Henry entered his bedroom and set down his backpack. The boy's parents asked from down the hall if he enjoyed the Last Day of School Festival. "It was great!" the seven-year-old shouted. "I won a wind-up dog at the ring toss booth!" He pulled the small toy from his pack. The wind-up dog's mouth held a string that fastened to a red plastic ball. A metal winding key attached under the pup's belly. Henry placed the toy on a shelf containing sports trophies, a well-worn antique baseball glove, an air-powered jumping robot and a miniature ship in a bottle.
"The car is loaded for vacation," Henry's parents called. "Pick a toy for the trip and let's go have fun!" Henry reached to the shelf above for an oversized action figure named Major Smith O' Reens that wore a scuba suit. The boy cheered as he ran downstairs. The room was silent until the car pulled out of the driveway. Now that the wind-up dog belonged to a child it came to life. The puppy felt a pain inside and wondered if a spring had broken or a screw had came loose. Then the wind-up dog realized it was something else. "This must be what it feels like to be alone," he thought. Soon the wind-up dog would find out that he was not alone.
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