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| - Two days later, Victor was at the baseball park. He was in a baseball outfit with a baseball cap on. By the bleachers, Sparky was sitting next to Elsa and her dog Persephone. The Bull Terrier was tied up. So far, Victor missed the first ball "Strike one!" The gym teacher said. "Nice try, son," Victor's dad tried to incourage his son to continue. Mr. Ryskuruski's words kept repeating in Victor's head. "I want you to concentrate on your project for the science fair....." Victor tried to forget about it and tried to concentrate on baseball. He swings his bat again. "Strike two!" The gym teacher cried. "C'mon, honey!" Mrs. Frankenstein incouraged Victor too. Including Sparky, who gave Victor a bark. Then, Victor saw that Toshiaki threw the ball at him. Victor closed his eyes and swung his bat. WHACK! Then he hit the ball, right out of the park! Victor just stood there, watching the ball. So did Elsa. Sparky was so excited about the ball that he was barking so loud that Mrs. Frankenstein was trying to calm him down. "Victor!" Mr. Frankenstein cried, "RUN!" Victor started to run the basis. Then Sparky jumped of the bleacher and started to pull at his leash. He was pulling so hard that it snapped off his collar! "Sparky!" Mrs. Frankenstein called. Elsa watched Sparky, tied Persephone to the bleachers, leapt to her feet and raced toward Victor. "Victor!" Elsa called, getting the boy's attention. Victor stopped and saw Sparky racing after the ball. "Arf! Arf!" Sparky barked happily. Victor and Elsa raced after Sparky. But it was too late. Sparky was in the middle of the street, coming back to Victor, ball in his mouth. "Sparky!" Victor called, incouraging the dog to hurry. Sparky just kept walking, then his head snapped around and he was faced to face with a car bumper. There was the sound of tires screeching then there was a thump. Victor watched the ball hit the other side of the curb. He wished that it was just a bad dream. But it wasn't a dream. "Sparky!" Victor cried, running to the edge of the curb. He didn't expect the sight to see when he got there. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" ************* Victor, Elsa and Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein stood in the New Holland Pet Cemetary. They were looking at a grave. It had four bones on top of a pedestal. The bones formed a cross. In the middle of the cross was a picture of a dog. At the bottom of the grave was the name Victor wished it wasn't there. The grave read; SPARKY. Victor just stood there with Elsa, watching Mr. Frankenstein lower a box into a hole by the grave. Victor and Elsa looked at each other. Then, Elsa wrapped her arms around Victor. He did the same. As soon as Sparky was buried, Elsa put a boquet of flowers on top of the mound. Then Victor gently bent down and placed a baseball next to the flowers. Then they turned around and headed for home. ************* In Victor's bedroom, his parents were trying to be as comforting as ever. "He was a great dog," Mrs. Frankenstein said, "a great friend." "The best dog a kid could have," Mr. Frankenstein added. "When you lose someone you love they never really leave you," Mrs. Frankenstein said, "they just move into a special place in your heart. Sparky'll always be there Victor." Victor rolled over, so his back was facing his parents. "I don't want him in my heart!" Victor cried, sadly, "I want him here with me!" "I know," Mrs. Frankenstein said, planting a kiss on Victor's head, "if we could bring him back, we would." Victor didn't have the slightest gleam of hope in what his parents told him. ************* The next day at school, Victor wasn't even paying attention in science class. He actually couldn't sleep the night before. Most of the time, he lied awake in bed, looking up at the ceiling, hoping that Sparky was still alive. But, of course, Sparky was dead. He was drawing a picture of Sparky and, once he finished it, fell asleep. While he was sleeping, he was standing in the Pet Cemetary. Right by Sparky's grave. Someone came up behind him and placed a hand on Victor's shoulder. It was a girl. She looked like Celia. And she was telling him something. "Bring him back..." the girl said in a ghostly voice. "Bring who back?" Victor asked. "Sparky..." ************* "Victor," Elsa said quietly, "Victor wake up!" Victor woke up and slid off his chair. The class erupted with laughter, except Elsa and Celia. "Glad you're awake, Mr. Frankenstein," Mr. Ryskuruski said, bringing out an eletric box with wires and clips attatched to it. There was a dead frog on a small platter. The kids stared at it in disgust. "Watch!" Elsa hissed. Victor looked up. The teacher clipped the electrods to the frog's legs. Turning a button, it made the frog's legs jump. As Victor and Elsa watched, they came up with the best idea ever! Sparky wasn't gone, adding a few lightning bolts to his drawing, Victor and Elsa came up with bring Sparky back from the dead. *************
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