said our captain with a smile. “Look there, can you see the forest?”
“I can see many trees, is it a forest?” Timmy asked.
“Yes, this is a very beautiful forest. There are many good places for hiking in it. I love to go there.”
“Will we go hiking too, Michael?” Bill asked.
“Oh yes, you will!”
“Cool!”
“And now look in this direction. Do you see mountains?”
“Yes, we do!”
“There are a lot of wonderful waterfalls and caves there.”
“Wow, I love waterfalls and caves!” Bob said.
“And the best thing here is a beach! Look, the water is so clean and clear here!”
“I have read that there are a lot of starfish in the Sea of Japan. Is it true Michael?” Betsy asked.
“Oh yes, my dear, there are so many starfish that puppy girls like to collect them and put them around their necks like necklaces and make amazing pictures. After that they put them back in the water of course”.
“Oh, this is so wonderful!” Betsy was excited.
“Yes, you can find a lot of interesting things here in the far east. Anyway, look here guys!” Michael pointed toward the nice houses that were standing on the island.
“See, there are fifteen cottages in our camp. Ten of them are for puppies like you and two are for leaders and other dogs who work here. That big cottage belongs to our boss, Mr. Rish. His apartment is on the second floor and his office is on the first floor. And those two other cottages are for puppies’ parents in case they would like to visit the camp”.
“Wow that looks great!” said Bob and Bill at the same time.
“But what cottage are we going to live in?” asked Timmy.
“One moment, let me show you.”
Michael led us to the nice yellow house.
“Here you are, guys,” he said. “This place is going to be your home for the next three months. A room for girls is on the second floor, and boys will live here on the first”.
“Nice! I cannot wait to look at our room. Let’s go Betsy”. Marry took my sister’s paw and the girls ran upstairs.
Bill, Bob, Timmy and I stayed on the first floor. We saw two rooms and there were two beds in each room. Timmy and I took the room on the left and the twin brothers took the room on the right.
“Now puppies, you have one hour to take a shower and to get ready. At 11 a.m. we will wait for you outside on the big field. All puppies and leaders will be there. Don’t be late!” Michael turned to go out, but then he stopped, “I almost forgot. In your wardrobes you will find your uniform. Please, put it on!”
Every one of us took a shower and ate snacks that we found in the fridge. There were delicious sandwiches with red fish, cucumbers, lettuce and special sauce; also, there were tomato juice, mango juice and salads with sea food: octopuses, mussels, shrimps and crab sticks (from real crabs). Oh how yummy they were!
It was almost time to go. We opened our wardrobes to find the uniform. For puppy boys we found blue shorts, sailor’s t-shirts with blue and white stripes and a captain's cap. For girls there were white skirts, sailor’s shirts and captain's caps.
When we put everything on, we looked like little sailors.
“Let’s take selfies very quickly before we go,” said Mary and took out her phone. “Smile, guys!”
We took several pictures and then finally left the cottage. When we came to the big field, there were already a lot of puppies. All of them were wearing the same uniform as we were. We saw Michael talking to the pretty young lady dog who was in a short white dress. She had long straight blond hair and big blue eyes. Her breed was Komondor.
“Look at Michael,” Mary whispered to Betsy.“I bet he is in love with this Komondor lady.”
“Why do you think so?” Betsy whispered to my classmate.
“Look, he is talking to her with such a big smile, and he looks very interested.”
“Maybe they are just good friends, who knows.”
“You will see that I am right.”
“Dear puppies,” somebody said in a microphone.
We looked at the stage which was standing in the beginning of the field. A dog about the same age as Michael was standing there and he was wearing the same uniform as Michael.
“I think he is also the camp leader,” Bob whispered to me.
“My name is Mark, and I am a camp leader.”– Bill winked at me. Mark continued, “I am very glad to see all of you here. We, as leaders will do everything so you will have a great vacation. And now it is an honor for me to introduce the next speaker, the chief of camp “Eagle’s Nest”, Mr. Andrew Rish! Please, your applause!”
Loud applause was heard from all sides. A middle-aged dog of the Chongqing breed came on the stage.
“Hello my dear puppies. Welcome to our camp, the best camp in the whole Far East. Here you will play the best games, eat the best sea food and you will enjoy the best nature. And for those of you who will show themselves in the best way, we prepared a very special award. It is an icon with the image of an eagle carrying a golden bone!”
Loud applause was heard again.
“This icon is going to be mine!”said somebody. We turned our heads and saw a puppy girl, she was wearing the same uniform as us, but there was a big golden necklace above her t-shirt and big golden earrings on her ears.
“Hello, puppy girl.” I really wanted to be polite and to show my best manners to a new girl. “My name is Rex and here are my family and friends. What is your name?”
“I am Clara.”
“Nice to meet you, Clara.”
Clara winced. “Very nice to meet you and your huge company.”
“Sorry, what did you say about the icon?” I asked.
“I said that the best award, the icon with the image of an eagle carrying a golden bone, is going to be mine!”
That girl sounded funny, but I tried not to laugh. I didn’t want to offend her.
“Why do you think so?”
“Because I always get the best things in this life.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I do! Let me guess. There are six of you huddled together in one of those small houses?” Clara pointed toward the cottages.
“Yes, and we love it!”
“I see.
