The Little Tomatillos food truck was parked on the same street as Mr. Grumble’s Gumdrop Shop. It was parked a block away from the Gumdrop Shop, but Mr. Grumble swore the music was so loud it made his store walls vibrate and that he could still hear the metal drum ringing in his ears as he fell asleep at night.

Mr. Grumble walked outside his shop and stood on the corner of the sidewalk, where Brush Street met Stephens Road. His store was officially on Stephens Road. Brush Street was the street where most of the Elementrees lived. He lifted his fist in the air and shook it toward the food truck. “Ice cream trucks go around once!” he shouted. “This truck parks outside my shop, plays this music all the way up, and never leaves! Darn nabbit!”

Amy Lockhart and her sister, Lizzie Lockhart, were rounding the corner and almost ran into Mr. Grumble.

“What’s going on, Mr. Grumble?” Amy asked him.

“That darn food truck! I can barely speak over this racket.”

“I didn’t know you played tennis. I thought you were more of a golf kind of guy,” Amy said.

Mr. Grumble brought the palm of his hand to his forehead and shook his head. It was just one aggravation after another.

“This sound is the racket! It’s a public nuisance!”

“Mr. Grumble, I can go and ask them to turn it down a little.”

“Would you, kid?”

“I sure can.”

“Because you know I’m sure they will take it better coming from you than me.”

“No problem, Mr. Grumble.”

“Thanks, Amy.”

Amy and Lizzie made their way to the food truck.

“What if we get in trouble?” Lizzie asked.

“Well, it won’t hurt to ask kindly,” Amy said.

“I hope so,” Lizzie said, worried.

Amy and Lizzie reached the food truck when no one else was in line. Juan could barely see them waiting underneath the outside counter.

“Ahem! Ahem!” Amy said loudly as if she were clearing her throat.

Amy heard barking sounds through the music.

“How may I help you?” Juan said poking his head near the opened window of the truck.

“Excuse me, sir. Could you please turn down the music?”

“Sure,” Juan said. He turned down the music and Amy heard the dog barking still.

“Is there a dog in your truck?” Amy asked.

Juan put a finger to his lips to let Amy know this was a secret. “Actually, there is, but just for today. He is a very cute dog. Would you like to see him?”

“Sure,” Amy said.

Juan exited his food truck with the little dog in his hands.

As soon as Amy saw the dog, she fell in love with him. He had very big, dark brown, round eyes and a small black and white body. The puppy looked like he was wearing a black tuxedo suit with a white dress shirt underneath.

Juan placed the dog on the pavement and the little dog immediately jumped up onto Amy’s legs.

“He likes you,” Juan said. “Would you like to have him? He needs a home.”

“I don’t know…” Amy looked at her sister, who was already kneeling down and petting the dog.

“He’s so cute,” Lizzie said.

“Well, we’ll take him for now, if that’s okay,” Amy said. She was pretty sure she could convince her Mom to accept this new puppy.

“He was a stray dog. He was just walking around. We took him inside the food truck today, so he wouldn’t get hit by a car.”

“We’ll keep him safe. Do you want to go home with me?” Amy asked the dog.

The little pup sniffed Amy’s and Lizzie’s hands and ankles. He looked in their eyes. They were little people, about his size. He liked them.

“Yeah, I choose you to take care of me,” The pup said as he let out a few squeaky barks, smiled broadly, and licked his nose.

“I think he said, ‘yes,’ ” Juan said, encouraging the exchange, knowing he had Maria to deal with inside the truck. “Have fun with your new dog,” Juan said as he walked back inside the food truck, closing the deal.

Juan turned up the music again. The little dog got up on his hind legs and danced around in a circle.

“He looks really happy,” Lizzie said. “I think he’s happy to go home with us.”

“I think he likes this music, too,” Amy said. “He’s dancing.”

Amy knocked on the food truck again and said, “Excuse me!”

“Yes?” Juan said, poking his head near the open window.

“The dog really likes your music. What kind of music is this?”

“It is calypso,” Juan said.

“Calypso? I never heard of that before.”

“It is from the Caribbean. We serve Caribbean food.”

“Oh, that’s great. Thank you for the information.”

Juan started walking away.

“Excuse me!” Amy said loudly again.

“Yes?” Juan put his head near the window again. “Would you like to order some food?”

“No, I don’t have any money today. But I’m friends with a shop owner down the street and I promised him I would ask you to turn down your music. Can you please lower your music?”

Juan nodded and said, “Of course! I’m sorry. We’ll keep it lower.” Juan lowered the music. “How’s that?”

“That’s better. Thank you. And thank you for the dog.”

“You’re welcome. It is my pleasure.”

“I’m going to call the dog Calypso in honor of your music.”

“You will! That’s great.”

“If it weren’t for your loud music, I would have never met him.”

And if it weren’t for his loud music, I would have never met him, Calypso thought. He was no longer a stray. He had a name, a new home near his parents, and some people his own size were going to take care of him. Maybe these small people could help him stay in touch with his brothers and sister.

Back at Mildred’s home, the pups and their parents felt in their hearts that their adventuresome brother and son had made it to a safe, loving place. They were playing together when Mildred walked back outside to see how they were doing. She realized one puppy was missing. She walked outside to the sidewalk in front of her home and stood there as she looked right and left down her street. She saw no puppy wandering around. She considered putting up signs for a missing puppy. Then she decided against that. These little puppies were so cute, she knew it would not be long before they would find a good home in this nice neighborhood. She wished the little puppy the best and promised herself to keep a closer eye on the remaining two pups.

Question: Which dog power would you prefer to have: super-smelling or super-hearing? You can leave a comment by clicking here.