“No, I don’t, and I want to go home.”

“I’ve been here a long time; oh, a long, long time,” said the puppy. “It’s not so bad.”

“Did you have a home?” I asked.

“Yes, but I don’t often think about it. I guess maybe some time someone will take me away and I may have another home.”

“But I don’t want to stay here a long time,” I said. It made me whine to think of it.

“Well, maybe you won’t. Some of the dogs only stay here a little while. They just come here and then they go away again.”

“Where do they go?”

“People come and get them. I guess they go to different places.”

I felt too sad and lonely to care anything about playing.