The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Unicorn Read online

  “Come on, Peggy,” coaxed Chloe. “Don’t be scared. Snow is fun.”

  Peggy knew she could trust Chloe. Gingerly, she stepped outside, her paws sinking into the snow.

  Whoa! She hadn’t expected it to be so cold. The snow made her paws feel numb. Peggy stuck out her tongue and lapped at the snow. Hmm, she thought, as the snow melted in her mouth. That’s interesting. To her surprise, snow tasted exactly like water!

  Ruby scooped up a handful of snow and licked it.

  “Whatever you do, don’t eat the yellow snow,” joked Finn, pointing at the puddle Peggy had left in the snow.

  The snow was so deep, it reached the top of Peggy’s head! Her furry little body made tunnels in the snow as she explored the garden.

  WHOOSH! A snowball whistled through the air and—PLOP!—hit Chloe on the back.

  “Bullseye!” laughed Finn.

  “You asked for it!” cried Chloe, quickly making a snowball and firing it back at her brother. Then Ruby threw one at him too.

  “Hey! Two against one isn’t fair,” cried Finn, ducking.

  Soon a snowball fight was in full swing. The children ran around the garden, ducking behind trees and jumping out to pelt each other with snowballs.

  WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! Peggy bounded through the drifts of snow, barking gleefully as snowballs whizzed through the air. SPLAT! A snowball landed on Peggy’s head.

  “Oops! Sorry, Peggy,” said Finn, brushing snow off the pug’s fur. “I was aiming for Chloe.”

  “Time out!” gasped Chloe, collapsing on her back in the snow. “I need to catch my breath.” She fanned her arms and legs out to the sides, making an angel shape in the snow. Ruby copied her, brushing her arms up and down.

  “Let’s make a snowman,” suggested Finn.

  “I’ve got a better idea!” said Chloe. “Let’s make a snow unicorn!”

  “Yes!” cried Ruby, scrambling to her feet. “Noonicorn!”

  Finn pulled a face. “Unicorns are lame.”

  “No they aren’t,” said Chloe. “They’re really cool. They can do magic.”

  Finn rolled his eyes, but he helped his sisters build a snow unicorn. As Peggy snuffled around in the snow, the three children formed the shape of a horse, patting it down with their mittens.

  “I know!” cried Chloe. She broke off a big icicle hanging from the windowsill and stuck it on the unicorn’s head. “Now it’s got a horn!”

  Peggy stared at the snow unicorn thoughtfully. Maybe she could get a unicorn horn, too.…

  She plowed through the snow to a bush with icicles dripping from it. She prodded the icicle with her head. SNAP! The icicle broke off and landed on her paw—pointy side down!

  Ouch!

  Finn’s phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Jasmine says we should come to the park,” he said, reading his message.

  Finn pulled Ruby on the sled, while Chloe and Peggy trudged along the snowy sidewalk. In the park, children were whizzing down a hill on plastic sleds and inflatable rings. One kid was even sliding down on a tea tray!

  As Finn chatted to Jasmine, Ruby sat on Dad’s wooden sled.

  “Ready?” Chloe asked her sister.

  Ruby shook her head. “I scared.”

  “Okay, I’ll come with you,” said Chloe. She sat behind Ruby on the sled. “Back in a second, Peggy.” Then—WHOOSH!—the girls slid down the hill, squealing in delight.

  As she waited for the girls to return, a flash of red caught Peggy’s eye. It was a cardinal hopping along, its glossy red feathers bright against the white snow. “Hey!” Peggy barked. “Can you teach me how to fly?”

  Startled, the cardinal flapped its wings and flew into the air.

  “Wait!” barked Peggy, chasing after the bird. “I just want to talk to you!” She bounded after the cardinal, until she couldn’t see it anymore. Then, peeking over the top of the snow, she suddenly realized she couldn’t see anyone.

  Don’t panic, Peggy told herself. Just go back the way you came. But her pawprints were muddled up with all the other tracks in the snow. She ran this way and that way—trying to find her way back to Chloe—but only got more and more lost.

  Peggy shivered. Where is everyone? What if she never found her way back? She’d freeze out here in the cold!

  Peggy started to run, but her paws slipped out from under her. She tried to stop, but she couldn’t grip the slippery snow.

  Faster and faster she slid, whooshing down the hill until—THUMP!—she crashed into an enormous snowbank at the bottom!

  Peggy scrubbed her face with a paw, wiping snow out of her eyes. “Help!” she yelped, trying to wriggle out of the snowbank. Her paws scrabbled around, but it was no use—she was stuck!

  Peggy barked and barked, but cries of delight from children sledding down the hill drowned out her pitiful yelps. She craned her neck, panicking as she tried to peer over the top of the snow.

  “HELP!” she howled desperately, her nose feeling numb and her paws icy cold.

  “Peggy!” cried a familiar voice.

  Chloe dug Peggy out of the snow and hugged her tight. “Oh, Peggy!” she cried. “I was so worried! You poor thing!”

  Finn pulled the girls home on the sled, with Peggy tucked into Chloe’s coat.

  At home, Chloe wrapped Peggy in a blanket. They cuddled together on the sofa and watched the Sparkalina Christmas special. Peggy felt safe and contented. She wished she could live with the girls for ever.

  After dinner, Chloe arranged some mince pies on a plate. “These are for Santa.”

  “Don’t forget Rudolph,” said Finn, getting carrots out of the refrigerator.

  They set the treats on a table near the Christmas tree. Then Chloe took out a piece of paper and started to write.

  “What are you doing?” Finn asked his sister.

  “Writing a note to Santa,” explained Chloe.

  “What does it say?” Finn asked curiously, trying to read over her shoulder. Peggy was wondering the same thing herself.

  “None of your business,” said Chloe, covering up the words. “It’s secret.”

  Peggy didn’t know how to read, but she could guess what the note said. Chloe was reminding Santa about what she wanted most of all—a unicorn.

  Peggy gazed out of the window sadly. The snow unicorn the children had made glowed in the moonlight. Its icicle horn reflected the colors of the outdoor fairy lights, twinkling red, green, blue, and yellow. When Sparkalina’s horn glows, it can do magic, thought Peggy. Maybe this unicorn could do magic too?

  It was worth a try. Tomorrow was Christmas Day. This was Peggy’s last chance. If she failed, she’d be going back to the dog shelter once the Christmas holidays were over.

  Please will you turn me into a unicorn? she begged the snow unicorn, wishing with all her heart. So that I can make Chloe happy and stay with her family forever?

  Chapter Eight

  It was still dark when Peggy felt Chloe stir on Christmas morning. Chloe slid out of bed, wearing her new starry unicorn pajamas.

  Peggy whined sleepily, not wanting Chloe to go.

  “Sssh!” Chloe whispered, pressing a finger to her lips. “It’s still really early.”

  Chloe tiptoed out of her bedroom and down the stairs, with Peggy padding along behind her.

  In the dark living room, an amazing sight met Peggy’s eyes. The Christmas tree’s lights were twinkling, lighting up piles of presents wrapped in beautiful paper and topped with shiny bows and ribbons.

  “Santa came!” squealed Chloe. “This one’s for me!” she cried, rooting around underneath the tree and dragging out a big present with her name on it. She ripped off the wrapping paper. “Oh, wow!” she cried, holding up a Sparkalina toy. It had a light-up horn and wings that really flapped. “It’s just what I wanted!”

  But Peggy’s Christmas wish hadn’t come true—she was still a pug. It didn’t even matter because Chloe had gotten a unicorn from Santa and didn’t need another one. Peggy swallowed her disappointme
nt. She didn’t want anything to spoil what little time she had left with Chloe and her family.

  To console herself, Peggy licked up the crumbs on the plate that had held the mince pies for Santa.

  By now, the sun was starting to rise and the rest of the family made their way sleepily downstairs, yawning and rubbing their eyes.

  “Happy Christmas,” said Mum. She hugged each of the children, then gave Peggy a cuddle.

  “Pwesents!” squealed Ruby, running over to the fireplace. Hanging from the mantel was a stocking with each child’s name on it.

  “Santa even brought one for Peggy!” said Chloe. She took the stocking down and showed it to Peggy. It was bulging with dog treats and a chew toy shaped like a candy cane.

  “Of course he did,” said Finn. “He always brought one for Baxter, too.”

  Peggy glanced at Chloe anxiously, worried that the mention of her old dog would upset her. But Chloe smiled. “Yeah,” she said, chuckling. “But Baxter was always more interested in the Christmas turkey.”

  “Ooh! That reminds me,” said Mum. “I’d better go and put the turkey in the oven.” She hurried into the kitchen.

  The children were too excited to eat breakfast. Everyone took turns opening presents, as Peggy rolled around in the discarded wrapping paper. She loved the crinkly noise it made under her paws!

  “Oh, it’s beautiful!” said Mum, unwrapping a macaroni necklace that Ruby had made at nursery school.

  “Wicked!” said Finn, opening up a new soccer game for his console.

  Soon, all the presents had been opened and the delicious smell of roasting turkey wafted through the air. Dad was helping Ruby assemble her new doll’s house. Mum was munching chocolates and reading the book Chloe had bought her. Finn was throwing balls of wrapping paper for Peggy to fetch.

  Only Chloe didn’t seem happy as she brushed her toy unicorn’s mane listlessly.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Mum, putting her arm around Chloe. “Don’t you like your presents?”

  Chloe nodded and smiled weakly. “No, I love them.”

  Peggy’s heart felt like it was breaking. She suddenly realized why Chloe was disappointed. Santa hadn’t granted her secret wish. He hadn’t brought her a real unicorn.

  “Oh, look,” said Dad, reaching behind the Christmas tree. “There’s still one more present back here. We must have missed it.”

  “Who’s it for?” asked Chloe.

  “Peggy,” said Dad, studying the label. “But it doesn’t say who it’s from.”

  Chloe helped Peggy unwrap the box. She lifted off the lid and took out something soft and white. It had little rainbow-colored wings and a shiny horn attached to the hood. It was a tiny unicorn onesie!

  “That is so cute!” cried Chloe. She quickly put Peggy’s paws into the sleeves and pulled the hood over Peggy’s head. “She looks adorable!”

  “Peggy’s a pugicorn!” said Finn.

  Everyone laughed. But then Chloe’s face fell. “They probably won’t let her wear it at the dog shelter,” she said sadly.

  “She can wear it whenever she likes,” said Mum.

  Dad nodded. “This is her home now.”

  Chloe stared at her parents in disbelief. “You mean—”

  “We all love Peggy,” said Mum.

  “Even Finn?” asked Chloe.

  Her brother smiled. “She’s actually pretty cool for a little dog.”

  “So we’ve decided to adopt her,” said Mum.

  “We couldn’t imagine taking her back to the dog shelter,” said Dad. “Peggy’s part of the family now.”

  “So Santa did grant my Christmas wish,” said Chloe with a grin. “I told him that more than anything else, I wanted Peggy to live with us forever.”

  Peggy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this really her forever home? She’d been so sure Chloe wanted a unicorn, when really Chloe had wanted her all along.

  “Yay!” cheered Ruby. She picked Peggy up and cuddled her tight.

  Gah! thought Peggy, struggling to breathe.

  “Don’t strangle her,” said Chloe, extracting Peggy from her little sister’s overenthusiastic embrace.

  “I’m going to tell Jasmine the good news,” said Finn, grinning as he tapped a message on his phone.

  Chloe held Peggy up to the window so she could see her new outfit in the reflection. Even with her onesie on, Peggy looked like a pug. But she knew it didn’t matter. She didn’t need to be a unicorn for her dreams to come true. She just needed to be herself.

  Across the lawn, Peggy saw the snow unicorn, its icicle horn beginning to melt in the sunshine. She wasn’t sure who had granted her Christmas wish. It might have been Santa. It might have been the snow unicorn. She’d never know. But whoever it was had made her the happiest puppy in the world. “Thank you!” she barked joyfully.

  “Happy Christmas, Peggy,” said Chloe, cuddling her tight.

  Peggy licked Chloe’s face. Peggy’s mum had been right, after all—there was a perfect owner for every dog. And Peggy had finally found hers.

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  The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Reindeer

  by

  Bella Swift

  Peggy the pug’s flat, black nose twitched as she napped on the sofa. As carols played softly on the radio and the spicy scent of gingerbread wafted from the kitchen, Peggy dreamed about Christmas. It was her favorite time of year—because it was in December last year that she’d found her home.

  The sound of the front door opening jolted Peggy awake.

  “We’re home!” cried a voice from the hallway, followed by the thud of backpacks dropping to the floor.

  Chloe! thought Peggy, scrambling to her feet. Curly little tail wagging, she raced out to the hallway as fast as her short legs could carry her.

  “Hi, Peggy!” cried Chloe, a dark-haired girl wrapped up in a coat and a woolly scarf. She crouched down on the floor to stroke Peggy’s tan-colored fur.

  “I miss you sooooooo much when you’re at school!” Peggy told her best friend.

  Continue Reading…

  The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Reindeer

  Bella Swift

  Also by Bella Swift

  The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Reindeer

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin hardcover edition August 2021

  Text copyright © 2018 by Orchard Books

  Originally published in Great Britain in 2018 by the Watts Publishing Group.

  Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Orchard Books

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Library of Congress Control Number 2020949486

  ISBN 9781534486799 (hc)

  ISBN 9781534486782 (pbk)

  ISBN 9781534486805 (ebook)

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  Bella Swift, The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Unicorn