Welcome to Dog Beach (26 page)

After that, everyone starts cheering even louder, and I wish that I could see Bennett's and Calvin's faces. I hand the megaphone back to Mrs. Paisley, and then Mr. Brookfield
comes out—dressed exactly like Calvin in fancy jeans, spiked hair, and a popped-collar polo. It's so funny.

I run off the stage and catch up to the group right at the beginning of the parade route.

“I can't believe you did this, Rem,” Bennett says, squeezing my hand for a second and then letting it go. “Claire and Micayla said this was all your idea.”

I shrug. “They helped.” I look up at the stage and see Mr. Brookfield about to start. “Shh. Listen.”

“Welcome, Seagaters,” Mr. Brookfield says in his spooky voice. “I dressed as my grandson Calvin Reich. He'll probably kill me for embarrassing him, but he's one of the best guys I know—so I had to do it.” And then he pauses for a minute. Everyone looks around, wondering what's about to happen. Maybe he's quiet for more than a minute—I'm not sure, because my heart is pounding and I'm too excited. I know what's coming. I wonder what's spookier: knowing what's coming or not knowing what's coming. I guess that's true when it comes to Seagate Halloween and Mr. Brookfield's scream and life in general.

Finally, he does it.

He screams.

Aaaaheeeeoowwwww!

Mr. Brookfield's famous scream is broadcast all across Seagate. Everyone at the parade hears it, and I'm sure even latecomers on their way to the parade hear it.

Mr. Brookfield's scream is different from how it used to
be, different from the recording I'd heard so many times. It's scratchier, maybe. It sounds older. But that doesn't mean it sounds bad.

This scream is a link from Mr. Brookfield's past to his future and the start of the parade all at the same time. It's kind of like a link to my old life on Seagate and my new one too.

It takes people a few seconds to realize that they've heard that scream before. And that they've heard it recently. I watch the people in the crowd turn to one another and whisper, and I bet they're saying that it's the scream from the scary movies that have been shown the past few Sunday nights. They get so excited when they realize it—cheering and clapping—until finally all of Seagate is giving Mr. Brookfield a standing ovation.

“See?” I whisper to Claire. “He is a celebrity! A real-life celebrity!”

“I know! And it's the best thing ever!”

Our little doggie day care staff high-five one another, and then we all run to join Mr. Brookfield on the stage. Everyone is cheering, and one by one we approach the microphone and scream. Our own, individual screams. We try to mimic Mr. Brookfield's
Aaaaheeeeoowwwww
, but the screams are all our own.

Claire's is soft and high-pitched, with lots of laughter mixed in. Bennett's and Calvin's are loud and goofy. And Micayla's sounds more like a song than a scream. I don't know what mine is—nervous and excited sounding, I guess. It's
almost shocking that this sound is coming out of my mouth.

There's more cheering and more screaming, and it feels like the whole island is a part of it. Everyone who is here now will remember it forever.

After the cheering dies down, I make my way to the microphone again.

“As if that wasn't awesome enough, we have something even more awesome for you! We're starting something new. The first annual Mr. Brookfield Seagate Scream Contest. After the Pooch Parade, everyone who wants to participate should find me on the stage and sign up. We'll have an hour to practice while everyone's enjoying their SGI Sweets, and then we'll have the contest.”

Soon it's time for the Pooch Parade. This used to be everyone's favorite part of Seagate Halloween, but I have a feeling the Scream Contest will change that. And that's okay, I think. It's okay to have new favorites.

We make sure all the dogs are with us, and we start marching. We get so many cheers and hoots and “That's so cute” as we walk. The dogs are barking and strutting their stuff, and I can't tell who feels proudest right now—Calvin and Claire about Mr. Brookfield's awesome performance, the dogs for being such a fabulous part of the parade, or me for being surrounded by amazing dogs and amazing friends.

I've had so many perfect moments in all my years on Seagate Island. But this moment, right now, feels the most perfect.

It's not the past that matters so much, or even the future. It's right now.

Right now, the moment you're living, is really the most important.

The scream contest gets off to a chaotic start.
There's a line around the block of people who want to participate—mostly boys between the ages of eight and fourteen. But Calvin, Claire, Bennett, and Micayla help me collect the names. Next to us, Mr. Brookfield offers coaching, free of charge.

It feels like the whole island is milling about, everyone eating candy, chatting, and savoring the last days of summer on Seagate Island, the best place on earth.

I go up to the microphone one more time. I don't need everybody to pay attention, but I hope some people do. So all I say is, “Seagate Island, get ready to scream!” I tell all the contest participants to stay quiet while the others scream. I feel like a teacher, or maybe a camp counselor. I think these kids may be harder to control than the dogs!

Mr. Brookfield starts off the contest with his famous scream, and then one by one, the participants go to the microphone and say their name and then scream.

It's chaotic and crazy and hilarious and amazing all at the same time.

Mrs. Paisley looks like she has a headache, but she's smiling anyway.

Finally, after the last competitor screams, Mr. Brookfield announces that the judges will vote in the next few hours and the winners will be posted tomorrow.

And we get to be the judges!

Later that night, Mr. Brookfield invites us over for one last pizza party, and it's hard to believe that this is the last time we'll do this for a whole year. But tonight's pizza party is different. It's not just the six of us. There are seven others here: Oscar, Marilyn Monroe, Atticus, Rascal, Palm, Tabby, and Potato Salad.

The dog owners thought it was funny that their dogs were invited to Mr. Brookfield's house and they weren't. Mr. Brookfield's pretty famous now, so they're a little jealous. But the dogs are part of our crew. They can't be left out on our last night.

The dogs sit at our feet and run around the backyard as we eat our pizza. We chat, reminisce about the summer, and talk about what the coming year will be like. Micayla promises that she'll email us every day to tell us about year-round
life on Seagate. Calvin and Claire promise that they'll be back next summer.

“I can't believe we waited so long to spend a summer here,” Claire says.

Calvin adds, “Yeah, and we had to be forced to do it.”

“And just think,” I say, “if you had played tennis at tennis camp, you might never have come back, Claire.” I smile at her, and she smiles back and then hits me on the arm.

“You're never going to let that go, huh?”

“Nope!”

“If only Mason Redmond were here,” Bennett says, in his jokey way, looking at Micayla and rubbing Potato Salad's belly. “Then the summer would be complete. It's a shame he had to leave early. Was he taking the SATs or something?”

Micayla rolls her eyes, and at just that moment Marilyn Monroe hops up onto her lap.

“Oh, leave her alone,” Claire says. “Maybe you should be—”

“Should be what?” Bennett asks.

Claire looks at me. I speak to her in blinks, urging her not to embarrass me, not to ruin this most perfect day. She giggles a little. I wait for her to say something else. I mentally plead with her to change the subject.

“Maybe you should be a forward thinker,” she says, shrugging, like it's no big deal, like it's what she planned to say all along. “Mason's not so bad. Leave Micayla alone.”

Phew! Good cover-up. For once she didn't say the most embarrassing thing she could think of.

“Wow. Claire Reich, suddenly the one who's looking out for everyone.” Bennett nods like he totally approves. “Anyone who looks out for Micayla is a friend of mine.” He high-fives her, and then slowly and nonchalantly Claire winks at me.

As we finish our pizza, I tell them that I have an announcement to make, and I grab Marilyn Monroe from Micayla. “Marilyn Monroe and I are becoming roommates soon,” I say. “Actually, next week!”

“Huh?” Micayla asks.

So I tell them the whole story about Amber and Marilyn Monroe and the new apartment and everything.

“Will your parents say yes?” Claire asks.

“Yeah, I asked them, and they said yes right away. I couldn't believe it, but then they said how impressed they were with the dog-sitting business, and how responsible I have been.”

“You didn't say anything to him, did you?” Claire asks me a few minutes later, when Bennett and Calvin are attempting to play Ping-Pong in the air, without a table.

“What?” I ask, confused, still thinking about what it will be like when Marilyn Monroe is my dog. Really and truly my dog.

“About how you feel,” she whispers, talking through her teeth. “Bennett.”

I shake my head.

“How come?”

“I didn't feel the need to. Things are so great right now. I know that things change, and pretty often it's great when they do,” I tell her. “But in this moment, for now, I just want this one thing to stay the same. I'm happy now, and I'm scared to think about things with Bennett and me being that different. Know what I mean?”

Claire nods. “I do.”

“And besides,” I say and put my arm around her, “there's always next summer.”

We sit around talking for a while longer, and as we're talking, I look around at my old friends and my new friends, my human friends and my dog friends, and I realize that this summer and especially Seagate Halloween were completely different from all the ones that came before. Different and sometimes scary and hard.

But they were also better. Better than I could have ever imagined.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I owe an ocean of gratitude to
Aleah Violet Rosenberg and her amazing napping skills. Without them, this book would have never been written.

Thanks to Dave for all of the ideas, love, and support. And thanks for indulging my beach house dreams. One day, it will happen.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for finally getting me a dog when I was in ninth grade, and for everything else, too.

David and Max, thanks for taking Yoffi out all those times when I was feeling lazy. You're superhero brothers and two of my best friends.

Thanks to Bubbie and Zeyda for being dog lovers, for introducing me to my first dog love, Candy, and for being wonderful in every way.

To the Rosenberg family—Karen, Aaron, Elon, Justin, Ari,
Ezra, Maayan, Libby, Bruce, Debbie, Marty, and Donna—thanks for all the encouragement and enthusiasm and for being “dog people.”

Many thanks to Arthur, the Franks, the Freels, the Hermans, the Rosensteins, and the Friedmans. I feel the love all the way from Indiana.

Oodles of thanks to the Sterns and the Lincers and all the dog stories you've shared.

Thanks to Tata, Beard, Sarah, Aaron, and Juju for sharing your magical Block Island house with me and for providing me with so much inspiration for this story.

Caroline, Jenny, and Siobhan, thanks for all the help, the writing retreats, and the laughter.

Hugs and kisses and so much appreciation for Rhonda, Melanie, Margaret Ann, and the whole BWL family.

Alyssa Eisner Henkin, I say this every time because it's true: You're the best agent in the world, and I owe you everything. You can come stay at my beach house anytime.

A whole sea of thanks goes to Howard, Steve, Susan, Jason, Chad, Maria, Jessie, Jen, Meagan, Nicole, Laura, Elisa, and everyone at Abrams and Amulet. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Maggie Lehrman, thanks for believing in this book and for being as excited about it as I am. You've made every page better than I could have imagined. There will be an Adirondack chair on the front porch waiting for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Greenwald
is the author of
Reel Life Starring Us
,
Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes
, and the Pink & Green series. She works in the library at the Birch Wathen Lenox School in Manhattan. She is a graduate of the New School's MFA program in writing for children and lives in Brooklyn. Visit her online at
lisagreenwald.com
.