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with all her big brothers and sisters off to school, our ranch became a lonely place for our three-year-old daughter, becky. she longed for playmates. cattle and horses were too big to cuddle and farm machinery dangerous for a child so small. we promised to buy her a puppy but in the meantime, pretend puppies popped up nearly every day. i had just finished washing the lunch dishes when the screen door slammed and becky rushed in, cheeks flushed with excitement. mama! she cried, come see my new doggy! i gave him water two times already. hes so thirsty! i sighed, another of beckys imaginary dogs. 哥哥姐姐都去上学以后，对我们三岁的女儿贝基来说，农场就成为一个寂寞的地方了。她渴望伙伴。牛马太大了，她无法抱在怀里。农业机械对这么小的孩子也太危险。我们答应给她买个宠物，不过同时，虚构的宠物每天都会出现。 我刚洗完午饭的盘子，纱窗门就砰地被撞开，贝基跑了进来，兴奋地满脸通红。妈妈!她叫着，快来看看我的新狗狗!我已经喂他两次水了，他都快渴死了! 我叹息了一声，又是一只贝基虚构的小狗。 please come, mama. she tugged at my jeans, her brown eyes pleading, hes cryingand he cant walk! cant walk? now that was a twist. all her previous make-believe dogs could do marvelous things. one balanced a ball on the end of its nose. another dug a hole that went all the way through the earth and fell out on a star on the other side. | 
