Pita's Great Adventure

Hi, my name is Pita. It is a pleasure to meet you, woof woof! Let’s have some fun! I am a playful puppy who loves to go on adventures. Everyone calls me a little dalmatian. Some of my favorite things to do are play fetch with newspapers and get all dirty in the mud. But what makes me feel the absolute best is helping others in need. Boy, that sure makes my heart feel warm and fuzzy. One day, when I was doing my daily walk around my neighborhood, there was a new little girl who caught my attention. The little girl and her family just moved into the neighborhood that day. I tried to be kind to every person and animal, so, excitingly, I ran over to them and said hello. They were all happy to see me. “Oh, how wonderful, I thought to myself, here is a new friend.” There was only the little girl and her parents. The little girl said hi, my name is Alexandra. Alexandra and I became two peas and a pod. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. We love to eat, tell jokes, and fly kites together. It sure is fun doing all these great activities! Our adventures together will never end. We both thought of a new idea. Let’s make the biggest and best chocolate cake, we exclaimed. Ok, Alexandra said, let’s go buy the ingredients Pita, woof, woof, I said in agreement, you bet. We both arrived at the grocery store, it was huge to tiny things like us. Look at all this yummy food Alexandra, I said. I know, Alexandra, I said, making this cake will be the best adventure yet. Woopieee! Let’s go get our ingredients, Alexandra, I said. Ok Alexandra said, we need chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, and cocoa powder. Check, Check, Check, it is time to start baking! On the way to Alexandra’s house, I asked her, can I please stir, I want to help you make the cake? Oh Pita, of course you can, she said. We arrived at her house and got everything ready to start baking. Alexandra poured the dry ingredients into a big bowl. I said, oh please be careful with those eggs and do not hurt yourself. She said, ok I can promise to be careful. Thank you for looking out for me. This is going to be amazing, we both cheered. It smells good enough to eat already. It sure does, Alexandra said. Now the only thing we need is butter, and you can start stirring Pita. Woof! Woof! Then she poured the butter into the bowl, and I started to stir the ingredients. with a wooden spoon using my mouth. All finished! The next thing we must do is to pour the batter into a greased and lined pan, Alexandra said. The oven is set to 350 degrees, and it is going to cook for 30 to 35 minutes. I asked Alexandra, what about the best part, the frosting, Alexandra said we will not forget that. There is this yummy pre-made chocolate frosting on the top shelf here in the kitchen. Perfect, I said. We are going to pile on the frosting right, Alexandra said. We both smiled and I said of course we will. The cake is ready to go into the oven and for us to set the timer. Finally, there was a ding sound, and the cake is ready to come out of the oven. Here comes the best part of any cake, the frosting. It is hard to be patient and let it cool. 30 minutes passed. Then it is time to load up the frosting. We started to frost our cake. It was the biggest cake I have ever seen. Wow Alexandra and I shouted happily, look at this. Oh, can we dig in please,” I said. Ready, set, go, lets dig in. Alexandra kept shoveling the cake into her mouth like she had not eaten in days. After 2 hours of eating, Alexandra had more than me. Alexandra then cried; my tummy hurts Pita. Instantly, I said, I am here to take care of you Alexandra, as I cuddled up to her. The most important thing to me is that you are happy and healthy, I said. She threw her arms around me and said I love you Pita, goodnight.

This is a bedtime story for kids, young and old. The moral of the story is the importance of love and kindness in our world today. It is so important that we instill in these lessons of wholeness Pita will never forget Alexandra, and their friendship will last a lifetime. Love is the key to everything bad; it shapes us and molds us into who we are meant to be as people. I love stories like this because they can foster the next generation. Kids are the future, and it is these tools that can be given to them which will shape their character.

By: Mel Kucenic

Award- Winning Author of

The Nishka's Golden Heart Series

About the Author

Mel Kucenic, a new author, shares beautiful memories of her dad through Nishka's Golden Heart. She lost her dad when she was almost 21 years old. The bond between the two was one-of-a-kind, and his loss left a huge hole in her heart. He immigrated from Croatia in 1968, and his Croatian roots have always run deep in her life. She has so many fond memories of her father, but she also collected memories from family and friends. She had intended on writing a book using those memories in honor of her father. The pen and paper never made it to press, though.She struggled for several years, then one day she felt an inspiration to take her dad's strengths, love of life, generosity and kindness to make a children's book. The result is Nishka's Golden Heart.Mel hopes Nishka's joy and strengths touch the hearts of the parents and children who read about him. Her goal is to continue to grow the Nishka series with more golden heart adventures.