I had forgotten about wanting a dog until the school pet contest. The winners would choose a book from the bookstore. Two things I like: books and dogs. Mom and Dad would like to get me a dog, but they can't. We live in an apartment that has a no-pets rule.
I like the apartment. It's right across the street from the park. That's where I spend most of my free time reading books. And the rent is cheap. Mom and Dad work hard. But they don't make all that much money.
When I got home from school, I told Mom about the pet contest. That night, she and Dad had a long talk. The next night Dad came home carrying a big box. There was a dog inside. But the dog didn't bark or even move. Dad had gotten me a robot dog. He said he bought it from a guy at work. The dog was broken. So the guy sold it cheap. Dad is great at repairing things and he got the dog working again.
I named the robot dog Robbie and taught it some tricks like sitting up and rolling over. I also taught it to go and get a ball when I throw it. That's a hard trick. I can't throw the ball too far. Robbie won't be able to see it. Its camera eyes can see for only about 20 yards.
When the day of the contest came, I took Robbie to school. There were pet dogs of all sizes and lots of pet cats. There were also pet fish and pet birds. Prizes were being awarded for the smartest pet, the biggest pet, and the most unusual pet. When the judges looked at Robbie, they began talking among themselves. Some of the judges said that the contest was only for live pets. But then one of the judges said that the rules didn't say that the pets had to be live animals. So Robbie did all his dog tricks. The judges were surprised.
Robbie didn't win first prize. The judges decided that should go to a real live pet. But Robbie got a prize for most unusual pet. To tell you the truth, I would still rather have a real dog.
