For a few moments after he was gone, I just stood there, shell-shocked. My little puppy, the one we had had for almost my whole life, was dead? Gone? I knew I was way too old to be this upset over a dead dog, but…he was my puppy! My baby! Tears dripped down my face, and I did nothing to hide them.

“I want Joe to come back,” I blubbered. “I need him, Mommy!” I knew I sounded like a little girl, but I just didn’t care. I was past caring.

My mom tried to smooth my hair, but I wouldn’t let her. I pulled away, but she held my gaze and told me, “Cee Cee, hon…”

“What?” My tone was sharp. Whatever she had to say, I was not in the mood for it. Surely it could wait. My sadness was turning to anger inside of me.

“Hon, the car that hit Cotton…” She took a deep breath. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but it belonged to Joe’s oldest sister Lucy. I think that’s why he left so fast.”

“Lucy?”

Curiouser and curiouser… The line from Alice in Wonderland popped into my head. What was going on?