Georgina is living with her mom and little brother Toby. His dad leaved them without any notice. He leaved nothing but only just some quaters and a mayonaise jar full of wadded-up dollar bills. None of her familly didn't know why he's leaved them even her mom.

They couldn't afford to pay the rent so they had to leave their house. Until her mom got off her work, Georgina and her little brother Toby had to wait in their old car. Then mom got back to home(their car) with some food, they had late dinner in the narrow car and they slept in there.

Since Georgina has been living in the car, she has gotten dirtier and dirtier so she felt shame to be seen herself to other people. Especially to her best friend Luanne. Luanne and Georgina used to hang out in Luanne's house. So Georgina has decided to pretend not to be seen like that.

She pretended she was living in Apartment 3B just like she used to be. She pretended like she didn't have mustard on her shirt from the day before. She pretended like she didn't wash her hair in the bathroom of Gas Station or Burger King in the early morning when nobody was there. Also she pretended she missed her dad too. 

When Georgina and her brother Toby went to school, they stood at the bus stop near Apartment 3B as if they were still living in there. But Geogina thought her brother Toby was a baby so he was always tantruming and crying about their miserable life. Georgina was afraid of Luanne to notice her real life. Luanne was very nosy and asked her why Georgina smelled bad and Toby was crying. And why she was starting to look kind of unkempt. Luanne was so curious about her so she followed Georgina unnoticed to her after school. Georgina and Toby got off the school bus at the apartment 3B and went past the apartment, across the street and got to their car that was parked at the clearing back of a drugstore. Their car was haning laundries on the windows. And then Georgina noticed Luanne followed her and found out everything about her. Georgina set a smile on her face and pretended that it was no big deal. She said that this is a temporary and she was going to move to the new apartment when her mom gets paid. But when Luanne said she hadn't seen her dad for a long time, Georgina couldn't stop to burst into tears at last. After she cried all out, she asked Luanne to promise to don't say this to anyone, even her mother. Luanne hesitated to make a pinkie promise but finally did. 

Mom left a note that is saying she'll be late and they are supposed to eat macaronies in the cooler. They hated that. 

When Mom got home late at night, Georgina said to her that she don't want to be here anymore and she want a real place to live, not in this car.

They started to argue with that. Georgina said to mom that it's all your fault and she got to do something. Mom was already doing two jobs to save up money. Mom told her it takes more money to have a place to live. Georgina didn't know how much money do they need and wanted to know.

Mom drove the car away from the place because they parked the car there too long. Mom said if they don't leave there, the cops are liable to run them off. 

Mom found the proper place to park, and pull their car into the alley beside a auto parts shop. Then it was time to go to bed even though there was no bed or bed room. There was clothes line in the middle of the car, and when she draped a beach towel on the clothes line, the back seat was a bed room. Georgina really wanted her own bed room. She imagined her friend Luanne was sleeping in her bed with her stuffed toy. She felt so sorry for herself and miserable.

She couldn't sleep and saw the stars in the sky. Then she accidently saw the sign saying "Reward. 500$." with a picture of a dog on it. She was wondering if 500$ was enough money to get a new house. She asked her mom that and she said she thought so.  She made a plan. She was going to steal a dog.

Her plan was like this. First he steal a dog. Next, the person who missed his dog wants to pay for having his dog again. Finally she returns the dog and have 500$. She wrote the plan in her notebook.

Step 1. Find a dog.

1. The dog must not bark.

2. The dog must not bite.

3. The dog must be outside by itselft sometimes.

4. The dog must be loved so much.

5. The dog must have a person look like having a big house or limo or something like that and will pay a lot of money to get their dog back.

She explained the plan to Toby even though it was dangerous for him to tell her mom. Because she had to take care of him all the time. She couldn't steal a dog without any notice of him. Toby thought stealing a dog was wrong, but he finally agreed when she said if he wanted to live in the car forever.

Of course she didn't like the plan and she didn't want to do that kind of bad thing just like stealing a dog. But she had to do something because she desperately wanted to have proper place to live. Someplace to stretch her limbs and comfortable bed room, a bathroom just like other people do. She had to make money to help her mother. But her mother will disagree that plan, so it was a secret to her. 

After they finished school, Georgina and Toby had searched the proper dog in the Whitmore Road. Georgina showed the rules of finding a dog to Toby. She asked him to tell her when he found the dog. She ran into some dogs while she had searched a dog. She gave up some dogs like abandonded or too old one. At last she found a big house. The house was so big that it looked like mansion. There was a dog and an old lady in the yard. The dog was very cute and she didn't smacked when it was digging the ground. She loved the dog very much.

She thought the old lady who is living in this house must be rich and the dog must have been loved. And the sign at the mail box gave her a certain feeling about this. The sign said "The Whitemores". She thought Mrs. Whitemore in this house  owned the whole Whitemore Road street. She decided to steal that dog.

Georgina hadn't done any homework since she lost her house. She even failed her math exam. She looked very ugly and wore  wrinkled clothes with dirty hair. Her teacher must have called her mom repeatedly but of course he failed to connect. He wrote a letter and gave her to deliever her mom. But She don't want to deliver it to her mom. 

Geogina sat at the back seat of the car and let out a notebook that was for plans of stealing a dog. She wrote new step of plans.

Step 2: When you find the dog you want to steal, keep an eye on it for a while. 
1. Make sure the dog really doesn't bark or bite.
2. If there is a fence, see if the gate is locked.
3. Decide whether or not you can pick the dog up or maybe you have to have a leash or a rope.
4. Check to see if there are any nosy people living next door or across the street or something.

She closed the notebook and got out of the car. Tobby was supposed to be with her mom that afternoon, so she was alone now.

It was a good chance to check if the condition to steal a dog was suitable. She set off to the Whitemore Street to check out. There were no nosy people living next door and no people gave any attention to her. The gate of the house was not locked when she tried to push the gate. She found the dog playing in the yard and said to him "Hey there, fella.".  The dog was very friendly and he smiled at her. He looked very lovely. When she called him, he cocked his head and wagged his tail crazily. But He never barked at her loudly. He was never afraid of her. He came close to her and licked her hand. He had a collar on his neck. The collar said "Willy" and the address and the phone number was written on it.

Everything was perfect but the rope. She hadn't any rope and money. She had to get some rope without buying.

She got back in her car and she was wodering how could she steal a dog. She wasn't really want to steal a dog. She hadn't stolen anything in her life. However when she looked in her car, she saw all kind of dirty things. The trash bags stuffed with old, dirty, wrinkled clothes and shoes. The backseat of the car was for Toby and Georgina. Their stuffs were nothing better than the other things. Dirty and wrinkled. She hated all of that. She had to steal a dog to have a better life.

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Next day, Georgina got to the Whitmore Street with Toby and showed the dog to him. Willy was very cute to Toby too. 

She wrote the Step 3 on her notebook.

Step 3: Get ready to steal the dog.
1. Keep watching the dog to make sure he is the right one to steal.
2. If yon need a leash, find some rope or something.
3. Figure out where you are going to hide the dog.

She needed some rope for free and place to hide the dog. She couldn't let the dog get in the car. It was a secret for mom that she stole a dog.

There was nowhere to hide the dog. She felt despair. 

Just the time Her mom ran to the car and said excitedly "Guess what?". 

Her mom told her that she found a real place to live. They were moving into a house on Friday. Georgina felt a hundred pounds lighter because she didn't have to steal a dog any more. 

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It's friday. Mom drove the car though the woods. As mom went into the woods, Georgina started to get a bad feeling. Mom pulled the car into the deep woods.

There was a old house. It seemed about to fall down and the front door was hanging on the rusty hinges. The house must've been abandoned.

Mom told her an aquaintance of the owner of the house said he won't care if they stay there. 

Toby and Georgina didn't want to live there. It was scary and don't even had a roof. The roof of the house was broken and covered with leaves and vines.

Sink was stuffed by leaves and dirts. The tap didn't work. They told Mom that they didn't want to and they were staying in the car.

Mom got very angry and hollered at them. She had to work hard very late till night. She had to save money for the rent, deposit, gas, food and clothes.

Mom kicked the car as she said that. Mom demanded them to unload all of their stuffs out of their car. 

They cleaned the house up. The house had no bed, so they made a bed piling their clothes up and used a beach towel as a blanket trying to sleep.

Mom bought a plastic raft as a bed. It was just one, so they had to take turns to sleep on. Mom had bought something making their lives better like radios, clocks and flowers.

However Mom told them to not to leave anything in the house when they leaved to get to work. They had to load every the stuff into the car even though It was a hard work.  Mom just said "Just in case." 

Their mom dropped them away from the school, not near. They didn't want to be noticed that they were living in the car and lost their house. So they passed the bus stop as if they still needed a bus to get to school. 

Georgina's life was destroyed. She even argued with her mom. She said her mom that her mom had to take care of her children. She said mom must not let the kids sleep in the abandoned house or car and wash themselves in the bathroom at McDonald's. Actually their appearance was getting bad. Their hair was greasy and they smelled bad. Their clothes were very dirty and wrinkled. Georgina's best friend Luanne had a new friend and she was getting along with the friend. Luanne and the friend went to the ballet class while Georgina had to stay in the car taking care of her brother Toby. She didn't want Georgina anymore.

Georgina's teacher Mr.White had Georgina left after class. He had said he couldn't understand her bad attitude at class lately. She didn't say anything about her ciricumstance. She just said "Yes, sir." and "Everything is fine." instead of explaining of her miserable life. 

So she didn't give up the plan of stealing the dog. It was only hope for getting a nice place to live.

In order to success, she needed a place to hide the dog.

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Some days later, Mom lost her job of cleaner. She was so upset that she didn't move on the road for a while even though other cars were honked crazily.

When they got to their old house and saw it, they stopped there dead. There were big crossed woods nailed on the front door. There was a message on the board. The messages was written in a big letter and said "This is private property! Keep out!". 

Even abandoned house was forbidden for them. It was a good thing that they took all the stuffs when they got out of the house every morning. 

The very next day, Mom got a job at a coffee shop. Now Their new rule was they had to go back to the car after school and wait for mom until mom's work was over. 

Georgina didn't give up her plan of stealing. The coffee shop where her mom was working was not that far from Whitmore street. 

She didn't really want to steal the dog, but she had to. 

She solved two things to need for stealing a dog. Toby found a string for Willy. And she decided the hiding place for Willy to the old abandoned house.

Georgina and Toby went to the Whitmore House and brought Willy to the old house. Willy was excited while they tied a string to his collar and running along to the house. It was happy walking to him. 

Georgina took him to the back of the house. The back porch of the house was damp and spooky and the road to there was very rough. There were so many vines and branches through the path that she had to cut off and put aside all the things. She tied the string to the knot of the back door at the back porch and she left Willy there alone. Toby blamed her for making Willy to stay at a bad place like that house. Georgina felt so bad and sorry for Willy but she couldn't help it. She promissed Willy to meet him everyday and take care of him until everything was fine. She was sure the owner of Willy would pay the reward.

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Toby was wondering how Willy would eat foods. Georgina never has thought about how she fed the dog. Mom brought some foods like scrambled eggs, pancakes and doughnuts. So Georgina and Toby left some foods for Willy into their backpack. She wrote the next plan on her notebook.

Step 5: Things to do after you have stolen the dog:
1. Be sure to act nice to him so he won’t be afraid.
2. Play with him some so he will like you.
3. Make sure you put him in a safe place where he won’t get wet if it rains.
4. Tie up the rope or string so he can’t run away.
5. Find him some food and water.

She thought she only had to wait until the owner of the dog posted the reward sign. 

But they found no signs for Willy. They visited Willy after school and Willy was really happy to see them. They fed Willy with the food that was for them. Will was very hungry and seemed to felt so lonely. They let go of him and ran with him at the yard in front of the house. Then they tied the rope to the door knob at the back porch. 

They tried to find the reward signs for Willy but they couldn't. When they wandered the Whitmore street, a chubby woman called them at the back. The woman was the owner of Willy. Georgina saw her playing with Willy at the Whitemore House. The woman said her name was Carmella Whitmore and she asked if they saw Willy. They told her they would help her to find Willy.

Mrs. Carmella didn't thought of signs for Willy and she was just wandering for Willy. She hadn't much money such as five hundred dollars. She had only fifteen dollars. She had a sister who had a lot of money but the sister denied to give money to Camella. Camella said she was too selfish to not to lend money even though how much she had helped her. Camella promissed them to borrow $500 for Willy from somebody.

Now Georgina had to wait until Camella got the money. She visited Willy everyday after school and gave some food and water. She brought some clothes from their car for Willy's bed. But the environment for Willy was still terrible. The place was damp and cold, not enough food and water and he was tied up.

Camella didn't get the money. One day when Georgina got to the house to take care of Willy - She ran away from school in the morning without having a class, she found a old man was camping at the back porch of the house. He was feeding sardines to Willy. His name was Mookie and He was a bum. He was happy all the time and he sometimes worked for someone for free. He said it seemed a shame to keep Willy tied up all the time. 

Georgina lied to him that she moved to new house but the landlord of the house didn't want to keep the dog in the house so she had to stay him there. 

Camella couldn't get the money and she felt despair. She even said she want to die if she lost Willy. 

Georgina and Toby visited the house everyday and spent time with Willy and Mookie. Mookie had taken care of Willy all the time except they visited Willy and play running with him.

One day, Mookie said Georgina that he found a dog's collar in the bush which was written the dog's name and address. He said the stranger thing was the name that was written on the collar was Willy. She was surprised and she felt shaky if he found out she stole the dog. She said she gotta go home and left the place.

Mookie shouted at her back that sometimes, the more you stir it, the worse it stinks. That night, She felt bad in her conscience and wrote the sentence in her notebook. "Sometimes, the more you stir it, the worse it stinks."

Things were getting bad. Camella didn't have enough money. Mookie found out she stole Willy. But She couldn't take Willy back to Camella yet. Sometimes She asked Mom if she saved enough money to move to new place but she said she didn't. And most of all their car didn't start. Their home never got moved any more.

However Things got good all of a sudden. Camella said she knew who lend money for her and she promissed she'll give the money if Georgina found Willy. And the car started even though they didn't fix it.  It was time to complete the mission.

That night, Georgina wrote the last rule of stealing a dog.

Step 8: If you want to, you can take the dog back and tell the owner that you don’t want the reward money after all.
Here is what will happen if you decide to do that:
1. The owner will be really happy and she can give the money back to her uncle Haywood.
2. The dog will be happy because he is back home where be belongs instead of on that nasty porch.
3. You will be happy because you won't feel bad about stealing a dog, even though you still live in a car.
4. When you stop stirring, it will stop stinking.
Or
You can take the dog back and get the reward money like you planned.
THAT is the decision you will have to make.

Georgina got to the old house and confessed the fact to Mookie. She told him that she stole the dog but she was taking back Willy to his home. He didn't say anything but just nodded. He gave the leash to her and left the house. And Georgina was sure Mookie was the man who fixed their car.

The next day, Geogina took Willy back to his home. When they got to the house , she let him go in first and then happy shouting came out of the house. Then she came in and confessed to Mrs. Whitmore. She said she stole Willy. 

Camella didn't hate her. She reached out and took her hands in hers. She said bad times makes person do bad things. 

She said Georgina did a really bad thing. But she permitted Georgina and Toby could visit Willy any time. 

After two days, Georgina's family got to move to a house. Mom said excitedly they were moving to a real house. It was a tiny white house but it looked like castle to them. Somebody name Louise was already living there, and she needed somebody to help take care of her baby and pay some of the rent. 

Georgina hadn't her own room but she had her bed. 

Georgina wrote the final rule of "How to steal a dog" plan.

Step 9 : There are all the rules for how to steal a dog. 

But

DO NOT STEAL A DOG. 

BECAUSE

It is not a good idea.