I was angry. My mom MADE me go to the store with my brothers Shawn and Shibitsby. Please don’t ask about Shibitsby’s name, because I’m not sure what my mom was thinking when she’d named him.

I woke up that day, and the sky was gray. Shawn had just learned to drive a few weeks ago. To test his skills, mom was making him go get some groceries. She was also forcing me and Shibitsby to go with him, so we could report on how he did with the driving. The thing was, I had just gotten a flood warning for our county on my phone. That’s when I made my reasonable protest.

“Mom, it’s about to rain! Shawn’s never driven in the rain before!”

“He’s gotta drive in the rain at some time in his life. Lisha, how else will he learn?” Mom countered my argument.

“Mom, I just got a flood warning on my phone. A FLOOD warning! He can’t drive in a rainstorm. We’ll slide off the road or something.”

“It won’t rain that hard, it’s just a warning. I’ve heard a lot of those living in this town all my life and only two of them actually turned out to be floods. Plus, you’ll all be back quick, just a few groceries and some presents for a friend of mine, then you're back home.”

“Still, me and Shibitsby are younger than him! We don’t know the first thing about driving! Can’t you or dad go with him?” I queried.

“You’re dad’s asleep and I’m in the middle of making lunch. Plus, you're fourteen. You should know a thing or two about driving.” Mom told me. “Now, go get dressed. You’re leaving in ten minutes.”

This is why I was angry at mom. But I decided to uncross my arms and forget about anger. I was working on getting rid of my notorious grudge-holding issue, so I focused on the rain outside.

How I loved rainy days. The gray skies, the cool gushes of wind, the pitter-patter noise of rain making contact with the earth. I’d trade a sunny day for rain any time. I was about to roll down my window but then thought better of it. The pitter-patter noise was starting to sound like a river against the ground. The rain was getting harder.

My brother finally stopped in the Sammy’s club parking lot. “Alright, we're gonna get some food from here, then go to the store next door and get some pet supplies for mom’s friend, and then we head back home.” He told me and Shibitsby.

“Wait, why are we getting pet supplies for mom’s friend? Can’t she do that some other day?” I asked him.

“Her friend Canny just got a puppy and mom wants us to buy a leesh and some dog treats for it. She gave me her credit card for all the errands, and I’ll be getting some cash in return for the displeasure.” Shawn told me with a smirk on his face.

I wasn’t worried about what Shawn was getting in return for these errands. I was just worried about getting back home safely, as the rain was getting harder by the minute. I couldn’t tell if my brother was nervous about him driving in the rain, but I was.

We breezed through grabbing groceries at Sammy’s club. The worst part though, was having to get the food back to our SUV in the rain, which had become hard and nonstop. I had to put on a hood to make sure my 4c curls didn’t shrivel up in this hard downpour.

“The rain’s getting worse!” I told my older brother. I had to yell over the loud rain as it roared a voice of it’s own.

“Maybe it’ll lighten up when we come back from Let’s Pets!” he yelled back over to me.

Fat chance, I thought but didn’t say.

I saw a bright white light flash in the distance. CRACK, went the sky as thunder bellowed soon after.

“AH!” Shibitsby yelled, clearly shook.

“Oh stop, you're too old to be scared by lighting.” I told him, though I wasn’t expecting such a boom either.

As we walked towards Let’s Pets, the sky rumbled with an invisible furry.

Geez, who is Zeus mad at? I thought to myself as we walked through the store doors dripping wet.

Let’s Pets was the pet store closest to our house and sold just about everything you’d need to take care of any pet. It even sold pets on one side of the store, the left side being the pet supply supercenter and the right side being a kennel.

As soon as we got in, I heard how loud the rain really was. The rain sounded like a bunch of preschoolers stomping against the roof with their heaviest boots on.

“Okay, me and Lisha are gonna go look for a dog leash while you go get some dog treats, Okay Shibitsby?”

“Sure.” said Shibitsby, and then he ran off.

“Don’t run in this store!” Shawn yelled after him.

“You know he’s not gonna get those dog treats, right?” I told Shawn. Knowing Shabitsby, I was sure he’d get caught up hopping on different colored tiles or staring at the parrots on the other side of the store.

“He’d better.” was all Shawn answered with. “Now help me find a good leash.”

I didn’t care for pets much, so I didn’t really know exactly what leash was good for mom’s friend. “How about this?” I picked up a heavy leash that jingled when I shook it.

“A leash made of chains!? Uh, Mom’s friend just got a puppy, not a full grown rottweiler. That looks heavy just for you to carry that thing! Think about how that would feel on a puppy’s neck!” Shawn told me.

I dropped the chain leash and picked up another one. “What about this one?” I held up a retractable dog leash that had golden glitter covering the retractor part of it and a fancy handle with grips. Heck, it even had a tie dye leather leash.

“Woah! I don’t think mom’s willing to pay over $80 for a leash.” Shawn said, practically appalled.

“Well then, since you know so much about dog leashes, why don’t you find a good leash yourself!” I said, getting annoyed.

Suddenly, I saw a light that lit up the store. I’m telling you, the store’s windows lit up, and then the lights in the store went out. A very dangerous-sounding crackle erupted from outside, sounding like a blast from another-worldly gun that shot out lightning.

I heard barking, yipping and a few ‘squeak-squeak-squeak’s, along with other weird noises from frightened pets.

Then-without warning- I was collided into by a red blur.

I fell into the aisle behind me. My back stung. When I looked up, in my lap I saw a dog’s big dark brown eyes staring up at me. He had Mahogany fur that hung off his body and light orange puffs of fur above his eyes that made him look like he had eyebrows. His irises were nearly hazel, like mine, and I swear he had on a concerned face.

None of that changed the fact that he had crashed into me, and he had that weird doggy smell that I always smelled on dogs. “Get off me.” I started to push the thing off me. He stared as I pushed him off of me, seeming to be mesmerized by my face.

I heard shoes clamping against the floor, and soon a girl with a brown ponytail whose name tag said ‘Ava’ ran up to me.

“Ohmygosh I am so sorry I didn’t know Jessie was gonna run off! Do you need help?” She held a hand out to me.

“What kind of name is Jessie?” I probably shouldn’t have said that, me having a brother named Shibitsby and all, but it just sort of came out of my mouth.

“Actually, I have a sister named Jessie.” Ava stared at me, annoyed.

“Sorry, what I meant to say is that he doesn't look like a Jessie. He should be named Crash after what he’s just done to me.”

“Well anyway, sorry. That last loud boom scared the pants off Jessie and he began running around the store like crazy. I was training him at the time, and I didn’t know he was just gonna run off.” Ava told me.

I was not calling that dog Jessie. From now on he would be Crash to me.

I opened her mouth to say something back (“Jessie/Crash acts more like a cat than dog!”), but I was interrupted by a loud boom. It was thunder, one was so powerful it had an echo effect. Jessie began to run off again.

“Aw, no! Come back!” Ava yelled after the living bullet.

I took pity on her. I decided to help her catch that crazy dog to make up for me ridiculing her sister's name.

I grabbed a random collar, this one plain white and made of nylon and turned to Shawn.

“I’m gonna help that girl chase down that dog, be right back.”

“Hey wait!” Shawn said to my annoyance, but I wasn’t gonna be stopped. Crash wasn’t getting away this time.

TO BE CONTINUED