“The Beast in the Rain” by Sean Duroc Silva (part 1 of 2)

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog. I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

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and Today’s story is the first of two parts of

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“The Beast in the Rain”

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by Sean Duroc Silva,

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originally featured in the anthology

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Different Worlds,

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Different Skins. He also had stories featured

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in the Coyotl Awards Anthology and Roar Volume 4.

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He was the founder of the Furry Writers’ Guild

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and currently lives in Texas with his partner and numerous puppies

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while focusing on his career in the utility industry.

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“The Beast in the Rain”

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by Sean Duroc Silva,

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Part 1 of 2 I placed my shaky cloven hand against the glass,

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watching the tiny streams of water trickle down the other side of the window like rolling teardrops.

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They reminded me of her;

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just like how everything else in this world had a strange way

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of resembling Becky in one way or another.

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Her smile, her laugh, or even the way her eyes sparkled when she woke up next to me in the morning.

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But the rain… there was something so different about it.

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Those tiny droplets of cascading water

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were the only noise that still managed to haunt me,

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with her muffled cries for help.

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And I knew why. It was because the water carried the sound of his voice too.

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The sound of the beast that swallowed her up

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and devoured her soul; and he did it

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on a night just like this one.

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That’s why it wasn’t going to stop raining. Not tonight anyway.

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Not with him out there.

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I could hear his claws dancing on the rooftop,

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filling the lobby with a low, rumbling growl that made the hairs stand up on my nape.

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Then a wicked burst of light filled the horizon,

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flashing momentarily before the beast

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let out an echoing roar

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that snaked its way to my drooping ears.

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He was hungry tonight,

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searching for another victim.

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That’s when I knew

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I’d have to go out there.

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Somewhere, in that vast, dark ocean of streets and roads,

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I was going to have to confront the monster, whether I wanted to or not.

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“Shane?” God, I hated that name.

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It felt so unnatural,

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so… painfully human. It reminded me just how different I was every time I heard it.

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I could smell Allison long before I heard her soft,

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feminine voice call for me.

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Her body actually had a pleasant scent,

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like a crisp blend of faint spices

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and a hint of vanilla that seemed to fill the entire room,

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even from the other end of the hall.

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I closed my eyes for a second,

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listening to the sharp clicks of her heels against the tile floor as I breathed heavily out of my snout

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and turned to meet her.

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She was gazing at me with that glowing smile, and those perfectly innocent little blue eyes of hers.

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No matter how much I hated to admit it,

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Allison sure was pretty-

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-for a human. “Are you okay?”

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she asked, taking a moment to look up at the clock on the wall before she shifted her attention back to me.

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“It’s nearly twenty after.

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Is Stephenson making you work late again?”

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I didn’t respond.

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As usual, I couldn’t find the words,

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and Allison took the opportunity to let her eyes wander.

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It wasn’t her fault,

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I suppose. They all did it.

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She carefully inspected my porcine body,

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looking it up and down like she was searching the shelves of a grocery store.

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It made me feel naked;

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and I couldn’t help glancing down just to make sure I was still fully clothed.

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This must have been the way my ancestors felt during the auction at the county fair,

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like a damn slab of meat.

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My spine tingled as her examination continued to draw out, and I couldn’t help but wonder,

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“What is she really looking at?

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Are you sizing up my lungs?

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My kidneys?” I realized that’s what we were engineered for to begin with, but Christ--the notion still made me cringe.

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But I guess I should’ve been thankful that

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human beings, in all their superior glory,

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were kind enough to allow ethics to come into play somewhere during the process.

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My knuckles popped

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as I tightened my fists,

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digging my hoofed fingers back into my palms.

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I wasn’t sure how successful I was at hiding the grimace, because

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what I really wanted to say was,

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“You treated our sentience like some sort of goddamned afterthought!”

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How… human of you.

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But not Allison though,

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she was different from the others.

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When she looked at me, her face never showed that fake looking human concern I’d grown so accustomed to.

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She was one of the good ones;

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and even if I had a hard time admitting it to myself,

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she didn’t deserve my bitterness.

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I just wish I knew how to control it better.

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“Shane? Earth to Shane, can you hear me?”

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Allison questioned jokingly

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as she waved her hand in front of my face.

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I glanced over her tiny frame,

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tracing those long strands of blonde hair and that light Caucasian skin till it disappeared into the elegant,

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navy blue suit she was wearing.

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Eventually my eyes traveled back up to hers,

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and I shook my head slightly, attempting to bring my mind back up to speed.

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I had to force myself not to grunt.

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That seemed to bother them. Well, most of them anyway. “No, I--I’m fine,”

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I muttered before glancing back at the wet windows.

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“It’s just… you know…”

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“Waiting for the storm to pass?”

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I nodded. She sounded concerned,

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and it made me want to respond, but the words just died in my mouth.

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I was never good with pleasantries.

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“You want a ride?”

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“No. I’ll be okay.”

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“You sure?” Again, I nodded.

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“I’ll see you tomorrow, Allison.”

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She smiled. “Just don’t stick around too late.

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They might think you like it here.”

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With that, she walked over to the door and opened it.

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The wind howled and screamed,

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echoing within the structure like the bellows of a wild animal trying to rip his way inside as Allison stood in the doorway with her umbrella in hand.

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It made me shudder, and the

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dark red hairs all over my body burned as they stood on end once more.

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The glass windows seemed to match my trepidation

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as I painstakingly watched Allison open her protective shield,

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preparing to rush over to her car.

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Then I heard the rain let out another wicked,

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thundering snarl that rumbled through the tenebrous sky toward us.

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It was as if the beast were trying to tell me he could smell the petite human getting closer,

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and it made me feel like my hooves were about to fold up and curl back inside of me.

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I knew something wasn’t right. I could feel it,

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like ice water flowing through my veins

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as I began to look at Allison

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a bit differently.

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Only it wasn’t Allison anymore-

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-it was Becky. I nearly gasped when I saw her porcine body standing there in the doorway,

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gazing back at me with those soft eyes and

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that pure, white Yorkshire skin.

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I almost called out her name, but Becky’s ethereal form soon faded from my mind,

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leaving Allison to solely take her place at the entrance of the building.

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I felt like I was starting to lose it,

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and I had to blink my eyes several times,

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hoping that it would get my head back on track.

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There wasn’t much time to think though.

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The beast had already made his intentions perfectly clear,

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and I knew something was going to happen tonight.

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But did that mean it was going to involve somebody else now; like this

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tiny, blonde female who was standing in front of me?

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There was only one way to find out.

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“Allison--wait.” She looked at me from the open door,

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her umbrella already outside and in harm's way.

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The fabric was being assaulted by the relentless drumming of water as I stepped closer.

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It gave me a nervous twinge I couldn’t hide.

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I wanted her to come back inside where it was safe,

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but I knew she wouldn’t understand.

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Nobody would. “You…

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you sure you don’t mind,”

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I said coyly as my throat started to tighten.

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The words felt like razor blades coming out,

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nearly causing me to choke;

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but Allison smiled

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like only she could do

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as she grabbed my cloven hand with those thin human digits of hers.

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They felt so tender,

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yet strangely inviting against my rough skin and coarse hair.

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No matter how hard I tried, the faintest hint of a smile

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managed to grace the edges of my mouth.

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It felt weird. I hadn’t smiled in a long time.

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“You ready?” Allison asked with a wink

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as her eyes met mine.

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It took a while, but I eventually nodded,

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and we headed out the door.

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I didn’t even try to get under the safety of her umbrella.

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I just ran to the car as fast as I could, and Allison didn’t have a problem keeping up with me.

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My hoofed feet cracked against the pavement,

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but every few steps,

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the snap of my hooves were silenced with a splash.

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It was almost as if the rain had decided to come down harder just for me,

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pounding on my stocky frame like a prisoner being beaten by his captors.

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I didn’t give it the satisfaction.

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I fought my way through the bombardment

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and entered the safety of her vehicle,

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slamming the door shut.

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Allison quickly closed her umbrella and did the same,

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dulling the noise outside

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as she sealed herself inside the car.

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I could have sworn I heard the beast roar as I glanced at the roof of her vehicle.

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The water continued to pelt the car,

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and it sounded like somebody was

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vigorously tapping their claws across the metal.

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I breathed another sigh of relief

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and leaned back in the seat, trying to give myself a moment’s peace from the cacophony outside.

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That’s when I heard Allison

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began to chuckle.

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I shifted to the driver’s side, where she was trying not to stare at me.

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I was probably burning holes through her with my eyes,

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because she forced herself to stop giggling

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as she settled into her seat. “Sorry,

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it’s just that…” Allison started to say as she tossed her umbrella in the back.

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I didn’t have to ask,

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“What?” I did it with a simple twitch of my floppy ears, and surprisingly,

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Allison seemed to understand.

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She reached across the car

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and flipped the visor down on my side, exposing the mirror behind it.

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I hesitated, but lifted my head ever so slightly to see my reflection.

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She started laughing again.

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I looked soggy. The hair all over my face and snout was dripping wet,

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and I felt like a soaker hose that was running full blast and perspiring all over the floorboard.

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I twitched my nose and wiped the water away from my snout

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as I let out a disgusted grunt.

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I didn’t say another word as I relaxed my body against the now slightly damp seat.

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It was time to get this over with,

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and Allison seemed to figure it out on her own.

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She put the key into the ignition,

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fired the car’s engine,

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and started driving

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deeper into the storm. >*<

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This was a mistake.

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I shouldn’t have got in the car with Allison,

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and it seemed like everything around us was trying to tell me that.

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The wipers sounded exhausted,

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straining to keep up with the thin layer of water that was blurring the window.

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I could barely see,

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and Allison didn’t seem to be faring much better as she leaned forward,

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her head hovering

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just over the steering wheel.

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The vehicles that sailed by us in the opposite lane

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looked like nothing more than vague shadows with glowing eyes

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as they streaked through the night,

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only to be consumed by the looming darkness that trailed behind us.

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I tried to ignore it all by narrowing my eyes and shifting my focus toward the dark,

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uninviting road. Yet all it did was help me avoid the blinding sheen of the oncoming headlights. “Ain’t

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this somethin’?”

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Allison chimed in

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as she made a quick glance at me.

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“I haven’t seen it rain like this in a long, long time.”

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I saw her look at me out of the corner of my eye,

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and I nearly answered with,

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“I have,” but I remained stoic,

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glaring out the car’s front window.

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“You don’t like to

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talk much… do you?”

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The ensuing pause

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seemed to draw out for hours, and I’m still not sure why,

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but I eventually gave in with a heavy,

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almost painful sounding,

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“No.” I thought it would discourage her, but it didn’t work.

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“Shane… is something wrong?

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Because you look

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really, really tense.”

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The exasperated grunt

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just seemed to be the natural response. I couldn’t hold it back.

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“Does it have something to do with the weather?”

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That made me stir,

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and my body finally started working in unison as I shifted to look at Allison.

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She was persistent;

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I’ll give her that much.

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“I just don’t like the rain, that’s all.

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It bothers me.” I could tell she was trying to pull together an appropriate response.

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Something sincere that wouldn’t sound offensive.

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She didn’t give herself enough time.

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“Is it an animal thing?”

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I nearly laughed, but it came out like a quiet,

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uncomfortable sounding squeal.

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“No… actually--it’s more of a human thing.”

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I noticed her grip the steering wheel a little tighter

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as an abrupt flood of rain started rattling against the roof of the car like a child wailing on a demonic bongo drum.

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It made my heart stumble.

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I sucked in a breath

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as my curly tail began to twitch inside my jeans,

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forcing me to shift in the seat.

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I needed something to concentrate on, something to take my mind away,

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and I couldn’t help looking back at the cars that were speeding toward us from the opposite direction.

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Then I saw it. A blurred message was glaring at us from the side of the road.

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I squinted, struggling to see the flashing mobile billboard

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that read, “Road Closed Ahead.

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Use Detour.” “It looks like we’re gonna have to take the long way around,” Allison said,

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attempting to sound upbeat with her positive tone of voice.

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I wasn’t nearly as calm.

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Don’t make me do this.

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Please God… don’t make us go down two-forty.

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I heard a rattling inside the car, and it took me a moment to realize

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it was my hoof clacking against the floorboard

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as if the carpet wasn’t even there.

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The nervous twinge slithered up my body, and the door handle let out a strained creak as I tightened my hand around it.

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I thought it was going to snap off as we came to the stop sign.

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The large, yellow arrow stared at me from the middle of the intersection,

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telling me exactly what I feared.

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It was pointing me

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back to her accident;

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to the place where the rain had sprung to life and swallowed my Becky’s soul.

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My ears flicked at the hammering clatter of the water,

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which was echoing inside the car

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and matching my quivering heartbeat.

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The beast knew I was close,

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and he called to me with another crack of thunder that blasted the sky.

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It made me jump in the seat, which startled Allison and

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momentarily paralyzed her.

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My lungs began to heave

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and I inhaled deeply,

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hoarding what air I could

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as if I were taking my last breath before plunging into the ocean.

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Thankfully, no one was behind us, because it seemed to take forever

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for Allison to finally step on the gas pedal

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so the car could creep onto route two-forty.

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For a moment, I thought my shakes would never subside.

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“Shane…” Allison muttered nervously,

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glancing at me from the sides of her eyes.

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Her voice was strained now. Fearful.

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And the last thing I needed was to have her frightened while she was driving the car.

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“I’m sorry about that,”

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I quickly answered as I took in a deep,

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soothing breath. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

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I could tell she wasn’t pleased with my response,

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so she dug deeper.

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“Di… did something happen to you, Shane?

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Something you’re not telling me?”

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Her tone was still apprehensive,

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and even though I didn’t want to speak,

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I knew I was going to have to.

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“Yeah. Something did happen.

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Something I’ve never told anyone.”

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“Well… yo--you can tell me. If you want to.”

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I managed a nod.

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Even with all the water pelting the outside of the vehicle, my mouth suddenly felt as dry as a desert;

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and it seemed as if the words were raking across my tongue on the way out.

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Everything started to hurt, but I still wanted to answer her.

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I needed to. “It actually happened here-

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-on this road. And it was raining just like it is now…

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when I lost her.” “Her?”

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I closed my eyes and nodded.

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“Her name was Becky.

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And she was my…” I couldn’t finish the thought, but it didn’t matter.

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I had already opened the door.

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The events of that night flashed in my mind like a ubiquitous burst of light,

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making my eyes sting.

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I tried to hide behind my eyelids, but it only made the images seem clearer.

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I saw myself standing there again

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as they pulled her vehicle out of the water

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and removed her lifeless husk from the car.

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And then there was the rain.

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Oh God, that rain.

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It just wouldn’t stop.

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He wouldn’t let it stop.

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I inhaled a ragged, painful sniffle

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in an attempt to stifle the pending sob.

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I hated it when that happened.

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Our instincts didn’t understand the need for tears,

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and when anthros started to cry, the brain naturally tried to fight off the confused animal instincts like an infection,

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causing a jagged ache

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to pierce through our brains.

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It made my snout twitch.

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I had to blink back the sadness,

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wiping away the stray tears with my shaky hand

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before I was finally able to continue talking.

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I was surprised how easy it came after that.

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I swallowed the lump in my throat,

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and the words just started

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pouring out. “She drowned.

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She lost control of her vehicle and it went into the canal.

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The one that runs along the road just up ahead.

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They’re not exactly sure what happened but they…

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they think maybe she was trying to avoid something.

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Like an animal or… I-

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-I don’t know what.

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But the police said that if…

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if it weren’t for the wet conditions that night,

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they think she might’ve…”

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I paused, my eyes dropping into my lap.

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“My God, I… I’m so sorry.”

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I straightened myself up in the seat,

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rolling my shoulders in a failed attempt to hide the pain.

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It never worked. “It’s fine, Allison. That happened nearly two years ago now… and

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I guess I… I need to learn to get over it.”

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“Shane--you don’t get over something like that.

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It’s no wonder you’re so tense. I’d be too.”

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“Yeah, well--it’s still no excuse to be scared of the rain.

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Not like it’s coming after me or anything.”

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After less than a mile, the pitch of the tires changed.

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We were crossing the bridge,

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and the beast knew it

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as he greeted me with a low, cackling grumble.

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My heart sank into my gut,

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and when the vehicle came in contact with solid pavement once again,

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I couldn’t help but glance to my right.

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Our headlights caught the reflectors on the newly installed guard rail,

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making it stand out like a makeshift grave stone.

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I could see the water running parallel with the road behind it,

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like a long, scaly dragon chasing after the car.

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I shivered in my seat

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and turned back to the thumping wipers, which still couldn’t keep up with the pouring rain.

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I wanted us to go faster.

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I wanted to get away from the beast while he was lying dormant,

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but a single red light glared at us in the distance,

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growing bigger as we approached.

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The wet brakes squealed as Allison

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stopped the vehicle at the T-shaped intersection.

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My teeth were chattering.

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The red hairs on my neck stood on end,

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and the spasm in my shoulders ripped at my muscles so violently,

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I couldn’t hold back the aching grunt.

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It felt as if Becky were attempting to reach out and claw me with her hoofed fingers,

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trying to escape from her watery prison

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which was no less than twenty feet away from the car.

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I couldn’t even bear to look at the water;

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for fear that it might lunge forward and grab me

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just like it did her.

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I peered through the wet front window,

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staring at the car that was waiting in the opposite lane across the intersection.

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It was difficult to tell in the heavy rain,

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but the driver looked like a young anthro feline,

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which made me relax just a little bit.

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I hadn’t seen many of them around.

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They were a newer creation,

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engineered toward the end of the organ harvesting fiasco,

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and mostly for cosmetic purposes.

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Swine weren’t exactly considered aesthetically appealing,

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and humans seemed much more inclined to buy a heart or a kidney from a more glamorous looking cat or canine anthro.

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I cringed at the thought,

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but at least it took my mind off the rain for a moment.

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I blinked my eyes several times, trying to see through the layer of water that blurred everything

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as if I had just woken up from a deep sleep.

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I knew it was just in my head,

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but God, that cat reminded me of Becky.

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Then again, everyone seemed to look like her on days like this.

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But why did it feel so different this time?

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And why did it feel

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like Becky was trying to tell me something?

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That’s when the light turned green.

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The feline across from us didn’t hesitate, but we did.

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I made sure of it.

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I reached over with my trembling hand and grabbed Allison’s arm.

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My legs were stiff;

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and my hoofed feet cramped up

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as I pressed them into the floorboard, like I was trying to reach for an invisible brake pedal on my side of the car.

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It delayed us for only a second,

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but that was all we needed.

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From our left, a blazing pair of headlights pierced through the darkness,

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illuminating the gold fur of the young feline as if she were caught in the rays of a giant spotlight.

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She was in the middle of the intersection,

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looking at the oncoming truck

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and watching its glaring beams

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grow brighter and bigger in her vision.

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It looked like she opened her mouth to scream, but it was already too late.

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There was nothing any of us could do to stop it.

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The massive vehicle sped through its red light

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and careened into the side of the cat’s vehicle,

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as if God were playing billiards with the two automobiles.

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They erupted upon impact,

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spraying wet shrapnel in all directions

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that pelted the window of Allison’s car even harder than the huge droplets of rain.

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The heavy truck barely even jumped as it drove the feline’s much smaller car through the intersection.

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Metal popped and crunched like agonizing screams as the two vehicles went sliding in front of ours,

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heading towards the canal.

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The truck finally came to rest,

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but the tires on the other vehicle squealed

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as it continued across the wet pavement

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and banged into the low guard rail.

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The momentum flipped the car onto its side,

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causing the barricade to buckle like a flimsy piece of caution tape

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as the vehicle rolled over the top of the metal guard rail.

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Then I watched as the cat’s vehicle flipped once

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down the embankment,

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partially crinkling like a soda can before it plunged into the water

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upside down. I quietly let out the word,

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“No,” but the events had already been set in motion.

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She was in his grasp now,

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and the beast could smell blood

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as he started coming to life.

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His wet fangs slapped and splashed against the vehicle,

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pulling it under as he attempted to swallow the car whole

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like a snake trying to ingest an egg.

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I was frozen in my seat,

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watching the carnage unfold

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until Allison finally grabbed my shoulder

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and jarred me from my fixed trance.

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By then, the car was almost completely submerged.

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I expected to wake up at any second.

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I figured this was all in my head and the beast would eventually just

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go away and everything would be fine.

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It had to be a bad dream;

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but as the rain continued to pour down from the clouds

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and time kept rolling by,

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I knew it wasn’t a nightmare.

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That feline was going to die,

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just like my Becky did.

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“Call 9-1-1,”

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I said to Allison before stepping out of the car.

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She hesitated for a moment,

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unsure of how to respond.

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I could smell the fear radiating off her body, just like mine was.

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“Shane--wait.” “Do it!

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Now!” She muttered something back to me,

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but the downpour silenced her with a deafening rumble

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as I started running toward the sunken car.

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I watched the canal bounce in my vision,

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growing more and more imposing with each step that drew

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me closer to the water.

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I think the rain could sense what I was doing,

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because it started pounding on my body as I bounded over Becky’s broken metal tombstone

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and ran within ten feet of the monster’s mouth.

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I breathed in deep,

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filling my lungs with life

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while I sucked in some of the water that was dripping off my snout.

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I told myself I would never go near the beast after the accident,

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but now I was actually going inside-

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-and I was doing so willingly.

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This was the first of two parts

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of “The Beast in the Rain”

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by Sean Duroc Silva,

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read for you by Khaki,

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your faithful fireside companion. Tune in

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next time to find out how the story ends

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when Shane is forced to confront his fear

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and try to make amends with the storm raging all around him.

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As always, you can find more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,

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or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thank you for listening

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to The Voice of Dog.