Sancho moves to America

The first rays of sunshine were coming into Ashley’s bedroom; but Sancho had already been awake for hours. He had not slept very well last night. Sancho was excited, nervous, sad and happy, all at the same time. The reason for all those feelings was that Sancho was going to live in America! In New York City! And he would get on a plane for the first time in his life! Sancho was tired, walking around the room, waiting for the alarm clock to go off, so he climbed on Ashley’s bed and began to lick her face and bark to wake her up. Have you already guessed it?.... That's right! Sancho is a dog! Ashley’s parents bought it for her when they came to Spain some years ago, so that the girl would not feel lonely. But now they are going to start a new life together.

But the journey would not be as Sancho thought. He thought that he could travel with Ashley and they could look at the clouds from the window of the plane together; but that is not allowed. First of all, Ashley put Sancho into a dog cage with some water and food. Then a man, who Sancho did not know, put him in a dark place inside the plane with other pets which were also very scared.

“Keep calm guys. We are going to live in the land of opportunity! You should not be afraid, you should be excited!” said a brown hamster that was in a hamster cage in front of Sancho.

“Listen to me guys”, said the hamster. "My name is Pepe, but my friends call me Pepo. I'm known as Shut Up Stink Bug by my owner's mother." I have been travelling to the States since I was just two months old, and I can assure you that everything will be ok”. Sancho was not sure if he should believe the hamster. He just wanted to be with Ashley and play hide and seek with her again; but that would have to wait, so he closed his eyes and slept for the rest of the trip.

Sancho woke up on a red sofa. “It must be the new house” thought Sancho. In fact, Ashley and their parents were unpacking boxes and suitcases, so Sancho took the opportunity to inspect his new home. At first, he tried to find the garden; but there was not a garden anywhere. Then the dog climbed on a chair and looked through a window. Then, he discovered that the house was very far away from the ground! He was just able to see high buildings and skyscrapers and it disappointed Sancho a lot.

After a couple of days, all the family went for a walk to do some sightseeing; but this was not as amusing as Sancho thought. Although he was happy to get out of that weird house, he also became a little scared because New York streets looked even weirder, especially a street called Times Square. There were too many people and they could not stop colliding into each other, even some of them even stepped on Sancho’s tail! Sancho saw a policeman on a horse, he got closer to the horse and started to sniff its legs. Sancho must have scared the horse because, suddenly, the horse made a terrible sound. Sancho was so frightened that he slipped from his collar and ran through the crowd, until he realized that he was alone!

Sancho was really sad now. “What can I do?” thought the poor dog.  “I don’t know how to go back home!”

Sancho tried to speak with a cat that was looking for fish in a bin and then with a dog that was waiting for a bus with its owner. But none of them wanted to help him. Moreover, they mocked him because Sancho could not speak their language very well.

Sancho had walked for hours when a delicious smell caught his attention. Sancho was starving, so he followed the smell to the back of a Spanish restaurant. There the dog found a couple of squirrels dancing flamenco. The squirrels danced really well and when they finished their show the dog barked and moved his tail to show them that he enjoyed it. The squirrels thanked him and they became friends immediately.

The squirrels came into the restaurant, being careful that the chief would not see them, to get some food for Sancho. The dog ate the food almost without chewing. After that, Sancho told the squirrels his story.

“That is a pity”, said one of the squirrels.

“But don’t be disappointed with the city; you have just seen the bad side. If you open your mind, you will see that not all the animals are conceited and not all the people hurt their pets. If you do not believe me, I will take you to the most beautiful place in the city to prove that I am telling the truth”. Sancho and the squirrels went into the underground without anyone seeing them, and they went to the most amazing place of the city. They went to Central Park!

“The squirrel was right”, thought the dog. “It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen!”

It looked like an enormous garden full of trees and flowers where people and pets could walk, exercise and have fun. Now Sancho could see that he was wrong about people and pets. There were many people taking care of their pets and having fun with them. What is more, Sancho found an old friend there. There was a young man having a nap under an elm and, near him, there was a small hamster cage that Sancho had already seen before, with a familiar brown hamster inside of it. It was Pepe!

Sancho was excited to see a familiar face; but Pepe was even more excited than he was. They talked about Sancho’s experience until the young man woke up from his nap. When Pepe’s owner saw that the dog was alone, he looked at Sancho’s name plate and found a telephone number on it. Pepe’s owner phoned the number immediately and, as soon as Sancho’s family received the happy news, all of them went to Central Park to pick up Sancho. Ashley was so happy to find the dog that she did not stop hugging Sancho all the way back home.

That night Sancho slept on Ashley’s bed and he had dreams about all his adventures, misadventures, his new friends and how much he had learnt about this wonderful city.

                      

Rocío Cumplido.

Nota: Este cuento fue registrado en el registro de propiedad intelectual de Córdoba (España), por la Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Palma del Río para publicarlo en su revista anual.