I wake up to the sound of a dog barking. I don't have a dog... But the sound is coming from inside the house. I slip out of bed and walk down the stairs. In the kitchen, there is a little dog bed. I go over to the dining area and get a huge surprise - a puppy is pawing at the back door!

"Mom! Dad!" I yell.

The puppy is still pawing at the door. Now it looks at me with a pained expression.

"Oh, okay, I'll let you out." I say, patting it on the head. I open the back door and let the little silver dog outside.

Now my mom is coming down the stairs.

"Good morning, Ren..." She yawns.

"Hey," I say. "Um, what's with the... dog?"

"It's your birthday present!" My mom says as she presses the button to start the coffee machine.

"What? So it's mine?" I ask.

"Yes, all yours. I know you've wanted a dog for a long time but we've never been able to get one because Des was too small." My mom explains. "But she's five now and I think she'll be happy about the new dog."

I open the door to the let puppy inside, just as my sister Desiree comes racing into the kitchen.

"Something is different!" She says. Then she spots the dog. "Puppy! We have a puppy!" She squeals, going to pet it.

"She's your sister's birthday present," Mom says. Then she turns to me. "It's your responsibility to take care of her. Feeding her twice a day, taking her on walks."

"And you can help me," I say to Des.

She looks up at me. "What are you going to name her, Renny?" She asks.

"I don't know..." I say. "What do you think?"

"What about Daisy?" She says. "Or Lucy. Or Annabelle!"

"What about Mira?" I say.

"Yeah!" Says Desiree. "Mira! That's great!"

I pick up the puppy and rub her head.

"Welcome home, Mira..." I say quietly.

"We have a new puppy! We have a new puppy!" Sings Desiree. "Her name is Mira and she is a really good dog!"

We spend most of the morning playing with Mira. By lunchtime, she's already learned her name! She's really smart!

"I don't think Mira is a normal dog," Says Desiree. "I think she's magic!"

I choke on my ham sandwich. "What do you mean, magic?"

"You know what magic means, silly!" Says Desiree.

"Yeah, but..." I trail off. "Never mind."

It also turns out that Mira is already potty-trained. I'm a bit surprised. She's only ten weeks old! It all seems kind of suspicious. I have a whole world of reasons to believe in magic, but for some reason... I just don't. I like to believe there's some scientific explanation for everything that's happened to me, but it really doesn't seem possible.

"I'm going back outside!" Desiree calls as she drops her plate in the sink.

My phone dings. (I got my phone for Christmas when I was twelve.) I walk over to the couch and pick up my phone to see who texted me. It's my best friend, Sasha. Well, she's kind of my only friend. It's hard to make friends when you are schooled online and barely ever get out of the house.

The text from Sasha says "Happy b-day, Ren! Sorry I didn't text you sooner. I slept in and I was almost late for my piano lesson, so I didn't have time to text you."

I text her back: "Thanks. That's ok, I didn't even realize you hadn't texted me because I've been occupied with... Well, something really exciting happened. Wanna know what it is?"

"Yes, please tell me!" She texts.

"Ok..." I text. "Cue the dramatic music... I got a puppy for my birthday present!"

"OMG!!!😱 That is so awesome! Do you think I could come over to your house tomorrow?" She asks.

"Yeah, let me ask my mom." I text.

I walk over to the foot of the stairs. "Mom?" I call. "Can Sasha come over tomorrow?"

"I think that would be okay!" She says.

"Okay!"

I walk back over to the couch.

"My mom said yes." I text to to Sasha.

"Coolio!😜" She texts back.

"So do you wanna see a pic of my new puppy?" I text.

"Of course!" Sasha texts.

I walk outside. "Bring Mira over here for a sec, Ree," I call to my sister. She carries Mira over and I snap a picture of the dog in her arms and send it to Sasha.

"Her name is Mira." I text.

"Cool name. What made you pick that name?" Sasha replies.

"Well, I think I heard somewhere that the name Mira means 'the ocean'. So that's why I chose it."

"Nice. I like that.👍🏽" She texts. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Yup! Can't wait! 😃"