Afterthebellrang， asuccessionoflittlevisitorscametoourdoor， ， shewaggedhertailandlickedtheirhands， ： Formanyofthem， itwastheirfirstencounterwithunconditionalacceptance.
Duringthedaysthatfollowed， Hollylearnednottobarkatthechildren'， sittingonthefloorbyHollyandpetting， brushing， ， .
Littlebylittle， Holly'， andthechildren'， givingHollyashortpatandrestoringtheirspiritsinherpresence.
Ididn'trealizehowlovedHollywas， though， ， expectingatouchofsympathy， IwasimmediatelyaskedifthatmeantHollywouldhavetostayhome， ， ， theteachersweretiredofansweringthequestion， "IsHollyworkingtoday？"
Onemorningbeforeschool， nine-year-oldLeMar， athird-graderwhovisitedHollyregularly， ， andbythetimetheyarrivedatschool， theywereterrifiedandintears.
IhurriedtoLeMar'shomeclassroom， 'steacherstoodtherewithtearsstreamingdownherface."Mydegreedidn'tpreparemetohandlesomethinglikethis，" .
"Cryingisokayforadultsandchildren，" Ibegan， "especiallywhensomethinglikethishappens." Stillseeingthepainontheirfaces， Icontinuedtotellthemthatitwasokaytobescared， ， .
Shewasworkingherwayaroundtheroom， goingfromchildtochild—andtheteacher—， thechildrenhuggedherback， runningtheirfingersthroughherfurwithsuchintensitythatshewouldhavegonebaldifthey'， ， difficultday.
AsIslidintothefrontseatofmycarthatafternoon， Ileanedback， ， ， ifnotmoreso， and， notforthefirsttime， ？ Shouldn'tshebeallowedtostayhomeandenjoythecarefreelifeofahousepet？
Thosedoubtsmaybewhy， evennow， Ioccasionallystopinmyrushtoleaveforschoolinthemorningand， insteadoforderingHollyintothecar， lookather， asking， "Doyouwanttogotoschooltoday？" Whensheleapsupeagerly， allwagsandexcitement， Ifigureshe'， Hollyisworkingtoday.
