Newman - Animal Superstars

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eISBN: 978-1-4263-1093-5

v3.1

OPEE:
THE MOTOCROSS BIKER PUP

Opee and Mike Schelin go airborne! They both love to ride Mikes dirt bike. ()

Chapter 1

EASY RIDER

Ready to ride, Opee pants with excitement. His helmet has a camera on top. ()

April 2006, San Diego, California

O pee the Australian (sounds like AH -STRALE- YAN ) shepherd cocks his head and listens. Has Mike entered the garage? The devoted dog jumps to his feet and runs toward the sound. Barking excitedly, he leaps onto the gas tank of Mike Schelins dirt bike. Opees pink tongue hangs out. His front paws rest on the handlebars.

Mike grins. He slips a helmet and goggles on the happy dogs head. He hops on the bike behind Opee and kicks the starter with his heel. Off they go across the California desert.

Mike is a professional motocross (sounds like MOE- TOE - CROSS ) racer. And so is Opee! Motocross is a form of cross-country motorcycle racing. Racers ride special motocross bikes, also called dirt bikes. They race on rugged tracks that are closed to normal traffic.

Mike and Opees story started when Mike Schelin was 35 years old. Things had not been going well for him lately and he was unhappy. Cheer up! he told himself. But he didnt know how. So he sat down with a pad and pencil.

He made a list of all the things that made him feel good.

Later Mike read what he wrote. Hmm, he thought, dogs are first on my list. I need a job that lets me bring a dog to work.

Soon Mike quit his job selling computers and moved to San Diego, California. He met a man there who let Mike live in an old house for free. In return, Mike agreed to fix up the place. But something was missing. Mike needed a dog to keep him company.

He called a woman who had an Australian shepherd puppy for sale. They agreed to meet on a country road where 75 mailboxes stood in a row.

Mike spotted the mailboxes first. Then he saw a mother dog and puppy playing in the grass. The puppy had soft, floppy ears. His furry coat had patches of black, brown, and gray with white around his neck. His eyes were different colors. One was blue and the other was brown. Mike scooped him up, and slurp! The little furball stuck out his tongue and licked Mikes face. Mike paid the woman and drove home with the puppy.

Mike didnt think of the dog as a pet. He thought of him more as a friend, or even a brother. He named the pup Opee, his own nickname as a child.

The next day, Mike woke up to whining. Are you hungry, fella? Mike asked. He poured some kibble into a plastic bowl and fixed himself a cup of coffee.

The house was a mess. A table saw stood in the middle of the living room. Rows of bare wooden studs rose like jail bars at one end of the room. Piles of sweet-smelling sawdust littered the floor.

Mike grabbed a hammer and started to work. Opee followed behind, leaving paw prints in the dust. Later he curled up in Mikes toolbox to sleep.