Grand Prize Winner - Amanda Dickerson
Age 12
Biloxi, MS 

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My dad was sent to Afghanistan with the Army, and I thought my heart would break because I love him so much. When I was a little girl my mom took me away to live in a lot of places so I didn't meet my dad until I was 9. He said I could live with him, and it made me the happiest person in the whole world.

When I knew he had to leave and would be in danger, I felt like my whole world was going away. And I was sadder than I have ever been in my life. He decided that I should live with my grandparents in Mississippi, who I had never met before and boy, was I scared! They turned out to be the best grandparents I could ever ask for.

Even though I love them, I was still so afraid for my dad all day and night and just could not feel happy. One day my uncle and aunt who live in Biloxi, too, and are really nice, called my grandma and told her that their neighbor had found a little puppy under a house. The owners had just left her there all alone, hungry and afraid. My grandma said we could go over and look at the puppy, but since we already had a dog and two cats, she did not know if she wanted another pet or not. We went over and there in front of me was the cutest, sweetest, and most afraid little puppy I had ever seen. She was shaking as she was so afraid, but when I went over to her, she came up and licked my face and stopped shaking. For the first time since my dad left I felt like smiling.

I love my pet Pru for so many reasons. She was kind of abandoned like I felt, and that is the worst feeling in the world. She was afraid of all the changes just like me, and most of all she needed someone to tell her that everything is going to be okay, just like I do. She is my best friend and I am hers. I can cry with her when I am miss my dad, and she understands and licks my face. I love my pet because she is also my best friend.