That morning, the field was full of pups. They ran, rolled, and jumped, and all of them wore collars with little tags that jingled.
In the middle of them was Zeke, a brand new pug in the gang. He had a squished little nose, floppy ears, and a tail curled like a snail.
Fofuxo was the first to say hello. “Hi, I'm Fofuxo! Want to play fetch?” “Yes!” said Zeke, his eyes shining.
And off the two of them ran across the field. They laughed out loud. One dropped the stick, the other brought it back. Then they swapped.
Pigúiça stayed in a corner, sitting very still. She looked at them. She looked at the ground. She looked again. Something hot began to rise in her tummy. It wasn't anger. It wasn't sadness. It was both, mixed together and squeezed tight.
“Fofuxo is MY best friend,” she grumbled under her breath. “He didn't even look at me.” She turned her nose the other way, crossed her paws, and stayed right there, scowling.
But Fofuxo has a very good nose for his friends' feelings. When he noticed Pigúiça's silence, he stopped the game at once and came running. “Pigúiça, are you okay?” “No,” she said. “You only play with Zeke.”
Fofuxo sat down next to her, slowly. His eyes turned deep blue, which happened when he had something important to say. “You know my heart?” he asked. “It has a room for every friend. When Zeke arrived, it opened a new room. But nobody left any room, not even you.”
Pigúiça looked at him. The hot feeling in her tummy cooled down a little. “Your room is the biggest of all,” Fofuxo added. “It has a window full of stars.” Pigúiça laughed, without meaning to, through her nose.
On the other side of the field, Zeke was watching them, a little lost, not knowing where to go. It was his first time there. He didn't know anyone, only Fofuxo.
Pigúiça took a deep breath. She stood up and walked over to him. “Hi. I'm Pigúiça. Want to see something cool? There are singing stones in the woods.”
“Singing stones?” said Zeke, his mouth open. “Yes, please!”
The three of them went off, side by side. The stones sang softly, just for them. And when the sun began to set, three tired pups were asleep leaning on the root of a tree, with Zeke's snail tail right next to Pigúiça's fluffy tail.
