunny again. He would call Simon and Samantha tomorrow and tell them everything.