The Boy Who Saved a Place

Chapter 1: Dog in Hand

The first friend Ivan made had crooked ears, muddy paws, and absolutely no table manners.

Ivan was sitting beside a closed bakery when the dog appeared. One ear pointed toward the sky. The other folded over like an unopened letter.

“You look hungry,” Ivan whispered.

The dog stared at the bread in his hand.

“So do I.”

Ivan broke the bread into two uneven pieces. He considered them carefully, then gave the bigger piece to the dog.

The dog ate it, sneezed, and sat beside him.

“Well,” Ivan said, “I suppose that means we’re friends.”

He named the dog Button.

Ivan was a small boy in a large Russian town. At home, the grown-ups who should have cared for him had frightened him instead. Now he was alone, with a coat missing two buttons and questions nobody seemed to hear.