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Category: Travel/General Nonfiction
Description: The humorous, heart-warming and adventurous true story of love, friendship and survival, as only an endearing little Mexico City street dog named Lucky could tell it. A yellow mutt with more stamps in his passport than most Americans, he's considered winner of the 'doggie lotto' by all who meet him.
eBook Publisher: SynergEbooks, 2009 SynergEbooks
eBookwise Release Date: June 2009

1 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [510 KB]
Words: 123969
Reading time: 354-495 min.

"Author Christie Shary has created the persona of Lucky in such a way that the reader truly feels they've met and come to know him as himself. Readers of Christie's other works expect expert storytelling, and this book delivers.

A treat for dog lovers, whether kids or adults, and even for those who just enjoy a well-told and well-written book.

Once you meet Lucky, you'll never forget him."

--Lorna Collins, Author

Prologue

My name is Lucky. I think it fits me well. For I have a set of adoptive parents that drool over me like a new-born baby. I have an orange and rust-colored puffy paisley bed and a bright yellow raincoat with 'Lucky' embroidered on its hood. I enjoy custom-prepared food each night, and I even have more stamps in my passport than most Americans. Of course, my passport is an Official European Union Pet Passport, and it's enabled me to travel the world. But that's another story.

I have to tell you, though, life wasn't always like this for me. For I'm a street dog by trade--a Mexico City street dog, at that. I remember wandering the streets of the largest city in the world day after day with only an odd scrap of food or a discarded bone to gnaw on. But I was fortunate. I won the Doggie Lotto.

However, I have to admit that I'm not the most handsome of dog breeds. That's because I'm really no breed at all. I'm what they call a 'Heinz 57 Dog.' You know, fifty-seven varieties all combined into one tidy package. I think I've got a bit of Labrador retriever in me as I have nice floppy ears that got me adopted, so my parents tell me. They blow out like sails when I run, and Wendy at Mossbank Farm always said I like to do the Labrador Prance, whatever that is. I think it's kind of like marching in place when I get excited. But how Wendy and Howard came into my life, well, that's another story, too.

And I do have lots of bad hair days as I have stiff, wiry terrier hair that's not always at its best behavior. But an oil of evening primrose capsule stuffed down my throat each day by my mama has certainly made me more petable. Of course, like all streets dogs, especially those of us from Mexico, I'm a yellowish gold color, I'd say about the color of freshly-harvested wheat. That's because I suppose all million of us street dogs are related in one way or another. I also have four white paws and a white chest, which is soft as rabbit fur. They say my eyes are my best feature. They are large and brown and outlined in black. I've heard some say they are 'wise-looking.' I also have long eyelashes and even a scruffy-looking beard, which Granny says is always in need of a shave.

So as you can see, I wasn't adopted for my classic good looks or my genetic background. My streak of good luck runs much deeper than that.

In fact, I'll always remember the day I got lucky. It was a cold winter night in Mexico City (that means about 40 degrees Farenheit) but it seemed much colder to me, as I hadn't had a thing to eat in several days. My chest hurt and I could barely breathe. I didn't know I had pneumonia. All I knew was that I was hungry and miserable, and about at the end of my 'doggie life.' And remember, we dogs don't have nine lives like cats do, so my luck had definitely run out.

Or so I thought.