“First you have to know that I am no storyteller. Second you have to know that I am a dog, a talking dog named Leo. I learned to read and write in the laboratory that they tested me in. I also heard about Dog Island there. Ahh, Dog Island, a small island just for dogs. There is plenty to eat, and when we are getting low on food the people bring more food. They give you medicine that turns you well if you're sick too. They are very generous.”
“None of us dogs really believed in the Island. We hoped for it, We dreamt about it, but, if you ask us, not one of us would have said we really believe in it. Even if it were true, none of us expect to go there, That was before I met the girl on the bus. She had been there, she said. Not to me, but to her friend. She had taken a boat there and watched the dogs from the boat. I was a on my way to dog Island when I overheard her on the bus, even though I didn’t believe it really existed. Even though I didn’t really believe in dog Island, I had nowhere else to go, since I was not going back to my cage where the researchers did stuff to me. That girl was telling her friend all about her vacation. Dog Island was real! I knew what I had to do next. I had to go to dog Island.”
“The two girls kept talking and I learned that the one girl had visited dog Island on her trip to visit her grandmother in Puerto Rico. So the island was in Puerto Rico! Just then the bus was stopped and a policeman came on board. He spoke to the driver. The driver then spoke to all the passengers. The driver told all the passengers that they had to leave the bus and take all their belongings with them. The police were looking for a missing item, and was sorry for the inconvenience. Then I saw two of the men from the laboratory. They were looking for me! I quietly opened the suitcase next to me on the luggage rack, slipped in, and locked myself inside. I was careful not to make a sound, even when the suitcase was dropped to the ground outside.”
“ Soon we were all back on the bus. many people asked “what were they looking for?”  but no one knew and we were on our way. Only problem was, I was stuck inside the suitcase! I tried to figure out how to open the suitcase from the inside without making too much noise but, soon, the bump-bump-bump of the bus made me tired and before I knew it I was dreaming of dog Island.”
The girl was waving to me from a boat and I was waving back from the shore. There were many other dogs there, as well. Some of us were in eating biscuits and some of us were on the shore eating bread. There were researchers on the shore with us. They were smiling, handing out loaves of bread and petting us on the heads. The water was clear blue, fish were jumping from it and you could see the reflection of the biscuit trees in the water!
“When I woke up, I was still in the suitcase. It was quiet. I felt my paw on the edge of the suitcase and found the inside of a zipper. Slowly, and gently, I edged the zipper open just a little bit, just enough so I could look outside. It was dark. We were no longer on the bus. I was in a room with many posters of horses and butterflies. This must where the girl on the bus lived. I opened the suitcase zipper and slipped out. It was night and the girl was asleep in a very comfortable-looking bed. Next to her were a small horse, a bear, and another animal I did not recognize. They were not real, but I did not think it mattered, so I curled up next to the little girl and went back to sleep.”
“When I woke up, the girl was gone and I had a chance to look around the room in the bright daylight. There were all sorts of fake animals in the room … even a fake Dog. This gave me an idea.  I wrote on a piece of paper the following:” I want to go to dog Island. Draw me a map from here to there.
“ I left the paper and the pencil next to the fake dog, so the girl would think he wrote it. When she came home, the girl. She saw the note, looked around the room curiously, and then said very loudly, “Is there a real dog in my room?” I kept quiet. “I know there is a real doggy in my room,” the girl said. “Stuffed dogs cannot write.” I kept really quiet. “Okay,fine” the girl said. “I will draw you a map to dog Island, but first answer a petit question. Were the police looking for you that night on the bus?” I kept quiet, really really quite. The girl laughed. “You are one smart doggy,” she said. “I thought for sure you would fall for that trick.” The girl went over to her desk and turned on her computer. “You come behind me. I promise I will not turn around, but you need to look over my shoulder at the screen.” I quietly snuck up behind her and looked up on the screen. The girl typed ‘Puerto Rico Dog Island’ into the computer. Click. Click. And there on the screen was a picture of a small island in the middle of the nowhere!  “This is dog Island,” the girl  said. “It is just off the Eastern coast of Puerto Rico.” Click, click, click. And there was a map of Puerto Rico. The girl pressed her finger to the screen, just to the right side of Puerto Rico. “Right here. You have to take a boat. We took a boat to get there. Captain Lew let my brother steer the boat. It is not that far away from shore, but too far to swim, so you will have to take a boat.” I was ready to go, but the girl quickly said, “Wait! There is some bad news. You are in Chicago. You have to take a plane to Puerto Rico. And then a car from the airport to the boat.” Click, click, click, click. “Here is a map of North America. You are here.” The girl pointed to Chicago. “You need to get to here.” The girl then pointed down, past a number of other islands and to an island on the very side of the map. “This is Puerto Rico. It is a long plane ride away.” The girl reached her hand backwards without looking. “But you are one smart dog. I’m sure you will find it.” I put my paw in her hand. “Wait,” she said. “Did you escape from your owner? Tap my hand once for ‘yes’ and twice for ‘no.’” I tapped twice. “Did you escape from a testing center?” I tapped once. She typed ‘Dog escape from testing center’ into the computer. On her screen appeared a picture of a handsome dog. It was me. “You better hurry,”  girl said. “They are still looking for you.” 
The girl  was right. The plane ride was long. I fell asleep and dreamed about Dog Island.
The girl was yelling, “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Men were chasing me and I was running towards the water. I was running  fast, fast, but the water was so far away. The girl yelled, “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” again. The men were getting closer and closer and just when I felt their hands on my fur, I heard the girl yell, ‘Jump!’ So I jumped and I flew through the air, over the heads of the men in lab coats and across the water to Dog Island. But a large bird landed on my back and said, “Dogs cannot fly.’ He was so heavy, I started to fall. I flapped my arms but it was no use. I am a dog, not a bird. I fell faster and faster and down below there was a boat. Inside the boat were men with lab coats and they held a cage open in just the spot I would land! I tried to avoid the cage but it was no use. I was falling right into it! Just when I was about to land in the cage, I woke up.
I was in Puerto Rico! If you think it is amazing that a dog could sneak onto a plane to Puerto Rico, you should remember that Dogs have flew space ships before humans did, or wait is that monkeys? Oh, what does it matter? The girl said I needed to take a car from the airport to the Eastern side of Puerto Rico. She forgot that I was a dog and that Puerto Rico is a tropical island. I traveled at night, and I did not want the men in lab coats to catch me. Five long nights after I landed I found myself in a rainforest. It was beautiful! There were waterfalls for me to drink out of and fruit trees so I can eat all I want. There were also ponds, so I can catch fish and eat them. There were people here, of course, but they mainly stayed on the trails, so they were easy to avoid. I knew this was not Dog Island, but I was so tired from traveling that I decided to stay here for a few days to rest. This was a big mistake! My dream of men chasing me quickly came true. They were not wearing white lab coats, they were wearing blue shirts. And they were not trying to catch me with their hands; they were shooting darts at me! One hit the tree right next to me. The good news is that I am a dog. I can run faster than the humans can. Soon I got away from them, but it was clear I could not stay in the rain forest. I had to get to dog Island. And quickly. Once I made it to the shore, finding dog Island was easy. I followed the shoreline. I could smelled the island before I even saw it. Now you might not think that the smell of hundreds of dogs would be a good smell, but to me, it was the best smell in the whole, wide world! And then I saw it! Out there in the water. Just like the picture on the computer. Dog Island. It was real. Can you imagine! I reached my paw out  as if to touch it. Just one problem left. How to get across the water to the island? I knew I couldn’t swim that far. Dogs are not fish. Then I remembered about the boat that the girl took to the island. If I could find the boat, I could sneak on board and then, I was shaking to think of it … I would be on Dog Island. If you are worried that I would be stopped so close to my journey’s end ... don’t be. The boat was bright red, yellow and blue. It was easy to find. I saw a few people get on board. That very night I snuck on board, climbed on top of the canvas covering, and waited until the boat took me to Dog Island! I was too excited to sleep. And, I no longer needed to dream about dog Island. I was only one short boat ride away!
That was a couple years ago. Every day I go down to the shore and wait for the bright red, yellow and blue boat to arrive. I watch the people crowd to the edge of the boat, pointing excitedly towards us Dogs. Of course I am looking for the  girl with the blue dress. She would be older now and would not be wearing the blue dress, I know. I will recognize her when I see her. I am sure of it. Here comes the boat now, so I have to end my story. I hope the girl with the blue dress is on the boat today. Or another day. If not, I hope she reads this story and realizes that she made my dream come true. A couple years ago I was in a cage being fed medicine that made me sick. Now I am on an island just for dogs where people take good care of me and feed me all that I can eat.
Can you imagine that?