This is Jack. Today Jack is in a grouchy mood. His best friend Billie is away and he has no-one to play with.

‘Cheer up, Jack,’ says his dad. ‘Why don’t we play soccer in the park?’

‘All right,’ says Jack grumpily. Jack’s dad isn’t very good at soccer. But he is better than no-one.

Jack and his dad kick the ball around the oval.

Soon it is time to go home for dinner. Jack and his dad walk back to their house. Someone trots along behind them.

‘Look!’ says Jack. ‘There is a puppy following us.’

‘So there is,’ says Jack’s dad. ‘I wonder where he came from?’

Jack crouches down. The puppy runs up to him.

‘Hello, little fella,’ says Jack’s dad. ‘Let’s see who you belong to.’

But the puppy has no collar, no name and no address.

A man and a woman walk towards them, pushing a pram.

‘Is this your puppy?’ says Jack’s dad.

‘No,’ says the man. ‘We saw him before. He must be lost.’

Jack’s dad knocks on the door of a house nearby. An old woman opens the door.

‘Is this your puppy?’ Jack’s dad asks her.

‘No,’ says the woman.

‘We can’t leave him here on his own,’ Jack says. ‘Can’t we take him home with us?’

‘Well, I guess it’s getting late,’ says Jack’s dad. ‘We will look after him tonight. Then tomorrow we will find his owner.’

‘Yay!’ says Jack. The puppy yaps excitedly. Jack laughs and carries him home.

Jack’s mum is making dinner. When she sees the puppy she looks very surprised.

‘My goodness!’ she says. ‘Where did he come from?’

‘He’s lost,’ says Jack.

‘Don’t worry,’ says Jack’s dad. ‘He is only staying one night.’

Jack and his dad find some old towels. They make a bed for the puppy in the laundry. The puppy turns around and around in circles. Then he flops down onto the bed.

Jack sits next to the puppy.

The puppy wriggles around on his back. Jack tickles his soft grey belly.

‘If you were my puppy I would call you Scraps,’ says Jack. He imagines all the fun that he and Scraps would have together.