"Happy 13th Birthday, my sweet Rachel," joyfully shouted Rachel's mother.

"Come on, open up your presents," Rachel's father said with a grin from ear-to-ear. Rachel beamed at all of her presents. She had to choose which present to open up first. "Hmm," Rachel muttered, "I think I'll open this one!"

As she picked up the purple present, she heard a weird noise that almost sounded like something moving inside of the box. "Be gentle with that one, it's fragile," her mother declared.

Rachel yipped, "It's a puppy!"

"I knew you would love him," her mother cheered, "what would you like to name him?"

"Rocco!" Rachel shrieked, without a doubt. She had always wanted a dog and had spent countless hours curating the perfect name.

"What a nice name! Since you're 13 now, we thought he would be a great responsibility for you to take on, Rachel," her father chimed in.

"Responsibility?" Rachel questioned.

"It will be your job to let Rocco into the backyard to use the bathroom, feed him, and give him a bath every month," her mother answered.

"I thought he was a present," Rachel exclaimed. "presents don't have chores!

"Rachel, actions have consequences, and you're getting older now. Since you wanted this dog so badly, it's going to be your job to take care of him," her father advised.

"Fine," Rachel sighed, "I'll start taking care of him tomorrow."

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Rachel woke up Saturday morning to the sound of scratching at her metal bed post. She jolted awake and sighed with relief, "Oh, it's just you Rocco! You had me scared for a minute."

She spent a few minutes petting her puppy, and thoughts of joy filled her mind. She decided to leave her room, but before she could, she came across a sticky note hanging on her bedroom door. "What's this?" Rachel questioned.

She recognized the handwriting as her mother's. She glanced at the note, and it read:

Dear my sweet Rachel,

I have a few goals today for you to complete while your father and I are at work. 

First, you need to let Rocco go outside as soon as you wake up. Let him go outside again during lunchtime.

At those same times, feed Rocco. I have the measuring cups on the counter, and I need you to feed him 1 cup in the morning and one in the afternoon.

                    Love you honey - Mom

"I can't believe it, Rocco," Rachel fumed, "Mom doesn't trust me to take care of my own dog!"

"You know what?" Rachel hissed, "I don't need her silly instructions. I'll show her how amazing I am at taking care of you all by myself!"

Rachel crumpled up the sticky note and threw it on the floor.

"Come on, Rocco," Rachel declared, "let's go take you outside."

Rachel led Rocco to the kitchen, which had a door connecting to the backyard. She opened it and let Rocco go outside.

After Rachel let Rocco go outside, she quickly got caught up in the tasks of making herself breakfast and watching her favorite television show.

As Rachel finished her breakfast, she heard some scratching at the backyard door and immediately remembered that she forgot about Rocco outside.

"Oh no," Rachel exclaimed, "Rocco!"

She ran to the door and let the puppy in. "Rocco, I'm so sorry, I can't believe I forgot about you," she whimpered.

Thinking out loud, Rachel said, "I know I messed up this time, but now I can prove Mom wrong by showing her that I know how much food I can feed Rocco, all without her help!"

Rachel, once again disregarding what her mother's sticky note instructed, gave Rocco three big scoops of kibble. "Eat up, Rocco!" she proclaimed.

Before she knew it, Rocco had eaten up all the kibble. Though, the event that followed shocked Rachel. "Eww, Rocco," she shrieked, as she saw her puppy vomiting up his breakfast. "That's so disgusting! How am I supposed to clean this up?" she questioned.

WORLD'S

GREATEST

 KIBBLE

"Mom and Dad can't possibly expect me to clean this up, right Rocco?" Rachel pleaded, "they never prepared me for this, I just am going to leave it for them to clean up. Since they didn't train me, it's really their mess anyways!"

Before Rachel knew it, it was already the afternoon. This time, Rachel gave Rocco only two scoops of kibble, which still exceeded her mother's requests, but he did not vomit this time. Rachel also let Rocco outside, but then received a call from her best friend. Rachel eagerly answered the phone call. Rachel was amused, as she talked about all the latest fashion trends, movies, and mobile games with her best friend. An hour later, Rachel has a realization.

"Andrea!" Rachel yelled, "I have to get off the phone! I left my dog outside again."

As she hung up from the phone call, Rachel approached the backyard door. However, she did not hear any scratching like she did the previous time. She opened the door and screamed, "Rocco, come on inside, buddy!"

He did not come to the door. She yelled out again, "Rocco, it's Rachel! It's time to come inside." Her calls were to no avail. Rachel stepped into her backyard, and to her horror there was a gap in the fence.

Rachel ran to her bedroom, tears filling her eyes. "I can't believe that I lost my dog on the first day of me having him! What type of crazy person does that?" she wailed.

She heard a knock at her door, followed by a voice. "Rachel, I just got off of work. Is everything alright in there?" her mother gently inquired.

Her mother opened the door, alongside her father. "Rachel, what's going on? Where's Rocco?" her father questioned.

"I don't know, Dad. I lost him! I'm such a terrible kid," Rachel wept.